Climate Change & Coastal Heritage

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9 September 2021• Community Engagement

Caerfai Excavation

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Exploring the prehistoric site of Caerfai Camp before it’s lost to coastal erosion

Caerfai Promontory Fort is a Scheduled Monument and one of St David’s peninsula’s most identifiable prehistoric landmarks, but so little is known about its history and construction

 

Working alongside CHERISH, volunteers from across Pembrokeshire will be led by a team from DigVentures to excavate, characterise and date aspects of the fort and its immediate environs.

The monument and the isthmus which it is situated on is at risk from coastal and terrestrial erosion as well as adverse vegetation growth. All of the information gained from the dig will feed into an active approach to conservation management being undertaken by Cadw, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA), the National Trust (NT) and the CHERISH Project.

The two-week excavation (taking place from 2nd – 16th September) is also open for everyone to join in. Both adults and children can join the archaeological team, learning how to investigate a nationally important piece of history while also helping to reveal new details about the Promontory fort at the heart of Pembrokeshire and St Davids’ prehistoric coastline.

You can also follow along on the DigTimeline here

3d Model of Caerfai Camp

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29 March 2021• Get Involved

The CHERISH Exhibition

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The CHERISH Exhibition

The CHERISH Exhibition is a travelling exhibition that will be displayed in libraries, museums, heritage centres, galleries and other public buildings across Ireland and Wales. The exhibition highlights the impact of climate change on coastal cultural heritage and the work that CHERISH is doing to assess risk, measure change and record sites in both countries. The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness of the impacts that climate change continues to have on our precious coastal heritage. It also aims to attract volunteers willing to record change to their local coastline and coastal heritage in the future using the CHERISH app that is currently being developed.

Our plans to display the exhibition have largely been put on hold due to Covid-19 restrictions but we hope to have a new schedule for this travelling exhibition in the near future. Watch this space. If you would like to host the exhibition please contact the project team for details.

 

CHERISH exhibition hosted at the Storiel (Gwynedd Museum) venue in Bangor
CHERISH exhibition hosted at the Storiel (Gwynedd Museum) venue in Bangor

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26 March 2021• Get Involved

Collaboration & Training

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Collaboration & Training

The CHERISH Project has organised a number of professional workshops and are committed to organising more online and in-person workshops and events.

Professional Seminars

The CHERISH Project held a successful Professional Seminar on Thursday 17th May 2018 in Venue Cymru, Llandudno. The seminar was attended by nearly 80 delegates including members of the CHERISH Advisory Committee and Project Partners. A range of speakers presented position papers on UK climate change and coastal heritage policy from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland as well as talks about survey, research and public engagement. The free one day seminar composed of three sessions focussing on ‘Strategies for our Changing Coasts – Regional and National Perspectives’, ‘Meeting the challenge: CHERISH Project Update’ and ‘Engaging Coastal Communities’.
Participants of the 2019 CHERISH flying school receiving a briefing before carrying out their first photographic survey.
Participants of the 2019 CHERISH flying school receiving a briefing before carrying out their first photographic survey.

Day Schools

A number of day schools have been organised on both sides of the Irish Sea with an aerial school in Ireland in 2019 being a particular highlight. It was divided into a UAV day school and a flying day school. Both day schools began with classroom sessions in the morning, followed by a practical session in the afternoon. The UAV practical session took place at the Hill of Uisneach, County Westmeath. The practicalities of organising and planning a UAV survey were explained on site. The tutors included Robert Shaw, Discovery Programme, James Barry, Geological Survey of Ireland and Ronan O’Toole, Geological Survey of Ireland.
James Barry of the GSI briefs delegates of the CHERISH 2019 UAV Flying School before a survey.
James Barry of the GSI briefs delegates of the CHERISH 2019 UAV Flying School before a survey.
The flying school’s practical session continued at Weston Airport in Dublin. The students were divided into two groups of three and they flew in a four seater plane with the pilot and one of the instructors (Dr Toby Driver, Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments Wales and Damien Grady, Historic England). The flight path allowed the students to take pictures of Trim Castle, the Hill of Tara and Bru Na Boinne World Heritage Site. In total 13 students took part in the aerial survey school including postgraduate students, commercial archaeologists and the state sector colleagues. The feedback from the school was very positive.
In 2018, Wales also saw it’s first public day school, hosted by the Royal Commission and Aberystwyth University ‘Facing the Storms’ saw presentations given from all CHERISH Partners alongside two guest speakers, Rebecca Evans from Pembrokeshire Coast national Park and Ken Murphy of the Dyfed Archaeological Trust.
Participant of the CHERISH flying school landing capturing an oblique image of Brú na Bóinne through the open window of the cockpit.
Participant of the CHERISH flying school landing capturing an oblique image of Brú na Bóinne through the open window of the cockpit.

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26 March 2021• Get Involved

Conference & Seminars

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Join us as we complete the CHERISH project with a final conference to disseminate and contextualise our research within the sector.

 On Tuesday 21st March 2023 CHERISH will hold its final conference at the Printworks, Dublin Castle. We will present the final findings, products and lessons learnt from this 6-year, €4.9 million project. Most importantly, this will include launching our Good Practice Guidance: a how-to guide on the project’s “toolkit” for researching at-risk sites.

The day will include papers from members of the team, heritage professionals who have worked with the project, and those who have developed and refined the Toolkit. We will be joined by representatives from a wide variety of businesses, with Trade Stands to explore during refreshment breaks. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, and there will be a drinks reception in the evening 5-7pm as an opportunity to network.

Join us if you want to hear about the ways that we can approach coastal, intertidal and marine sites at risk from climate change. There will be chance to discuss the future of climate heritage, and how we as heritage professionals can engage with the risks posed by climate change.

