RCAHMW ANNUAL REPORT 2015-16
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 1 Who we are and what we do
It has long been recognised that Wales’s historic buildings and monuments are as important a part of the heritage of Wales as its museum, archive and library collections. That is why the Royal
Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Our purpose (RCAHMW) was set up in 1908 to research and record the castles and abbeys, churches and chapels, farmsteads and mines, cottages and public buildings, hillforts and burial mounds that make up the distinctive historic environment of Wales.
The records we create as a result of our own fieldwork and through the deposit of material with us created by partner organisations and well-wishers, form the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), Wales’s third national collection (along with the collections of the National Library of Wales and National Museum Wales). NPRN 101450
Pentre Ifan burial chamber, Nevern, Pembrokeshire.
In undertaking this work, we aim to do much more than create a record for posterity, valuable as that is as evidence of the Wales of the past. The research we do to understand different types of historic building and monument allows the best examples to be identified and protected from demolition or harmful alterations, thus ensuring that they survive and that the historic environment of Wales remains rich, varied and rewarding for the people of Wales and for the many visitors who form a vital
NPRN 105363 part of the Welsh tourism economy. St Michael’s Church, Penbryn, Ceredigion.
2 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Our core funding of £1.727m a year comes from the Welsh Government, and is supplemented by income from grants and from book and photographic sales. This money pays for the offices we share with the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and for the storage of our records in a modern purpose-designed archive store. It also pays for the 30 specialist staff employed by the Royal Commission, including investigators who work in the field to record buildings and archaeological monuments and a dedicated team of public service staff and archivists who run the library and search room, helping visitors find the material they need and answering their queries.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 3 Who benefits from our work Our work
Much use is made of our field work and of the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) by teachers, students and academics in their own research and learning work.
Other major users include family historians and people researching the history of a particular place, region or heritage asset.
Visitors to the National Monuments Record of Wales.
4 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 The media draw on our resources for news reports and TV documentaries about the Commission and its work, or through their use of historic images from the NMRW. This year we licensed the use of our material in the Open University publications, tourism booklets for Oswestry Border Tourism and an article on the hill-forts of the Clwydian Range published in the Archaeological Institute of America’s Archaeology magazine. Our images were also used this year by the BBC Crimewatch programme to recover the stolen Nanteos Cup and to help South Wales Filming of Commission staff for a documentary. Police solve an historic crime in Cardiff.
Commission staff are in demand as public speakers and they work hard to share the results of their work through publications, talks, lectures, guided walks, open days and events and through the almost daily round of guided tours of the NMRW that our staff give to local community groups.
Children from Pontsian School visiting the open day at
NPRN 11594 Hen Gapel, Llandysul, Ceredigion.
Our popular touring exhibitions on ‘Wales from the Air’ and ‘Inside Welsh Homes’ have been enjoyed by thousands of people, and we also promoted the NMRW through exhibitions at the Royal Welsh Show, lectures and exhibitions at the 2015 Eisteddfod and through well- attended lectures at the National Library of Wales and Royal Commission offices, including Keith Ray’s talk on ‘Offa’s Dyke’, David Gwynn’s on ‘Welsh Slate’ and Richard Suggett’s on ‘Medieval Wall Paintings’.
We ran a number of successful events as part of the Festival of Archaeology and Open Doors 2015, and this year, for the first time, we organised an Inspirational Archives open day in November, when our offices came alive with visitors who came to explore the NMRW’s holdings, listen to lectures throughout the day and produce collages based on images from the NMRW.
Toby Driver giving a gallery tour of the prehistoric and Roman collections at Ceredigion Museum.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 5 Fellow professionals in the historic environment sector all draw upon the advice and expertise of Commission staff and on the data held in the NMRW in drafting historic environment policy, in assessing the risk that the historic environment faces from a range of threats, from climate change to change in social and economic patterns of activity, and in assessing the impact of proposed developments on the historic environment, which includes Wales’s territorial waters. We also undertake a substantial amount of advisory work in partnership with the staff of Cadw and the Welsh Archaeological Trusts, local authority planning officers and their archaeological colleagues.
