Big Bronze Age Boat Build project starting soon at Stanwick Lakes

A heritage project to build a Bronze Age replica log boat using only traditional tools and techniques is starting on June 3 and 4 at Stanwick Lakes.

The National Lottery Heritage fund has enabled a three-year project exploring the Bronze and Iron Age heritage of Stanwick Lakes, and the Bronze Age Boat Build will allow volunteers and the community to explore how our ancient ancestors used materials to survive.

The project will embrace experimental archaeology, working with only replica bronze tools and ancient techniques to create a log boat that would have been a common sight on waterways more than 4,000 years ago.

Stanwick Lakes Heritage has partnered with Dr James Dilley for this project, an experienced experimental archaeologist specialising in the Stone Age and Bronze Age.

The team has already spent time with James learning about the history of log boats, different build techniques and how to cast bronze to produce replica tools.

The skills sharing and learning will enable the group to develop skills to take the project forward over the next two years, with consideration for further boat build involving the public and local community groups.

Dr Dilley said: “The Big Bronze Age Boat Build at Stanwick Lakes is an incredibly exciting and unique project in that it brings together a wide community of people from different backgrounds to work together and experience the process of making prehistoric tools, woodworking and eventually building a craft similar to those found at famous sites such as Must Farm, near Peterborough.

"The project is a perfect example of how archaeology can be used to improve interactions between different communities, well-being, skills learning

and of course an understanding of the past.”

Before quarrying works started in the 1980s, several archaeological excavations on site unearthed a huge wealth of history dating from the Neolithic (c 3,700-3,500BC) to Medieval (1150AD – onwards).

The archaeological excavations kept growing, becoming one of the largest archaeological sites ever excavated in the UK.

The project has also developed a heritage partnership with Boughton House, near Kettering.

Boughton Estates have been able to support the project by providing fallen lime trees to be re-purposed into a Bronze Age log boat.

David Cullum, parks and gardens manager, said: “It’s rewarding to join forces with such an inspiring project taking place with our friends over at Stanwick

Lakes.

"To re-purpose and re-use fallen timber from our historic lime tree avenues couldn’t be a move fitting continuation in their historical journey.

"I’m sure our predecessors who first planted the historic avenue all those years ago could never have imagined that the trees would one day be used in this way. "

Nadia Norman, heritage co-ordinator at Stanwick Lakes, said: “It is so exciting for us to start our Big Bronze Age Boat Build project, which will really showcase how volunteers and skills sharing enables sites like Stanwick Lakes to be able to share heritage experiences with the public and our communities.

"We’ve had huge support from Dr James Dilley, Boughton House and our wonderful volunteers, this project wouldn’t be happening without them all.

"A huge thank you also needs to go to National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, as without their continued support for heritage, projects like ours would not be possible.”