PRESS RELEASE
DISCOVERY OF PRACTICE BATTLEFIELD LAUNCHES
CALL UP TO VOLUNTEERS:
HELP FIND FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE FIRST
WORLD WAR!
Remains of an entire practice battlefield, the size of nearly 17 football pitches,
with two sets of opposing trench systems and a No Man’s Land between,
used for training troops before they were sent to the Front in the First World
War, has been discovered on heathland in Gosport, Hampshire. The find
marks the start of Home Front Legacy 1914-18, a project on which the
Council for British Archaeology (CBA), English Heritage, Historic Scotland,
Cadw and partners across the UK are working together to record the physical
remains of the war on home territory.
Overgrown and forgotten, this century-old site was lost to history until a few
months ago when Rob Harper, Conservation Officer at Gosport Council,
spotted what he recognised as trench systems on a 1950s aerial photograph
and went to investigate.
Now, as part of the Home Front Legacy campaign, volunteers from the
Armed Forces are working with the CBA and English Heritage to map and
record the practice battlefield for posterity. (Some of these Servicemen and
women have recently completed their own pre-deployment training for modern
operations overseas.)
Rob Harper, Conservation Officer at Gosport Borough Council said: “I found
myself walking along a ditch and realised it was part of an elaborate trench
system, hidden for all these years by bracken and gorse. I looked around and
there were trenches everywhere! It’s Ministry of Defence land but open to the
public. Local people picnic here and are aware of the lumps and bumps but
their origin has been a mystery until now.
“Gosport was a departure point for thousands of soldiers setting off to the
trenches of Europe many of whom may well have practised here. But we
haven’t yet found any records of who they were, what they did or what
happened to them afterwards.”
Speaking from the battlefield today (Thursday 6 th March) Dan Snow,
President of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), called for more
volunteers to join up for the Home Front Legacy campaign. He said: “Our
aim is to record and preserve vulnerable sites, buildings and structures –
camps, drill halls, factories and observation posts for example, before they
and the stories they bear witness to are lost forever. Our volunteers will be
scouring the nation’s towns, villages, countryside and beaches to track down
local First World War places that are just not in the records. They’ll upload
observations on what they find to a specially designed app along with
photographs and historic documents which will appear on an online map to
open up the impact of the war on our landscape for everyone.”
Wayne Cocroft, English Heritage’s First World War expert, said: “English
Heritage is exploring old documents and aerial photographs, many of which
haven’t seen the light of day since put away after the war. We’re identifying
former drill halls, requisitioned factories and farm buildings, pill boxes, secret
listening
stations,
acoustic
mirrors,
prisoner-of-war
camps
and
gun
emplacements - places that deserve to have the part they played in history
made known.
“Buildings from Tudor, Georgian, Victorian times…these are all well
documented. But the built history of the First World War in England is virtually
a blank chapter. The Home Front Legacy 1914-18 campaign is about
bringing together our national expertise and people’s local knowledge to fill in
the gaps and for the first time properly record the remains of the war that are
still all around us today.”
Maria Miller, Culture Secretary and the Government’s lead on the First
World War Centenary programme said: “The Home Front Legacy 1914-18 is a
really good and worthwhile project. The First World War, and the part that
Britain and the Commonwealth played in it, changed the course of history.
Discovering, preserving and identifying for the public, sites and buildings from
that era will help bring that part of our national history alive for generations to
come.
“So I hope lots of people, young and old and from all over the country, will get
involved. Local and family history groups, parish and county-based centenary
projects, schools, young people, those interested in the part played by women
or Commonwealth communities – there will be buildings and sites to be
discovered that mean something to everyone.”
Richard Osgood, MOD Archaeologist, said: ”Browndown Training Area is a
truly remarkable site, part of the history of Gosport and also that of the Armed
Forces, so it’s great that our Servicemen and women have been able to
explore the trenches today and experience it first hand.”
David Hopkins, Hampshire County Archaeologist, said: ”It is well-known
that
troops
were
stationed
at
nearby
Browndown
Camp
but
to date no historical records have emerged noting the practice trenches. We
need to use archaeological methods to investigate and increase our
understanding of this site and the hugely important period in our history it
illuminates.”
How to Get Involved
Sign up on the Council for British Archaeology’s Home Front Legacy website
to access the online recording toolkit, guidance and resources including an
app for recording sites in the field and a map and photo gallery of newly
recorded sites. www.homefrontlegacy.org.uk Twitter @homefrontlegacy
Facebook Home Front Legacy Flickr.com Home Front Legacy
The English Heritage website contains information about all kinds of buildings
and sites associated with the First World War and describes other English
Heritage projects taking place over the centenary period. www.englishheritage.org.uk There will also be updates on Twitter: @englishheritage and
the English Heritage blog: Heritage Calling
END
Note to Editors
Photographs and footage of the Hampshire practice battlefield discovery are
available from: louiseennis@archaeologyUK.org
Footage and stills of the modern day equivalent of the practice trenches,
showing current Armed Forces personnel training for deployment, are
available on request.
Gosport is a coastal peninsula on the Solent in South Hampshire. It faces the
famous anchorage at Spithead and is on the west side of Portsmouth
Harbour. As well as being a departure point for thousands of soldiers setting
off to the trenches of Europe, it was key to the anti-invasion coastal defences
set up in preparation for the conflict.
The Home Front Legacy 1914-18 project is coordinated by the Council for
British Archaeology, an educational charity, with funding and support from
English Heritage, Cadw and Historic Scotland. This is the only community
engagement project recording physical remains from the First World War,
working with partners across the heritage sector in the UK.
www.homefrontlegacy.org.uk/ www.archaeologyUK.org/first-world-war
Twitter @homefrontlegacy Facebook Home Front Legacy
Flickr.com Home Front Legacy
Browndown Training Area is managed by the Defence Infrastructure
Organisation (DIO). DIO is part of the MOD and plays a vital role in supporting
our Armed Forces by building, maintaining and servicing what the men and
women who serve our country need to live, work, train and deploy on
operations.
DIO’s work includes supporting operational units by providing and improving
single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic
military sites. DIO actively manages these to ensure the needs of Defence are
met, value for money is achieved, and its heritage is protected, and to achieve
its environmental goals.
For further press information, please contact:
communication.team@english-heritage.org.uk 02079733250
press@archaeologyUK.org 01904 671417
For images of other key First World War sites around the country go to:
https://plus.google.com/photos/101554616913588617820/albums/598692219
8319185921?authkey=CJmKqum3xe_AWw
https://www.flickr.com/photos/118946274@N04/
Other First World War sites and buildings around the country that are
being researched and recorded by English Heritage and the Council for
British Archaeology include:
Curtis and Harvey Explosive Works, Cliffe
Stowe Maries Airfield, Essex
Wrest Park, Bedfordshire
Rothbury Practice Trenches, North Yorkshire
Remains of Southam training camp, Warwickshire
U-Boat wreck in English coastal waters
Munitions Workers Housing (Royal Arsenal), Well Hall Estate, Woolwich
First Blitz damage to Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, London
Anti-aircraft sites - Acoustic mirror, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
Twitter @homefrontlegacy
Facebook Home Front Legacy
Flickr.com Home Front Legacy
Twitter: @englishheritage
Blog: Heritage Calling