Case study: the Nanteos Cup
The Nanteos Cup is a medieval bowl information. Within hours, the police made of wood named after the mansion received a phone call and the cup was at Nanteos, near Aberystwyth, in which it handed to officers by an anonymous was kept by the owners for many years. person at a pre-arranged meeting place Once thought to be the Holy Grail, and in June 2015. It is now on display at the credited with miraculous powers, the National Library of Wales where it will be Our work precious cup was stolen in July 2014. The the focal point for activities in 2017 as Royal Commission’s photographs of the part of the Wales Year of Legends tourism cup were used when the BBC Crimewatch initiative. programme put out an appeal for further DI2005_0414 NPRN 278
6 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Case study: People’s Collection Wales
People’s Collection Wales is a joint Culture Beacon projects are currently venture with the National Library of being developed by Cadw, Pembrokeshire Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru-National Coast National Park, the National Botanic Museum Wales and MALD, enabling Garden of Wales, the Church in Wales people to contribute their own family and St Dogmaels Abbey. Further projects, and community archives to the national including those in collaboration with collection – adding local knowledge and MALD, Snowdonia National Park, the community, club, or family stories to the Senedd and the Wales Millennium Centre histories of Wales. are in the initial stages of development.
The Royal Commission has been leading We have also worked with Girlguiding the Innovation strand of the project Cymru to apply successfully for a £40,000 since its inception. As part of this work, grant under HLF Cymru’s Young Roots we have developed a series of Culture grant scheme. In the Centenary year Beacons which delivers information to of the Girl Guides’ Senior Section, this users’ tablets and smartphones when project will seek to tell the stories of the they are visiting museums and heritage past 100 years drawing upon a wealth attractions. The information is drawn from of archival material, oral history and the People’s Collection and allows users personal anecdotes, preserving the past to explore a great range of content; for and bringing it into the present using example, interviews with slate workers and modern digitisation and dissemination photographs of their working lives that technologies. Through this project those adds depths and richness to a visit of the involved will gain a wide range of new National Slate Museum. Culture Beacons skills, and recognised qualifications. are very flexible tools. Girl Guides Cymru have adopted them.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 7 Case study: Digital Past 2016 ‘Providing leadership in the sector in Wales on digital techniques and standards’ Our work
In February, we organised Digital Past Librarian at the National Library of Wales. 2016, the only annual conference of its 136 people, including speakers, exhibitors kind in the UK, showcasing innovations and workshop providers attended; 63% in digital heritage tourism and survey, were from organisations within Wales, demonstrating that the heritage sector 39% from the public sector, 25% per is in the vanguard when it comes to cent from the commercial sector, 18% adopting innovative technology. from academia, 15% from third sector organisations and 3% from museums. Bringing together participants from the commercial, public, academic, third sector Five keynote addresses and sixteen and voluntary sectors, the conference presentations were given from a range promotes learning, discussion and debate of commercial, academic, public sector around a range of digital technologies in and community organisations. Eight current use, or in development, to record delegates took the opportunity offered and understand the historic environment. by the unconference sessions to make presentations on projects, research, ideas This year’s conference, held at the St or issues outside the strict themes of this George’s Hotel in Llandudno, was opened year’s event. by Linda Tomos, Chief Executive and
8 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 NPRN 13780 One of the Commission’s presentations included a demonstration on Gigapixel Photography at Bethania Welsh Baptist Chapel, Maesteg, Glamorgan. The 360° panorama (above) comprises a mosaic of 351 images which enables you to view detail (below) without the degradation you would see in a standard photograph.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 9 Contributing to the Welsh Government’s ‘Programme for Government 2011-16’
All of our public engagement activities are designed to enrich the lives of individuals and communities through engagement in cultural and heritage activities. In this way we contribute to the Welsh Government’s ‘Programme for Government 2011-16’ in such key areas as skills training and in empowering people to make best use of digital technologies.
