June 2017 Pennwydh yn termyn eus passys Ancient Penwith

Did you know that Penwith has one of the greatest concentrations of ancient sites in the UK? Penwith is built on a prehistoric landscape of national importance.

This month we are focusing on Ancient Penwith, an important project within the Penwith Landscape Partnership programme. The project aims are to protect, to educate and to create better access to a significant number of the treasure trove of ancient sites that remain in our area.

The lead organisation for this project is the Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network, a Registered Trust which has been working for over 15 years to keep a dozen or so of Penwith’s important ancient sites accessible and in good The growing financial pressure suffered Landscape Partnership will be the first order. CASPN is made up entirely of by the farming community brings a time that these efforts can be volunteers which means it fits well into significant risk of loss of knowledge of coordinated and expanded. management skills and methods the community led ethos of the Heritage For CASPN, via the Ancient Penwith Lottery Fund. distinctive to Penwith. project, this will mean that many of our

What are the threats faced by our Increasing numbers of visitors to just a long held aims should be fulfilled. few well known sites often result in ancient sites? Working on the Ancient Penwith unintentional damage as well as Those who know Penwith well project understand that the increasing problems of litter and erosion. To progress the plans for Ancient dominance of plants such as furze, Organisations such as Wildlife Penwith, a working party was formed bracken, brambles and Japanese Trust, , Historic comprising members from CASPN, knotweed is a problem, causing Environment, Historic England and Cornwall Archaeological Society (CAS), difficulty accessing sites, disturbing CASPN have all been doing their best Historic England, archaeology and concentrating footfall to protect this precious environment, but Historic Environment Service, Save into narrow paths, resulting in soil the opportunity afforded by the Heritage Penwith Moors and the National Trust. erosion. In dry weather, fire risk poses Lottery Fund through the Penwith the likelihood of damage to sites.

Ancient Penwith continued… An Ancient Penwith Project Officer will Hopefully, we can look forward to a be employed whose responsibility, much improved Ancient Penwith under CASPN management, will be to landscape which will have great bring our plans to fruition over the five benefits for local residents, visitors, year period of the scheme. landowners and farmers for many years to come. What else is in our Ancient Penwith

Plan? With the help of Heritage Lottery funding to create a Volunteer Programme, we intend to build a team Using the local knowledge and of volunteers who will be provided with expertise within this group, a list of training needed for this sensitive work. significant sites was drawn up, together

with report forms which were then used We also want to increase awareness of to survey each site as to condition, risk, our precious landscape with young historic importance and ongoing work generations by way of an outreach needed. project, to involve them in helping care

Cornwall Archaeological Unit was for the sites as well as engendering a commissioned to report on our ‘top 50’ sense of pride in the special place sites and the working party surveyed where they live.

the remaining 150. This was a For more information about CASPN tremendous effort by everyone involved, To avoid the need for information and how you can get involved please taking many hours over the summer of boards littering the landscape we intend visit 2016. The result has been the creation to use new technology so that visitors www.cornishancientsites.com of an invaluable resource on the current can download guides and information,

state of our most important sites, as well as producing a series of

together with costed plans for their booklets available from local centres.

preservation and maintenance. The Better information on more sites will

sites have now been prioritised based relieve the pressure on the popular

on the work needed and their places.

geographical locations.

Who is on the Partnership… Members of the Penwith Landscape Partnership Board are:

Cornwall Councillors representing four Penwith wards Bolitho Estates and Parish Council Penwith Access and Rights of Way (PAROW) Farming representatives Penwith Community Development Trust A Penwith based micro-business Save Penwith Moors Cornwall Archaeological Society Cornwall Wildlife Trust Cornwall Ancient Sites Protection Network (CASPN) Cornwall AONB National Trust Chaired by Cllr Jim McKenna St Aubyn Estates Farm Cornwall Advisors to the Shadow Board include: , Cornwall Council Historic Environment Section and Cornwall Rural Community Charity

If you want to keep in touch with the Landscape Partnership’s progress, please contact Penwith Landscape Partnership your local Parish or Cornwall Councillor to find out what is going on in your area or contact Unitus 9,to Bolithosign up Business to this newsletter. Park, Bejowans Farm Penwith Landscape Partnership Unit 9, Bolitho Business Park, Bejowans Farm, , , CORNWALL TR19 6EF Tel: 01736 811247 Mob: 07814139223 Email: [email protected]