Cannock Chase’s fascinating history is being explored by a new pop-up exhibition touring the county’s libraries.
Currently being hosted in Eccleshall before coming to Stone in August, over 2000 years of human activity across Cannock Chase has been unravelled using the latest LIDAR and Aerial photography technology as part of the Chase Through Time project.
Amongst the discoveries are over 430 new archaeological sites, many of which form part of the remains of the two Great War training camps where over 500,000 men were trained. These include practice trenches, assault courses, weapons pits, and an extensive replica ‘battlefield’, which were constructed in the area in the early months of the war.
Eccleshall Library will host the exhibition until the end of January. In addition to this important military heritage, the project has also shone a light on the Chase’s long and varied history by revealing prehistoric monuments, evidence for the medieval management and division of the landscape, and the area’s significant industrial heritage.
Gill Heath, Staffordshire County Council’s Library Chief said: “This is an excellent exhibition that will give people in Eccleshall a real insight into life on Cannock Chase over thousands of years. Having just commemorated the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War it is also a fitting time to highlight the role of the Chase in training half a million men for the war. The findings are now helping us better understand this special landscape and will help us manage it so that future generations can enjoy it.”
The team of experts and volunteers were able to see beneath the trees and bushes without having to dig anything up thanks to the use of LIDAR and aerial photography. The project was delivered by Staffordshire County Council and Historic England with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Helen Winton, Aerial Investigation and Mapping Manager at Historic England, said: “Cannock Chase has some of the best preserved archaeological remains relating to First World War army training in England. Thanks to volunteer-led research, expert insight and by exploring the landscape from above we’ve learned so much more about the area’s rich past. To be able to match trenches and huts in 100-year-old postcards, drawings and diaries to features on the ground, and in turn make connections to the people who trained there, was fantastic and really brings the history of the Chase to life.”
More information about the Project and exhibition can be found at www.chasethroughtime.info. People interested in reviewing the research and project report can do so via the online tool https://services.historicengland.org.uk/cannock-chase-map/
Future dates for the exhibition:
- Hednesford Library – February
- Lichfield Library – March
- Norton Canes Library- April
- Codsall Library – May
- Heath Hayes Library – June
- Brewood Library – July
- Stone Library – August
- Wombourne Library – September
- Perton Library – October
- Baswich Library – November
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