The Cheviot Hills Heritage Project.

A new, two-year project is beginning in the Cheviot Hills, aiming to research, interpret, and celebrate this fantastic landscape.

A new, two-year project is beginning in the Cheviot Hills, aiming to research, interpret, and celebrate this fantastic landscape. The project aims to map the natural and cultural heritage of the area, looking at everything from geology to crafts and folklore, from wildlife to history, archaeology, and much more. From this mapping, a Cheviot Atlas will be created, to help local people and visitors from further afield to explore and get to know the wonderfully rich heritage of the area.

Local communities in and around the Cheviots will be invited to get involved, with opportunities for individuals and groups to contribute their own knowledge, skills and time to researching the landscape, and deciding which of its stories to tell. A number of workshops and open evenings will be held in the New Year, for those who would like to get involved or find out more.

The project is one of the first to consider the Scottish and the English Cheviot Hills as one landscape, taking a holistic approach to the hills and how they have shaped natural and human activity throughout time. It is hoped that in thinking about the Cheviots as one landscape we can better manage the area for generations to come, and that through celebrating the richness and local distinctiveness of the landscape and settlements of the Cheviots, a sense of shared identity and pride can be fostered.

Project Officer Elanor Johnson has been appointed to co-ordinate the project, and is very much looking forward to getting to know the landscape, saying “The Cheviots are home to many fascinating stories and through this project these stories will be brought to a wider audience, celebrating the landscape and providing for a sustainable future”. Elanor will be based in the Cheviot Centre, Wooler.

The Cheviot Hills Heritage project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Borders Council, Northumberland National Park Authority, Berwick Borough Council and Alnwick District Council, with additional support from a number of other partners.

For more information, email Elanor on ejohnson@nnpa.org.uk or call on 01668 228130.