January Journal Review

Stones of Stenness, © Tim Clark

New this year: a monthly roundup of the Journal, for new readers and those who may have missed something!

We started the year with a quote  from Wendell Berry, which neatly summarises not only the Green Movement, but also applies to many aspects of heritage conservation.

Our series looking at local archaeology societies, started in December, continued throughout the month, covering the NorthEast, SouthWest, Yorks and Humber and West Midlands areas. More still to come next month! We also started a new short series, looking at the various types of Barrow in the landscape.

We briefly delved inside the mind of Mike Heyworth, Director of the CBA, reviewed the 25th Anniversay edition of Meyn Mamvro magazine, and outlined some of the folklore surrounding ancient sites.

On the Damage and Desecration front, we listed Five Things Not To Do at Heritage Sites,  and highlighted the cost of ‘affordable’ housing that has been developed within a stone’s throw of Avebury. Meanwhile, a Planning Decision at Naseby has put a potential dent in English Heritage’s recently published guidelines regarding the “setting” of monuments. And there’s  news from Wales of the possible discovery of a new stone row, immediately threatened by development.

With regard to Treasure Hunting, we looked at how PAS could provide a simple outreach service to landowners and outlined some points that landowners may wish to consider before granting permission to detect on their land, before suggesting a new version of the STOP campaign from the 1970s.