Author: admin

  • The River Culm – a historic watercourse

    Apart from obvious modern alterations, the River Culm might appear quite timeless. In fact, the project shows how much the river has changed not just over the last hundred years or so, but over many centuries. Although historic maps may date back only to the 1840s, they often show features in the landscape that are…

  • Historic Watercourses : Dorset Stour. Developing a method for identifying the historic character of watercourses

    By Antony Firth and Emma Firth, February 2020 The Historic Watercourses project is intended to develop a means for heritage managers and watercourse managers to identify at a strategic level the historic character of watercourses, based on a pilot focussing on the catchment of the Dorset Stour. The project has been framed around Defra’s Catchment…

  • Heritage Assets in Inland Waters 

    Client English Heritage/Historic England This project addressed the range of heritage assets that may be found under inland waters, considering their significance and archaeological potential. The focus is on assets or features that go unnoticed because they are literally ‘in’ the water, beneath the surface. Heritage assets and their components under inland waters have received…

  • ML 286 – A Little Ship with a Big History

    Motor Launches (MLs) were an innovative, numerous and important approach to combatting U-boats in the First World War. They served in the protection of the East Coast War Channels and in many other theatres. Despite their importance, it seems that only one example survives, in a deteriorating condition at Isleworth on the Thames.  I first became interested…

  • Dover Sector – An Introduction

    In both the First and Second World War, the sea area between the south-east corner of England and the coast of the Continent – referred to here as the ‘Dover Sector’ – witnessed intense conflict. This intensity was partly because the sea was itself the front line between the warring powers, and partly because both…

  • The First World War at Sea – recording heritage sites

    On behalf of Historic England, Fjordr is working on two projects about the First World War at sea, East Coast War Channels and Dover Sector. Amongst their objectives, both projects are encouraging people to find out about heritage sites relating to the war at sea and to add their own information to archaeological records. Fjordr is working alongside…

  • A First World War U-Boat in the Medway (II)

    I was able to visit the remains of a First World War U-boat in the Medway in August 2016 with Alex Langlands and CiTiZAN in connection with the making of Britain at Low Tide for Channel 4 by Tern TV. The remains of the U-boat are very striking. It lies against a small islet in the marshes, almost entirely submerged at…