Promoting awareness of the archaeology and history
of north Devon
ACTIVITIES
WEST YEO
Archaeology Projects (external)
The North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: A call for volunteers -Linda Blanchard (Newsletter No 8 2004)
As a long term (but recently pretty much sleeping) member of the Society some of you may know me as formerly being an archaeologist. Following a career change in 1991 to accommodate my young family I've been out of archaeology for some years. However with my new job I hope to have a chance to do my bit for the heritage of the coastline.
The North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers
the superb stretch of coastal landscape extending from Combe Martin (at
the edge of Exmoor National Park) to the Cornish border. It is designated
as a landscape of national importance of equal status, in landscape terms
to a National Park, but not as well funded! The designation reflects the
importance of the landscape character which, to a large extent, is the
record of its human history. Sites are rich and varied with barrows at
Burdon Moor, and Berry Down, near Berrynarbor, promontory forts at Hillsborough
near Ilfracombe, Embury Beacon
and Clovelly Dykes in the Hartland area and villages dating back to the
Domesday Book. Combe Martin is a fine example of a mining village and
the work of NDAS members is contributing much to the pool of knowledge
about this village. The area is steeped in maritime history and tradition.
Combe Martin and Hartland Quay had small ports, serving the local community;
limekilns are found along the whole stretch whilst Clovelly and Bucks
Mills are good examples of traditional fishing villages. The region’s
shoreline reveals a wealth of shipwrecks and tales of smuggling and wrecking.
Two large lighthouses dominate the coastal headlands of Hartland and Bull
Point and warn unsuspecting mariners of this treacherous coastline. More
recently Braunton Burrows, were used as practice grounds for American
Forces and the well preserved practise landing craft are poignant reminders
of the horror faced by soldiers who had to use the real thing for the
D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944.
The AONB team consists of myself and Dave Edgcombe supported
by Janine our administrator. Our prime role is to encourage activities
which will protect and enhance the landscape and monitor change. So historic
heritage is high on our agenda. I am keen to get a better archaeological
record of the area and will be working with agencies to secure funding
to do a thorough survey. Some smaller projects will
happen more quickly and, for example, we will be working with the Combe
Martin Alliance to improve local heritage trails.
Our immediate priority is to get funding for a community volunteer project which will provide a unique opportunity to work alongside experts in a variety of fields gaining training and in-depth understanding of the Coastal area. Volunteers will be able to join events such as “record as you go” themed walks, field recording sessions as well as coming along to training sessions to learn more about their preferred topic.We are keen to work with NDAS members on the project and hope that you will support our funding bid and join some of the events.
I look forward to working with you in the near future.
Linda Blanchard
North Devon AONB Manager
Northern Devon Coast and Countryside Service
Bideford Station, Railway Terrace, East-the-Water,
Bideford EX39 4BB
Tel: 01237 423655
www.northdevon-aonb.org.uk
Profiling the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - A Community Project - Linda Blanchard (Newsletter No 9 2005)
Thanks in part to support from North Devon Archaeological
Society, we have been successful in attracting around £55,000 grant
aid from Europe to support survey work within the AONB, which is a protected
landscape in the coastal strip of North Devon and Torridge from the Exmoor
border through to the Cornish Border Using the jargon required of funding
bids, the project aims to:
Increase local community understanding of the importance and complexity
of the North Devon AONB
Develop community ownership of the AONB by involvement in practical projects
Produce baseline information to measure the success of AONB management
interventions Put a bit more simply, the AONB Staff Unit is paid to encourage
work which will protect or enhance the landscape of the AONB. For our
purposes landscape is defined as the geology, the wildlife and habitats
and the historic environment.
So pretty broad really. In order to see if changes, e.g. in farming practice,
tourism, project work or building development, actually do enhance the
area, we need to have a better record of what’s around now and what
sort of condition it is in. As I am sure you know, some of our records
are patchy and out of date and this project aims to fill the gaps, at
least in part.
What will actually happen is that very soon we will appoint a person to
encourage people from groups such as NDAS to join us on survey work within
the AONB on a theme of mutual interest. If needed, training will be provided
and the project officer will set up simple recording systems for volunteers
to use.
The main themes for study are likely to include:
nesting birds survey, hedgerow condition survey, eyesores, historic monuments
condition survey, landscape monitoring through fixed point photography,
location of local food outlets, etc because we have a large number of
subjects to survey, work will be tailored to a certain extent towards
the interests of the volunteer. Volunteers might visit an archaeological
site just four times a year and take a photograph or, if they are really
keen, do a survey of all the hedgerows in a 1km square.
Once we have the project up and running, our co-coordinator will contact
you and offer to talk to your committee in more detail about how NDAS
members can be involved.
Thank you, NDAS, for your letter of support for the project and I look
forward to meeting some of you
on volunteer projects.