York Press: New project seeks volunteers to explore and protect special landscape

New project seeks volunteers to explore and protect special landscape

(Image: East Riding of Yorkshire Council)

HISTORIC England has joined forces with York Archaeology and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust in a major project to help reveal the history and heritage of one of the country’s most significant historical landscapes.

Aerial and ground-based surveys are part of the project looking at the archaeology of the Yorkshire Wolds, a chalk upland in East and North Yorkshire.

This has included mapping archaeology from thousands of aerial photographs, drone laser surveys, geophysics and earthwork surveys.

Historic England has awarded a grant of £136,356 to York Archaeology to deliver the project alongside Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, with the support of a number of other partners, including local volunteer-based groups.

Covering an area of more than 170km², the Wolds project includes parts of the most northerly chalk stream in Europe and has been a focus for human settlement and ritual activity since the prehistoric period.

The UK’s most northerly chalk stream is an internationally rare habitat, as well as chalk and limestone habitats that host an incredible range of important and declining species from water voles to puffins.

The project is open to people who would like to learn more about the heritage of the Wolds and the ways in which archaeologists discover and understand historic landscapes.

The culmination of the project will see this new updated information more publicly accessible through a digital portal so that communities on and around Wolds can explore the heritage on their doorstep.

York Archaeology is an educational charity that works throughout the country, with expertise in helping the public understand the stories revealed through archaeology.

Its trained teams will be supporting members of the public to explore some of the key skills that are employed to reveal hidden history, from aerial mapping and environmental sampling to earthwork surveys.

They will be supported by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who will be running skills workshops on identifying the flora and fauna of the Wolds and how to survey them, to help communities restore and re-imagine their local wild spaces for wildlife.

Tom Frater, Historic England’s Regional Director for the North, said: “The Yorkshire Wolds has a very distinctive landscape and a unique heritage and this project will help unveil more of its past and how the land has been used for thousands and thousands of years.

“From what we already know from previous and current research, we are expecting to discover significant settlements ranging from the later prehistoric period right through to the 20th century.

“But this project is not just about archaeology. We are working with a range of organisations and local groups to understand what the Wolds mean to the people and communities who live and work here.

“We know historic places are vital for mental health and wellbeing and we want this project to help pass on the skills and knowledge to local people to be able to understand and embrace their local environment.”

Mary-Anne Slater from York Archaeology said: “Archaeology is the study of people and their interactions with the environment, but the full story of the Yorkshire Wolds involves far more than the marks left behind by humans.

“It is fantastic to be working in partnership with Historic England and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to bring the story of this unique landscape to life, with exciting plans to work with local groups and organisations through workshops and training sessions to explore the fantastic archaeological and environmental landscape of the Yorkshire Wolds.”

Jon Traill, Living Landscapes Manager for East Yorkshire at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: "The Wolds' unique geography makes this a nationally important wildlife-rich area, and we are thrilled to be part of this project providing opportunities for more people to get out and experience just how special their archaeological and environmental heritage is.

“Join our workshops and training sessions to spot the Wolds’ special wildlife, from birds to botany, and survey rare and locally important features like chalk streams and dew ponds.

“Help us to care for the Wolds' incredibly rich, wild history alongside the vital farming and landscape needs that make this area so distinctive.”

The pictures show cropmarks of later prehistoric features near Langton Wold (left) and cropmarks showing Iron Age square barrows and a prehistoric linear ditch system near East Lutton (right)