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Dartmoor

News

Preservation group up for award


From Western Morning News Feb 26th 2011

Nomination for project to save cairns on moor

A project to improve the condition of prehistoric cairns on Dartmoor has been nominated for a national award.

The Dartmoor Cairn Repair Project has been shortlisted for the Marsh Archaeology Award, organised by the Council for British Archaeology.

The award is given to a voluntary project which has worked to improve the condition of the nation's heritage.

There are more than 1,200 known round cairns on Dartmoor. The majority are thought to date to around 3,500-4,000 years ago, although some may be even older.

The project between Dartmoor National Park Authority (NPA), English Heritage and the Dartmoor Preservation Association saw volunteers carry out surveys and repairs under specialist supervision.

It has resulted in 31 of the scheduled monuments being removed from the English Heritage "at risk" register.

NPA archaeologist Andy Crabb said: "This is great recognition for a fantastic project which has surveyed and repaired over 45 prehistoric cairns in the last five years.

"The cairns repaired by the project had become damaged through disturbance such as the remodelling of the stone material to create shelters. This can expose fragile archaeology once contained within the cairn and destroy its distinctive profile."

James Paxman, chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, added: "This is tremendous news and proves what an enormous amount can be achieved by volunteers working together with other organisations.

"The team has become a highly skilled and close knit unit. Besides the actual restoration work the quality of their field survey drawings is outstanding and provides an important new source of information about Dartmoor's cairns." The winner will be announced in March.
Mr Hamhead Posted by Mr Hamhead
27th February 2011ce

Comments (2)

This is a great piece of recognition. Was Lubin involved in this work? thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
1st March 2011ce
Yeah, let's hear it for those who would rather take the much more difficult option to (re)create rather than destroy. All those who have ever fashioned a shelter out of a cairn should hang their heads in shame. GLADMAN Posted by GLADMAN
1st March 2011ce
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