Medieval Abberley Revealed
In 2014 The Abberley Hills Preservation Society received nearly £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out a year-long project in our picturesque village of Abberley, Worcestershire.
The support from the Heritage Lottery Fund allowed us to undertake a project to understand the medieval layout of the village, to try and date the older buildings and to research some long lost features described in old documents and books about Worcestershire.
Archaeologists from the Worcestershire Archives & Archaeology Service and the Historic Environment Record at the Hive in Worcester undertook geophysical surveys, building surveys and two small scale digs. Local people got involved, helping as volunteers with the work, learning new skills and attending a series of talks, excavations and field walks. A building chronologist carried out a housing survey report which features a number of the older houses in the village. Pupils from local schools learned how to excavate in a training dig and visited the sites to see work in progress.
Villagers brought their own ‘treasures’ to Ask the Expert events and helped to create a mosaic for the Village Hall from some of the finds
Interpretation panels were created to place around the village to show what existed there during the medieval era.
The Abberley School Fete on 3rd July, was a Medieval Fayre and marked the official end of the project – the sun shone and fun was had by all. It really was the icing on the cake. Thank you to everyone who has supported the project.
The project built on the Abberley Lives project undertaken in 2011 and 2012 by Abberley WI which looked at life in Abberley in the 20th century.
Abberley Hills Preservation Society 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 was launched at a public meeting on 6 October 2014 and ran until September 2015.
Medieval Abberley Revealed led us on an archaeological search for the village’s castle and mill and took place between 2014 and 2015.
