This week we have another guest
post, this time on the role of archaeology in the project, written by the Historic
Environment Record Officer, Nick Boldrini:
Not to be left out of the
centenary commemorations, Durham County Council Archaeology team wanted to get
into the act. Site research was started in the summer of 2013 by a project volunteer from Durham University, then as part of the HLF funded project, it was possible to take
on a Temporary Assistant Historic Environment Record Officer, to do an audit of
World War I records.
The Historic Environment record
(HER) is the County Council's system for recording archaeological sites and
remains, to aid management of them through the planning application process, by
farmers and other landowners, and also to help interested researchers.
Ben Dyson was appointed to the
post, and for 4 months he had the task of researching records on sites through
the County, and adding or updating our records.
Ben had the opportunity to look
into various different aspects of the war and its impact on County Durham, such
as the use of buildings as Volunteer Aid Detachment Hospitals, the creation of airfields
and Prisoner of War camps, and the expansion of military camps and facilities,
such as rifle ranges. Although this was a wide remit, there was only a limited
amount of information easily available, and this work was quickly finished.
There is still potential here, though, for further research by volunteers.
The main chunk of work was the
addition of records about War memorials. This involved cross referencing our
records to those of the North East War memorials Project and the United Kingdom
National Inventory of War Memorials, as well as locating them on maps when
often the descriptions were a bit vague. Not all could be located, and there is
an opportunity for volunteers to help us try and track some of these down.
The HER and Archaeology Team's
interest is also slightly different to the other projects mentioned, as we are
more interested in the memorial as monuments, rather than in transcribing the
lists of names on them. What Ben’s work highlighted, is the variety of
memorials that exist. There are the most recognisable, traditional “Cenotaph”types, but also statues, crosses, clock towers, memorial buildings, all as free
standing structures, as well as plaques, paintings and organs, for example,
within other buildings. It also revealed the memorial dedicated in St JamesChurch, Hunstanworth which commemorates the fact that all those who served from
the village returned safely. Known as a Thankful Village, there are only 51 of
these villages in the entire United Kingdom.
By having this information in the
HER, we can try and manage these memorials during changes in towns and
villages, to ensure that the promise that “Their Name Liveth For Evermore”, the
phrase found on so many war memorials, is honoured.
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