Who we are
North Cornwall Heritage is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the research, exploration and management of the cultural heritage of North Cornwall in its many forms. We provide a platform from which individuals with professional, academic and amateur backgrounds can collaborate in the interest of developing a greater understanding of the archaeological and historical landscape of North Cornwall.
Our philosophy centres on a responsible and professional approach to the understanding and preservation of the cultural heritage resources both within and beyond our remit. We pride ourselves on upholding this ideal and the values that go hand in hand with it.
The approach we take with our archaeological research programmes and training excavations relies on our philosophy, with a strong focus on community involvement and the provision of a high quality experience in archaeological practice.
What we do
At present, our primary focus is our training excavation programme. This is supplemented by our passion for outreach and also allows us as an organisation to assist academic research projects in North Cornwall, as well as completing our own research objectives.
Our training excavations are designed with two very different goals in mind. The first of these serves our research aims, by providing us with the ability to conduct excavations and further our exploration of the rich archaeological environment of North Cornwall. The second and infinitely more important function of our excavations is training and education. Every aspect of our training excavations are arranged to facilitate the provision of a high quality, experience in archaeological practice.
Everyone should have the opportunity to get their hands dirty while discovering the past, although not without respect for the fragility and limited nature of that which they are exploring. Archaeology is a precious resource and needs to be handled with the utmost care and professionalism; however, this is not to say that archaeology is solely for a select group of individuals. In fact, we believe that the truth couldn’t be further from this. We believe the best way to ensure this opportunity is through a thorough education in archaeological practice, which North Cornwall Heritage achieves through our investigations in the area and instruction from highly skilled and experienced archaeologists.
North Cornwall Heritage is also involved with work associated with the Cornwall Archaeological Societies (CAS) Monument Watch scheme. This involves us monitoring monuments over time to try and preserve them as well as updating the records kept on this precious resource.