In 2015-16: We hosted a total of 59,649 participants in community and outreach programmes
of which and of work Programme 34,792 24,857 viewed people participated our exhibitions in our events including
20,265 981 of those (58%) live within (2%) in a one of Wales’s Communities Communities First Area First Areas, where heritage is playing an important role as a catalyst for economic regeneration
10 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 We provided a total of 1,904 1,558.5 hours of digital training hours of volunteering Our much-valued volunteers, though relatively few in number, are greatly appreciated for the contribution they make to the Royal Commission’s work. Our programme gives them experience of the day-to-day accessioning, cataloguing, library and database to delegates of our activities that are core to our work. Digital Past 2016 conference 448 hours of training
successful KESS (Knowledge Economy Skills to participants in the Scholarships) PhD projects Government’s in collaboration with Back-to-Work scheme Aberystwyth University
279 The Battlefields Project has really hours of Further & beneffited me by showing how the research and “writing skills learned in university can be Higher Education training put to good use by historical organisations. It is a fascinating project which has allowed me to explore many new topics; brilliant colleagues at the Royal Commission have taught me skills that will be invaluable in my current studies and for looking for work in the future. via student placements ” RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 11
Highlights of the year 2015-16: The National Monuments Record of Wales
The NMRW, with its nearly 2 million photographs, its specialist library and its many thousands of drawings, surveys, reports and maps, is in constant use. It underpins educational work in schools, research in universities, the work of TV producers and book publishers, planning and development decisions, family history research, lifelong learning and community heritage projects. Programme of work Programme This year:
20,000 15,473 images conserved items catalogued
Over 20,000 images from the Royal 15,473 items have been added to our Commission’s collection of early catalogue this year. photographic nitrate and acetate film have been conserved, giving a total of 27,400 photographic images now protected from chemical degrading and damage.
12 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 8,730 1,359 new digital records enquiries
have been made publicly available Our search room staff via our Coflein website have answered 1,019 online enquiries 409 95% research visits positive user satisfaction
• helpfulness of staff • usefulness of the information supplied • speed of our response
welcomed to our public search room
“Doing research for BBC programme - very useful!” What our users said:
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 13 Case study: Inspirational archives day Programme of work Programme
As part of the Explore your Archive The event successfully showed how campaign the Royal Commission ran a very material from the Commission’s successful Inspirational Archives event on archives can be used in new and exciting 18 November 2015, enabling visitors to ways that engage a completely new explore the National Monuments Record audience – the majority of those who of Wales’s (NMRW) holdings and take part took part had never visited us before. in demonstrations illustrating different These creative responses to the NMRW ways of looking at the world using digital archive in the form of poetry, textiles, photography, LiDAR, GIS, reconstruction paintings, audio and video can be seen drawings and 3D modelling. on the People’s Collection Wales website: https://www.peoplescollection.wales/ Three artists from the Aberystwyth collections/475660. University Art Department joined us for the day to run workshops inspiring visitors to create a series of collages based on images, maps and aerial photographs from the NMRW.
