Dartmoor Volunteer Project Wins National Award
A project to record and repair Bronze Age cairns on Dartmoor has won the prestigious Marsh Archaeology Award, an award given to a voluntary project that has undertaken positive works to the condition of the nation’s heritage, organised annually by the Council of British Archaeology. This important recognition is for a project which is a collaboration between the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA), Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) and English Heritage (EH). Over the last five years or so, a team of DPA volunteers has surveyed and repaired (where necessary) more than 45 prehistoric cairns.
It is thought the cairns, which are scheduled ancient monuments, may have been used to mark burial sites or territories. It is thought the cairns, which are scheduled ancient monuments, may have been used to mark burial sites or territories. The cairns repaired by the project had become damaged through visitor and other disturbance over the years, putting at risk fragile archaeology potentially contained within the cairn and destroying the cairns’ distinct profiles. The successful outcomes of the project include the removal of 31 scheduled monuments from the English Heritage “at risk” register and, in many cases, production of the first accurate surveys of these impressive monuments.
Representatives of DPA and DNPA travelled to London in March to give a short presentation at the Council for British Archaeology’s Winter Meeting.
‘We were stunned to learn that we had won, especially against such strong competition. At the meeting we were told that the project had been chosen for both the quality of the work produced, and the fact that this was achieved for so little cost’, said Anne Whitbourn, volunteer project coordinator for the DPA.
Andy Crabb, Dartmoor National Park Authority archaeologist and English Heritage historic environment field adviser, has provided professional guidance for the project. He added: ‘The quality of the work undertaken by the group is of the highest order and the surveys in particular are second-to- none. The success of the project has been entirely due to the close working partnerships that have evolved between the volunteers and the organisations involved.’
The team has spent time over the winter months inking up their plans in preparation for inclusion in the Historic Environment Record at DNPA HQ at Parke and is planning to spend time this summer revisiting the cairns to assess whether damage has re- occurred since the repair work took place.
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The DPA runs various conservation projects, as do many other groups on and around Dartmoor, many of which achieve excellent results despite running at minimal costs. If you would like to know more about this project, or to join in, please get in touch with Anne Whitbourn, tel. 01752 696257, or visit the DPA website:
www.dartmoorpreservation.com
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