A MEDIEVAL village in Worcestershire will be revealed in all its glory after a heritage group received a lottery grant to delve deeper into its many mysteries.
Abberley Hills Preservation Society has been awarded £50,000 of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a year-long project in the picturesque village which is north west of Worcester.
The support from the Heritage Lottery Fund will enable the society to undertake a project to understand the medieval layout of the village, to try and date the older buildings and perhaps discover some long lost features described in old documents and books about Worcestershire.
Archaeologists will be undertaking geophysical surveys, building surveys and two small scale digs.
Local people will be able to get involved, helping as volunteers with the work, learning new skills and attending a series of talks
School pupils from local schools will learn how to excavate in a training dig and visit the sites to see work in progress.
The July 2015 Abberley School Fete will provide at a Medieval Fayre the opportunity for the community to celebrate what was discovered.
The project builds on the Abberley Lives project undertaken in 2011 and 2012 by Abberley WI which looked at life in Abberley in the 20th century.
A blog site (www.AbberleyLives.wordpress.com) will contain updates about the project.
AHPS Chairman Marion Evans said: “Abberley Lives whetted people’s appetite for local heritage. We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has agreed to fund this project which we hope will open a window on life in the village 600 to 1,000 years ago. We can’t wait to discover what medieval Abberley was like.”
Reyahn King, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, said: “This project will add to what is known about the archaeology and the medieval history of Abberley and will give the local community an opportunity to become involved at first hand.”
The project will be launched at a public meeting at 7.30pm on Monday, October 6 in Abberley Village Hall and will run for just under 12 months
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