Archaeology enthusiasts in Swaledale are finalising plans for their biggest challenge to date – a two-year community project to help dales folk search for clues to medieval and ancient history in their own back yards.
The lottery-backed Swaledale Big Dig is being organised by the Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group (SWAAG) and will be launched with two free events in Reeth, the first being a presentation by TV archaeologist and ‘Time Team’ expert Dr Carenza Lewis, of Cambridge University.
Residents in and around Reeth and the neighbouring communities of Fremington and Grinton who want to get involved in the project will be able to register their interest at the launch presentation or at a follow-up Heritage Day exhibition. They will also be able to enrol for any of a range of short educational courses being organised as part of the project’s commitment to stimulate wider interest and engagement in archaeology.
Project manager Alan Mills, from SWAAG, said: “The Big Dig is primarily about archaeologists working with residents to dig test pits on their own and public land. The pits will be a metre square and up to a metre deep, and will help us to see snapshots of what lies beneath our feet over a wide area of the landscape.
“Hopefully we will have lots of pits so that collectively they will help us to formulate views about the ages and development of settlement areas and to gain a better and broader understanding of our local history. For the project to have value it has to be very carefully organised and managed, which is why we are especially keen for interested people to come to the launch events when Dr Lewis and others will explain the significance of the project and show how it will work.”
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