Small Heritage Adoption: South West Peak

This is an archived website, available until June 2027. We hope it will inspire people to continue to care for and protect the South West Peak area and other landscapes. Although the South West Peak Landscape Partnership ended in June 2022, the area is within the Peak District National Park. Enquiries can be made to customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk

The 5-year South West Peak Landscape Partnership, 2017-2022, was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Small Heritage Adoption

Project summary

Across the South West Peak are heritage assets of historic importance. Ranging from Bronze Age burial mounds to lime kilns, many were only known locally or monitored infrequently. The Small Heritage Adoption project created the infrastructure and provided training for individual volunteers and communities to identify and monitor the condition of these important icons of the South West Peak’s past. We also raised interest, awareness and enjoyment of the South West Peak’s cultural heritage by providing further information and interpretation.

Individual sites or features were subsequently adopted by enthusiastic volunteers, who received detailed practical training in the tools and techniques necessary for ensuring that the next generation of South West Peak residents and visitors can enjoy the same sense of deep history that people experience today. Read more about the Small Heritage Adoption project in our Final Report in the More section below.

Gradbach limekiln is a good example of a successful adoption. The site benefited from a restoration grant, from the Association for Industrial Archaeology, to consolidate it and ensure that the limekiln is preserved for future generations. You can read more about Gradbach limekiln in the Case Study in the More section below.

This project has been supported by a restoration grant from the Association for Industrial Archaeology.

Click Here to Access Volunteer Survey Documents

Provided training to 109 volunteers to be stewards of local history
Oversaw 46 heritage assets adopted by volunteers, including: all mileposts in the Staffordshire South West Peak; Dale Mine; Gradbach Limekiln; Dane Bridge; Butterton Sundial; Hobcroft Barn; and a number of stone troughs
Identified and recorded 531 new heritage assets
Monitored and recorded more information about 399 previously known historic assets
Raised interest and knowledge about the history of the South West Peak through digital material, information panels, guided walks and trails: Errwood Hall App, panels at Dale Mine and Gradbach limekiln, Warslow Field Barns trail and Buxton Letterbox trail

adopt part of the heritage of the south west peak

For further interest

See our maps for a list of local sites of historical importance.

Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints when visiting local historical sites.
Read more about archaeology in the Peak District National Park.
If you notice a change or vandalism on an object of historic importance, notify the Peak District National Park Authority's cultural heritage team.

Volunteer