Access to the Antonine Wall event
Every once in a while you hear about a campaign for a site to get World Heritage status, for example Loch Ness had a bid in a couple of years ago (I’m not sure if it’s still going).
But what do you do with World Heritage Status once you’ve got it? Having the status is bound to bring more visitors to an area, and is a recognition of a man made or natural site that is important to the heritage of the entire world. But how do you make the most of the benefits such status can bring?
Back in February, at the Rural Network East Renfrewshire regional event, we heard a very interesting presentation from Gillian Barrie at the Central Scotland Forest Trust about the Access to the Antonine Wall project. The Antonine Wall was designated a World Heritage Site in 2008 and is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire site which also includes Hadrian’s Wall. It is one of only five World Heritage Sites in Scotland.
Naturally, getting World Heritage status raised the expectations of the local community and agencies, but there were a number of barriers to accessing the Wall.
For example, if you wanted to visit the Wall which are the best bits to visit? And where do you find information about the Wall? The barriers are largely because of the nature of the site – the Wall is not a continous feature and in many places the setting is degraded.
In our latest Featured Project you can find out about the Access to the Antonine Wall project. The pilot project proposed to:
- Focus on an agreed stretch of the Wall
- Explore what the Wall meant to local people
- Look at how they currently accessed and enjoyed the Wall
- Consider what barriers and opportunities to accessing it there actually were
In the Featured Project: Access to the Antonine Wall article, Gillian Barrie tells us about the aims of the project, who’s involved and their biggest achievements so far, including a celebratory event and the the production of an asset map about the Wall.
If you’re involved in a heritage project, and want to get more people from the community involved or improve the access to your site, then I’d encourage you to take a look at Gillian’s article. And if you want to share the story of your project by taking part in Featured Projects then get in touch by emailing editor@ruralgateway.org.uk.
