Friends of Graves Park win Heritage Fund bid: Digging Deeper for All

Graves Park sunset (Friends of Graves Park)

Finding Lost Norton Park: Digging Deeper for All

Project to further explore the history, heritage and archaeology of the historic Norton Park

Following the highly successful National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project “Finding Lost Norton Park” in 2019, the Friends of Graves Park are delighted to announce that we have succeeded in being awarded a £142,770 grant, from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to run the sequel “Digging Deeper for All”. We are working with Professor Ian Rotherham and South Yorkshire Biodiversity Research Group (SYBRG), focusing on Norton Park (now named Graves Park). We will be digging deeper into the history, heritage, ecology, archaeology and local memories of this historic park.

Running from January 2022 to July 2024, the project will involve landscape, history and wildlife heritage supported by historians (archivists), landscape archaeologists and wildlife experts in gathering and assessing the information. It will also involve active participation of local people and schools. We are involving a wide range of members of the public, from young to old and from all walks of life. Most activities will take place in and around Graves Park.

The Friends of Graves Park say: “We are very grateful to National Lottery Players, who have made this project possible. We hope that all local people who are interested will join us in making this project a success.”

Our ambition for the project is to actively engage diverse communities with the Park’s less well known areas, giving people an opportunity to join with others in the Park, taking part in the archaeological, historical and ecological activities, thereby creating a social outlet in a safe environment. We want to support them in experiencing things they would not otherwise have an opportunity to do. This project will give schools and community groups the chance to engage with and witness the Geophysical surveys and the work of archaeologists and other experts in the field. We want to encourage visitors to explore sections of Graves Park which they have previously never visited, for example, pathways through the ancient woodland. This would happen through guided walks, talks and events at local venues in local areas with visiting speakers and displays. Our project will investigate the landscape, archaeology and importance of Graves Park, once ancient Norton Park in more detail to answer questions arising from the previous project such as, the confirmation of heritage features like the barrow, the linear banks and ‘lost’ buildings.

The Friends will be doing further publicity and sharing the programme of events in the New Year  inviting people to join in.  Anyone who is interested can contact us by email friends@gravespark.org and join our mailing list for further information.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Using money raised by the National Lottery, we Inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk.

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Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK. More than £30 million raised each week goes to good causes across the UK.