14 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Case study: Our websites
Royal Commission Coflein Our newly relaunched website includes (www.coflein.gov.uk) is the online our popular blog (www.rcahmw.gov.uk/ database for the National Monuments news) which is the place to which Friends Record of Wales (NMRW), the national and followers of the Royal Commission collection of information about the come for the latest news on our work and historic environment of Wales. The on wider developments in the heritage name is derived from the Welsh cof sector. Staff regularly post short accounts (memory) and lein (line). Coflein allows of the many interesting discoveries they access to details of many thousands make in the course of their work. Recent of archaeological sites, monuments, examples include archive photographs buildings and maritime sites in Wales, of some of the first Nissen Huts in Wales together with the cross-referenced (developed by Canadian-American catalogue of the drawings, manuscripts Captain Peter Nissen, of 29th Company, and photographs held in the NMRW Royal Engineers, 100 years ago in 1916), archive collections. interviews with people connected with the former rocket-testing range at what is Coflein 2015-16 now the Ynyslas National Nature Reserve in Ceredigion, and images of coastal Wales in 1945 from our large aerial 1,015,044 photography collection. page views
Historic Wales (historicwales.gov.uk) is a map-based portal allowing access to hundreds of thousands of records of Welsh archaeology, buildings and artefacts bringing together the collections of Cadw, the Royal Commission, the Welsh Archaeological Trusts, and Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales. In due course we also hope to add records held by other institutions, such as the National Trust and the Ministry of Defence.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 15 Case study: Websites developed in partnership
Cynefin Cymru 1900 Wales (cynefin.archiveswales.org.uk) is a (www.cymru1900wales.org) is a similar crowdsourcing website to which anyone joint-venture project to which 416 can contribute and that aims to digitise volunteers have contributed so far to a 1,212 historic Welsh tithe maps produced collection of all the names of places and between 1838 and 1850 covering more features in Wales shown on the Ordnance than 95% of Wales and showing in detail Survey’s six-inch to a mile maps of around the use of land at the time, the names 1900. These place names are a vital key to of the landowners and tenants, field and unlocking the social and linguistic history settlement names and the tithe payments of the land, recalling agricultural practices due. To date, 839 volunteers have helped and local industries, changed landscapes
us transcribe 1,112,637 names, thus and lost settlements. As well as recording of work Programme helping the partners in the project – the the names as they appear on these National Library of Wales and the Royal historic maps, volunteers have contributed Commission – to make good progress stories about the origin of a name, other towards the target of completing the version, such as a form used by parents or project by the end of 2016. grandparents and memories of the place. 839 416 volunteers volunteers 1,112,637 294,000 transcriptions transcriptions
16 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Highlights of the year 2015-16: fieldwork and research
The Royal Commission’s field team made detailed records of 147 individual heritage assets – historic buildings, landscapes and archaeological monuments – over the course of the year, an average of three a week. In addition, we undertook 45 hours of aerial survey flying, including new 360-degree photography of key locations, intended for 3D photogrammetric modelling in PhotoScan. NPRN 33027
NPRN 409493 St Tudwal’s East island, off the Lleyn Peninsula, Gwynedd, Cropmarks of First World War practice trenches at St Dial’s showing a previously unrecorded fish trap visible through Farm near Monmouth, Monmouthshire. shallow water at the north end of the island (bottom right). The Skomer Island Project Field Systems on the Island. A lynchet This year the Skomer Island Project team is a bank of earth that builds up on the returned to Skomer to undertake a further downslope of a field ploughed over a period phase of archaeological research on the of time and the resulting earth or plough soil island, the aim being to excavate one of is important for helping us reconstruct the Skomer’s main archaeological features – a environmental history of the Island, identify prehistoric field boundary – and to extend what was being cultivated and possibly geophysical survey in the centre of the island. at what date. The principal focus of the excavation was therefore to recover samples The focus of the excavation was a of the soils within the lynchet which will now substantial lynchet, part of the Northern be carefully analysed for their seed, pollen, snail and environmental content over the coming months. The Royal Commission was assisted by colleagues from Sheffield, Cardiff and Aberystwyth Universities.