If your company or organisation would like a trade stand at the event, please contact us directly at cherish@rcahmw.gov.uk.

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Save the date poster

CHERISH Conference 2021

The CHERISH Project online conference was held on 12 May 2021. The successful conference brought together a range of international speakers which provided a fantastic insight into how climate change and coastal heritage in being approached across the world. 

CHERISH conference 2021 flyer

Delegates who registered for the conference can still access all of the talks on CHERISH Conference Catch-up TV with their delegate login details by clicking on the button below.

Login to catch-up TV here

For those that were unable to register for the event all recorded papers are available on the he CHERISH Youtube channel.

An end of CHERISH phase one conference is planned for 7 September 2022 at Dublin Castle. The conference will have an international focus with papers by leading specialists and practitioners, it will present the findings of the project and look at the way forward.

Conference Participation

The CHERISH Project stays actively engaged with the international climate change and cultural heritage community through presenting at a range of national and international conferences. We have organised scientific sessions at international conferences in Barcelona, Dublin and Newcastle and have presented to audiences in countries across Europe such as Italy, Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Orkney Islands and even Stockport!

More recently CHERISH project members have participated in number of online conferences. Toby Driver and Sandra Henry both presented papers at the Adapt Northern Heritage Conference in May 2020 (one of the first on-line conferences); Edward Pollard presented a paper at the Nautical Archaeology Society annual conference in 2020; Louise Barker and Kieran Craven gave one of the Keynote presentations at the Digital Past Conference 2021 and also present were James Barry, Daniel Hunt and Robert Shaw who presented an online workshop on the use of drones for archaeology.

Past CHERISH Conferences

An aerial archaeology seminar organised by the CHERISH project took place in June 2019. The seminar entitled Air and Earth 2: Developments in Aerial Archaeology was a free full day conference. The seminar was divided into four sessions and the first session Recent Aerial Discoveries included papers from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England. The other sessions each featured three papers on the topics Aerial Photographic Archives, Lidar and other remote sensing methods and Education and community involvement.

CHERISH Senior Geo-surveyor presenting at the AIr & Earth 2 Conference in 2019.
CHERISH Senior Geo-surveyor presenting at the AIr & Earth 2 Conference in 2019.

In May 2018 the CHERISH Project held a successful Professional Seminar on in Venue Cymru, Llandudno. The seminar was attended by nearly 80 delegates including members of the CHERISH Advisory Committee and Project Partners. A range of speakers presented position papers on UK climate change and coastal heritage policy from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland as well as talks about survey, research and public engagement. The free one day seminar comprised three sessions focussing on ‘Strategies for our Changing Coasts – Regional and National Perspectives’, ‘Meeting the challenge: CHERISH Project Update’ and ‘Engaging Coastal Communities’.

Audience members at the CHERISH Professional Seminar: Llandudno 2018.
Audience members at the CHERISH Professional Seminar: Llandudno 2018.

The CHERISH Project has also organised several conference sessions in large international conferences including the European Archaeology Association (EAA) in Bern (2019) and Barcelona (2018).

Speakers who contributed to the CHERISH Session at the European Archaeology Association (EAA) 2018 Conference in Barcelona.
Speakers who contributed to the CHERISH Session at the European Archaeology Association (EAA) 2018 Conference in Barcelona.

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26 March 2021• Get Involved

Community Engagement

News Letter

Community Engagement

Community engagement is a fundamental part of CHERISH. Since the beginning of the project in 20217 we have been engaging with the public in a variety of ways and venues across Ireland and Wales.

CHERISH staff giving a public tour of the Dinas Dinlle site in North Wales.
CHERISH staff giving a public tour of the Dinas Dinlle site in North Wales.

We have ran outdoor engagement activities such as coastal and island guided walks, field walking exercises to identify artefacts in ploughed soil and community beach cleans. We also continue to collaborate with other organisations who also curate and research threatened coastal heritage sites.

The project has also hosted numerous open days that showcase the diverse nature of the project. Events such as those held during National Heritage Week have been very successful with over 1,000 people stepping aboard the GSI survey vessels to learn about the maritime work of CHERISH.

Members of the Irish Scouts during a CHERISH vessel open day.
Members of the Irish Scouts during a CHERISH vessel open day.

2019 saw the first CHERISH community excavation at Dinas Dinlle coastal fort in Gwynedd where fifty volunteers from the local area were able to take part in the excavation. The excavation culminated with an open day where over 400 visitors were able to learn about the site and the ways in which climate change and erosion is affecting the site. Visitors were also treated to a guided tour of the excavation trenches where they could see one of the largest ever prehistoric roundhouses uncovered in Wales.

In the next phase of the CHERISH Project the community will be invited to help record changes to their coastline using our app that is currently under development. Training and support will be provided to community groups who wish to get involved.

CHERISH Project engaging with schools in Gwynedd in 2019.
CHERISH Project engaging with schools in Gwynedd in 2019.
CHERISH Project archaeologists Dan Hunt & Toby Driver demonstrate to a school how drones are used to record archaeological sites.
CHERISH Project archaeologists Dan Hunt & Toby Driver demonstrate to a school how drones are used to record archaeological sites.

Community Recording

The CHERISH project will support the active role communities can take within recording the coastal environment through the development and promotion of a community recording. Based upon the successful experiences of both the CITiZAN (Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network) in England and the ShoreUpdate App developed by the SCAPE Trust in Scotland, CHERISH will develop pilot programmes that enable citizen scientists to identify and record coastal heritage sites using mobile devices and provide photographic and written evidence of any potential damage. The tool will be developed for public use in 2022 and during Phase Ii of the CHERISH project.

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