Parishes in the LOWV project area:
     
    Ballingham
    Bolstone
    Brampton Abbotts
    Bridstow
    Brockhampton
    Fownhope
    Foy
    Hentland
    Holme Lacy
    How Caple
    Kings Caple
    Sellack
     
     

History

News

The Wye

Links

Although the fieldwork has been done, in many respects the project is still in full swing. We are running our finds workshops in Ross and Hereford and we are completing our analysis of material found by our volunteers during 2005 and 2006.

We now have the results of the analysis of the animal bone from Gillow Farm. This has been very interesting with a much wider range of species than we had anticipated. For more information see our news page.

The Landscape Origins of the River Wye (LOWV) is a part of a larger Leader+ Herefordshire Rivers project. It is concerned with the origins and development of the landscape of the 12 parishes which make up the northern part of the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) between the Herefordshire parishes of Fownhope and Bridstow.

The rocks in the area consist of the Old Red Sandstone, laid down in the Devonian period 350 - 416 million years ago. Much more recently, over merely many thousands of years, the River Wye has cut a wide valley through this rock.

We gather information for locals and visitors about the region's history, the basis of its distinctiveness, and how and why it is changing. This project is designed to benefit serious students, passing visitors, policy makers and local people, through the vast range of information that is to be uncovered.

Although the main phase of this project is now completed, there are elements for which volunteers would be welcome. We have yet to complete our coverage of current land use. This will be used to compare with land use in the past - we now what it was in the 1930s and 1840s.

The project is a partnership between the local community and specialists.  Volunteers are being helped to learn various  field-work, research and collating skills. Sources include oral history, old documents and newspapers, maps and photographs. It also uses archaeological excavation, field survey and geophysics. We are also analysing landscape history using overlays of old and modern maps and aerial photographs.

Together we are uncovering the hidden depths of the Wye Valley landscape while enjoying hands-on field survey and archaeological investigation.

New volunteers are always welcome to join in this project. Tasks for which we would welcome help are listed on the Project Tasks page. We would also like old photographs, letters etc relating to the area.

The results of the project will be published in a book due to be launched in 2008.

Coming events:

Click above for coming events
Recent events:

Click to view recent events and some of the  events which ran during the previous two years of the project
 
Recipes:

A pickled asparagus recipe from Mary Garrett
 
Settlements:

The settlements in the area are only rarely related to the parishes. Click to view information on settlement patterns and types.
 
Railways:

If you are interested contact:

Heather Hurley   Huw Sherlock
Upper Orchard   Archenfield Archaeology Ltd
Hoarwithy   Caplor Farm
HR2 6QR   Fownhope HR1 4PT
01432 840649   01432 860003
heather@heatherhurley.wanadoo.co.uk   huw@archenfield.com
     
David Lovelace
Pool Cottage
Norton Canon
HR4 7BP
01544 318138
david@dlovelace.freeserve.co.uk
   

maintained by Archenfield Archaeology Ltd

 

This project was part-financed by the European Union (EAGGF) and DEFRA through the Herefordshire Rivers LEADER+ Programme.