We also completed a geophysical survey around the farm at the centre of the Island; here the aim was to find out whether sub- surface archaeological features had survived despite recent cultivation: the results were positive with various features, including a linear feature, perhaps a ditch cut by later
NPRN 402711 cultivation ridges, being detected. Archaeological excavation on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 17 The Uplands Archaeology Initiative the tribal centre of the Silures before the Another project that reached completion this Romans arrived but this interpretation is now year was the Uplands Archaeology Initiative. open to question. Our work will underpin a The Uplands (land over 244 metres (800 programme of management, access and feet) above sea level) account for 40 per interpretation. cent of the land area of Wales, and some 60 per cent of the Welsh countryside. This is a landscape rich in archaeological remains of all periods and the project has been successful in mapping and understanding the diverse character and marked regional contrasts between, for example, the long fingers of high ground separating the densely populated South Wales valleys, the steep scarps of the Brecon Beacons, the rolling moorland of the Cambrian Mountains and the craggy summits of Snowdonia. Sites have been mapped as diverse as large- NPRN 301559 scale mining remains, burial mounds, linear features, trackways, artificial watercourses, Maritime archaeology field-boundaries and prehistoric standing- Growing awareness of the wealth of stones. The latest in our series of books underwater archaeology in Wales’s coastal explaining the discoveries made during the waters has led to the drafting of a National course of this project – The Archaeology of Marine Plan to protect the historic wrecks Upland Gwent – will be launched at the 2016 and drowned landscapes that are facing National Eisteddfod. pressure as a result of renewable energy schemes and aggregate extraction. The Royal Commission plays a leading role in recording underwater archaeology and contributing to marine planning consultations and licence enquiries, including such major schemes as the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and the new Marine Portable Antiquities Scheme proposed by the Crown Estate.
NPRN 304782 David Leighton showing ramblers the remains of a Bronze Age burial cairn in the upper Usk Valley during the Big Welsh Walk in the Brecon Beacons. Heritage highlights Heritage
Llanmelin Wood Iron Age hillfort The Royal Commission is working closely with Cadw to provide a new detailed survey and understanding of this unusual and impressive hillfort, located just over a mile (2km) north-west of Caerwent Roman
Town, between Newport and Chepstow. NPRN 518821 Traditionally, Llanmelin was thought to be Wreck of Boy Harry, a two masted ketch measuring 13m long and 4m wide, at Williamston quarries, Pembrokeshire.
18 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Climate change Climate change and its impact on the historic environment has been a major theme of our research work in recent years: in partnership with others in the natural and historic environment sectors, we are working with partners in the natural heritage sector to develop computer applications that model the impacts of different aspects of climate change, This composite image, using 1m LiDAR and 5m radar data, from the drying up of peat bogs to the impacts allows us to model sea-level increases for the Welsh of winter storms on coastal archaeology. Government’s Climate Change Group with great accuracy.
Case study: The Abermagwr project
Our aerial survey work in 2006, coupled the final phase of the villa’s life when with follow-up geophysics, led to the the structure was dismantled and the discovery of the unmistakable form of stone and tile taken to be used elsewhere. a Roman villa – subsequent excavation The excavation provided 1,050 hours of has demonstrated that this is indeed one training activities for 15 local volunteers, of the westernmost villas in the Roman as well as providing the subject of lectures Empire, dated to between AD 230-330. given to a capacity audience at the Questions still remain about how the wider Ceredigion Museum as part of the Festival enclosure around the villa was used, so of Archaeology. in 2015 volunteers helped to excavate parts of the courtyard to see whether any Those who took part as volunteers gave evidence survived of agricultural buildings some very positive feedback. One wrote to and practices linked to the villa. The work say: ‘it is something I shall remember for was generously funded by the Cambrian the rest of my life, not least for the humour Archaeological Association. and camaraderie that comes from hanging
The two directors at the end of the excavation. on to the field shelter in the middle of
NPRN 405315 horizontal rain and gale, the pleasure of This year’s most impressive find was a trowelling away in brilliant sunshine and complete roof tile, made of local shale good Ceredigion drizzle, and from the slate, which appears to have had been sheer amount of learning that comes from used as a stepping stone across one of working with the other archaeologists that the enclosure ditches, probably during I have met during the years of the dig.’
