Every year, the far southwest of England attracts visitors from all over the country. Visitors go to see Cornwall‘s incredible green spaces and coastline. Others are drawn to the higher than average temperatures of the subtropical climate. One of the most important areas is Penwith. It’s an area of incredible natural landscape and wildlife. However, ancient monuments make it an important heritage zone too. The idyllic Penwith landscape incorporates Land’s End and the farming communities of the far west. A major project for its conservation has just received over £2.5m of Heritage Lottery Fund money.
By Jim Champion (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Projects Around the Idyllic Penwith Landscape
The idyllic Penwith landscape project intends to deliver the following goals:
- A survey of the area’s important archaeological sites to improve knowledge and understanding
- Upgrading public access routes such as bridleways, and cycle and footpaths
- Enabling residents to engage with, survey and care for local heritage and wildlife
- Sustainable farming delivered through landscape improvements for farms while aiding local wildlife
- Recording, restoring and repairing historic hedges
- Funding for place name etymology – understanding the origins of local place names
- Restoring historic farm buildings and re-purposing them
- Further supporting the continuation and growth of family-run farming
Project managers will ask locals and visitors for their thoughts and experiences about west Cornwall. The idyllic Penwith landscape and the rest of Cornwall’s natural heritage received much local attention through 2017. Now, the HLF grant will help the council achieve some of their goals at the most westerly part of their county and the country. The money is set out and spread as funding over a five-year period. The first task for the money, however, is to hire five project officers to help deliver the main parts of the project.