The Norfolk Archaeological Trust will be launching a two-year project to allow people to explore and celebrate the heritage of two historic sites in the county.
The Imagined Land project will enable people to learn more about the Tasburgh enclosure, near Long Stratton, and Burnham Norton Friary, near Burnham Market, after the trust received a grant of £74,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
People will be able to take part in practical research and creative activities and there will be archaeological 'test-pits' in gardens and fields outside the scheduled monument areas to find out more about the development of the sites.
Research will then be used as the starting point for creative art work – writing, music and craft making – culminating in historical pageants devised and created with local communities, including schools.
Caroline Davison, director of the trust, said: 'We're really happy to have been awarded this grant
and we're hoping local people in
both communities will enjoy exploring the history of these special places.
'This might include digging test-pits, writing a poem or making a lantern for the pageant – there will be lots of ways to get involved.'
The project will start at the Tasburgh enclosure later this month.
An open meeting will be held at the village hall on Wednesday, February 15 from 7pm where people will be
able to sign up for training and activities.
Project manager Simon Floyd added: 'We're hoping everyone in the village will come along on the 15th. This is a project not only for and about but also with the people of Tasburgh and we look forward to showing them the many ways they can get involved.'
Activities at Burnham Norton will begin later this year.
The trust, which started in the 1920s, looks after 10 monuments.
Tasburgh enclosure
The roughly oval-shaped earthwork enclosure at Tasburgh lies close to the medieval church of All Saints.
In places the earth rampart is 3m in height but it is not known when it was built
It could be an earthwork fort dating to the Iron Age
It may also date to the Anglo-Saxon period or the 9th century AD when Danish Viking armies were wreaking havoc in East Anglia
Excavation near the site between 1975 and 1980 found remains of a number of timber buildings and plenty of artefacts, including pottery dating to the middle and late Saxon periods
Carmelite Friary of St Mary, Burnham Norton
Burnham Norton was the fourth Carmelite house in England and the first in Norfolk
Founded in 1241 by Sir William Calthorp and Sir Ralph Hemenhall, it
enlarged its premises in 1298 and 1353
Few documents survive, but it is thought that 17 friars were in residence during the early 16th century
The only building still standing intact is the little 14th-century gatehouse standing at the roadside but parts of the building walls can be seen
The friary was closed in the 1530s due to the dissolution of the monasteries
For more information, contact Simon Floyd at imaginedland1@gmail.com or call 07896 781574 or visit http://www.norfarchtrust.org.uk/
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