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 19 Architectural survey
Heritage at risk Churches and chapels in our role as statutory consultee in As well as contributing to the work of the applications for Listed Building Consent, Welsh Historic Places of Worship Forum especially those relating to demolition, we and continuing with our research into the responded with information and advice architectural history of non-conformist to around 200 consultations. We continue chapels in Wales, we are working with the to work with local authority conservation Patrimony Committee of the Catholic Church officers in their heritage and buildings on a future project to survey all the Catholic at risk work, and our expert contribution churches in Wales. This is a category of lies especially in placing buildings in a church that we know less about than the national context and encouraging owners relatively well-studied medieval churches of to understand, protect and enhance the Wales. The detailed records that we produce significant historic features. of around 200 churches will be used to inform decisions about repair grants and church conservation, and the work will be accompanied by a community engagement programme to encourage future research into Catholic heritage in wales. NPRN 408351 Only surviving hut from Fron Goch, Gwynedd, built for WWI
German prisoners of war and used for the internment of NPRN 417721 Irish republicans following the Easter Rising of 1916. St Joseph’s Roman Catholic church, Denbigh, Denbighshire.
Welsh Slate As an official partner and member of the Nomination Steering Group, we continue to provide core advice and support to Gwynedd Council in its preparation of a case for the designation of the landscapes of the Welsh slate industry as a World Heritage Site,
with potential benefits for the economy Highlights Heritage of North Wales. In December 2015, the Nomination Steering Group submitted a technical evaluation for the nomination to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the UK Government’s Expert Panel. The response to this evaluation will play an invaluable part in shaping and
influencing the ongoing development of the NPRN 305760 nomination over the coming year. The quarries and quarrymen’s town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
20 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Case study: Publications
Three major books were launched last year summarising the results of fieldwork undertaken by or on behalf of the Royal Commission in recent years: • Pontcysllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site / Dyfrbont a Chamlas Pontcysyllte Safle Treftadaeth Byd, by Peter Wakelin • Above Brecknock: an historic county from the air, by Chris Musson and Toby Driver • Welsh Slate: the archaeology and history of an industry / Llechi Cymru: Archaeoleg a Hanes, by David Gwyn.
Pictured alongside Pontcysllte Aqueduct at the launch of Peter Wakelin’s guide to the World Heritage site are (left to right); Lynne Berry OBE, chair of Bwrdd Glandwr Cymru, the board of the Canal and River Trust in Wales; Ken Skates, Welsh Assembly Member for Clwyd South David Gwyn (centre) was commissioned to write Welsh and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure; Slate: the archaeology and history of an industry in Christopher Catling, Secretary of RCAHMW; and author support of efforts to gain World Heritage Site status for Peter Wakelin. the quarries, settlements, railways and ports associated All have sold well, with Welsh Slate with the industry that roofed the world, with potential benefits for the economy of North Wales. He is particularly popular in both the Welsh and accompanied by Dr Eurwyn Wiliam, Chairman of English language versions, selling out in its RCAHMW, and Louise Barker, the investigator first print run six months after its launch responsible for leading the Commission’s survey work on this project. on 21 May 2015. The launch was held in the Great Hall of Penrhyn Castle near The event was broadcast by S4C, and the Bangor. The castle, the former home of Bethesda-born actor John Ogwen read quarry owner Lord Penrhyn, was once at movingly from the book in Welsh and in the centre of one of the longest industrial English. He chose to read the passage disputes ever seen in British history. In that closes the book in which David 1900, conflict between Lord Penrhyn and Gwyn writes of the confident culture of the Bethesda quarrymen led to a bitter Welsh-speaking Wales, with its vigorous three-year strike. Now owned by the community life, its traditions of poetry, National Trust, the launch of the book at music-making and the visual arts, and its this location was seen as an important respect for learning. step in reconciling the heritage of the castle and the surrounding communities.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 21 Partnerships and grants
The Royal Commission continues to prioritise partnership work in delivering the Welsh Government’s strategic objectives for the historic environment. In addition, we continue to seek additional sources of income to support the investigation and record of the historic environment of Wales.
