Project to investigate Clee Liberty Commons historic past should help to safeguard its future

A three year programme to investigate the iron age, medieval and industrial landscape of Clee Liberty Common, on Shropshire’s highest hill, has begun. The first phase involved volunteers mending and researching a hillfort says Renée Wallace, project officer.

 It’s part of a £3m project to secure the future of upland commons in England, including Shropshire’s Long Mynd, Stiperstones, and Clee Liberty – and is led by the Foundation for Common Land.t.

“The Our Uplands Commons project is all about helping commoners adapt and survive as well as growing the public’s enjoyment of, and respect for, commons and commoning,” explains Renée.

In 2021 just 3% (400,000 hectares) of England remains as common land; land privately owned over which individuals, commoners, have rights – mostly to graze livestock. All common land has open access giving everyone the right to enjoy them for recreation and learning. In the Shropshire Hills AONB, some of the most iconic landscape features, with valuable historic sites, are also commons, including the Long Mynd.

In late October, 17 volunteers spent the equivalent of 51 person days doing fieldwork to help heritage experts investigate and repair Nordy Bank. It’s a scheduled monument and a well-preserved iron age hillfort dating back to 400 BC. It also provided an ideal opportunity to look inside the rampart and record its construction, which unearthed a posthole, explains Renée Wallace.

“The last surviving fort of three on the slopes of Brown Clee, its ramparts are still steep and formidable. It’s easy to imagine why it was chosen as a place to face enemy attack,” she says.

In its heyday, the fort would have covered an area of 3.2 hectares, about the size of three rugby pitches. And could have served as a fort, a stock enclosure, place of refuge and a permanent settlement.

Matt Williams and Janine Young from Shrewsbury based Fearn Heritage & Archaeology led the work, following protocols agreed with Historic England. Volunteers made sandbags to fill hollows, created by sheep, and covered them with hessian for further protection. Some of the techniques used here will be applied to other hill fort restoration work.

 In November there will more opportunities for people to play history detective with a geophysical survey of the interior of the hillfort, using a magnetic gradiometer. Carried out by Archaeological Survey West, people are invited to pop along and watch or join in for an hour over three days starting on Friday 19 November.

“People are also invited to a talk and demonstration by the specialists at 2pm on Saturday 20th November at Nordy Bank hillfort entrance.

“And, when conditions are right, a mapping exercise using lidar, or light detection and ranging technology is also planned, “explains Renee.

“That will create a digital 3D map to reveal archaeological clues on and below the surface, gathered by equipment on a plane. It’s the same technology that was used to map the moon during the 1971 Apollo 15 mission.

“Volunteers will learn to interpret the data and compare it with other records and what can be seen on the ground,” she adds.

For Matt Williams he hopes the community project will bring the landscape to life for locals as they help look after it and use modern technology and fieldwork to discover its archaeological riches. Working on Channel Four’s flagship programme ‘Time Team’, and as a co-presenter of BBC Four’s ‘Digging for Britain’, he is a great believer in making heritage accessible and inspiring.

In 2022 and 2023 the project will look at the medieval and industrial heritage of Clee Liberty Common.

For more information about the work at Nordy Bank and elsewhere on Clee Liberty, and for updates, people can contact Renée Wallace, Project Officer for Shropshire Hills by emailing her at renee@foundationforcommonland.org.uk

 “It’s vital that we recognise and protect our upland commons.” adds Renee.

 “Our Upland Commons project supports those who manage these historic magical places, both the farmers and local communities. For instance, other work on Clee Liberty includes managing bracken, with a remote controlled bracken cutter, to make it better for butterflies, sustainable grazing and archaeology.”

 “And all this important work can happen thanks to volunteers, National Lottery players and grants from Esmée Fairbairn, Garfield Weston Foundations and local funder the Millichope Foundation,” concludes Renee.

A posthole was discovered at Nordy Bank Hillfort Credit Fearn Heritage and Archaeology

Volunteers making sandbags to repair Nordy Bank Hillfort. Credit Fearn Heritage and Archaeology