This year:
We started consultation and pilot The Royal Commission is playing a key role activity work with Cadw and the Welsh in the new Welsh Places of Worship Forum Archaeological Trusts on the Ceredigion that met for the first time in January 2016 Off-Limits? part of the HLF-funded Unloved to oversee the Strategic Action Plan for Heritage? project, designed to engage Places of Worship in Wales. We are working young people in innovative heritage projects. with other members of the forum to assess NPRN 33908 NPRN 10006 Playing with projections as part of the Unloved Heritage Capel Day at Hope Chapel, Bridgend. project. which buildings are most at risk, to support We developed a €5 million bid for decision-making about maintenance and European Union INTERREG funds to repair grants and to help church and chapel study the impacts of climate change communities celebrate their heritage and on the coastal heritage of Wales and develop faith tourism initiatives. Ireland. The Commission is leading on the project, in collaboration with the Discovery We have been awarded a Stage 1 Programme Ireland, Geological Survey of Heritage Lottery Fund grant for the Ireland and Aberystwyth University. development of a project to commemorate the Forgotten U-boat War of 1917, based on sonar surveys of World War I wreck sites off the coast of Wales.
We are a partner in the Elan Links project led by the Elan Valley trust, which was successful in obtaining £1.785 million Heritage Lottery Landscape Partnership Funding. The development year started in NPRN 404188 The Commission has been working with partners on January 2016, and the project will run over Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire. 5 years.
22 RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 Partnerships As part of the promulgation of our Working with Cadw, we secured statutory Guidelines for Digital Archives, we delivered status for Historic Environment Records the first of a planned series of training events as part of the Historic Environment on curating digital archives attended by (Wales) Act 2016 and we helped to shape 23 people, including Historic Environment various amendments to the bill, including Record (HER) managers, contract the establishment of a register of Welsh archaeologists and academics. historic place names in partnership with the National Library of Wales, the Centre In collaboration with the Brecknock for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, the Society and Love My Wales, we started Welsh Place-Name Society and others. a dendrochronology project dating a representative range of Breconshire houses. In our leadership role as convenor of the The scale of community interest in the project Records Coordination Group for Wales, we can be judged by the fact that the Sir John have drafted and published the Strategic Lloyd Memorial Lecture given in March 2016 Framework for Records relating to the at the Theatr Brycheiniog to announce the Historic Environment of Wales. This allows results of phase 1 of the project attracted the free exchange of data between the a capacity audience of 478 people. The full contributing organisations. results will become available on the Royal Commission’s Coflein website in 2016. NPRN 163387 Iain Wright recording the 15th century roof of St Mary’s church, Cilcain, Flintshire. The architectural features include alternating arch bracing and hammerbeam trusses bearing static angels carrying shields with emblems of the Passion, and carvings of figures, beasts and grotesques.
RCAHMW Annual Report 2015-16 23 Our Commissioners and staff
The Commission consists of up to 10 Royal Commissioners and a Chairman who are Crown appointees recruited under the Welsh Government’s public appointments process. They are remunerated as determined by the Welsh Government to attend meetings.
Commissioners are supported to discharge their duties under the Royal Warrant and annual Remit Letter by a Secretary and expert staff. Commissioners set strategy for the organisation, oversee, challenge and advise staff at formal meetings, and individually guide, mentor and peer review.
Current Board of Commissioners: Chairman: Dr Eurwyn Wiliam MA, PhD, FSA Vice-Chairman: Mr Henry Owen-John BA, FSA, MCIfA Mrs Caroline Crewe-Read BA, MPhil, FRSA, MAPM Ms Catherine S. Hardman MA, MA, FSA Mr Thomas O. S. Lloyd MA, OBE, DL, FSA Mr Jonathan Hudson MBCS, CITP Dr Mark Redknap BA, PhD, FSA, MCIfA Professor Christopher Williams BA, PhD, FRHistS
Secretary: Mr Christopher Catling MA, FSA, MCIfA
Contact us
We welcome enquiries in person at Aberystwyth, by post, e-mail or by phone, or through our free online service, Coflein.
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales Penglais Road, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BU 01970 621 200 [email protected]
Check our website for further information: www.rcahmw.gov.uk
Join the Friends of the Royal Commission to receive regular updates, give your opinions of our services and take part in special events.
01970 621 248 [email protected]
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