AN IRON Age roundhouse that will help bring to life people who lived at a Bournemouth beauty spot 2,000 years is to be built this year.
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, a traditional roundhouse will be built at Hengistbury Head adjacent to the visitor centre.
The three-year initiative will start in July 2023 and will include prehistoric activities and re-enactments, such as bronze smelting, kiln building and costume making.
It all forms part of the Living in the Round project, which aims to educate and reconnect people with Hengistbury Head’s important prehistoric past.
Construction of the roundhouse is hoped to start in autumn and it will be built principally by volunteers.
Invitations will be handed out to the community at Bournemouth University to help with the initial stages of the development.
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Mark Holloway, BCP Council’s Living in the Round project lead, said: “Living in the Round looks to be the next exciting chapter of our work at Hengistbury Head, which is going to help locals and visitors understand the location’s immense historic value.
“The building of the Iron Age roundhouse is a particularly interesting development, and this is something we are calling on local people and communities to become involved with.”
Councillor Andy Hadley, portfolio holder for climate response, environment and energy, added: “Hengistbury Head boasts such rich history and archaeological importance to our area. We hope that this project will help to promote and reveal this, alongside the need for careful conservation.
“We are aiming to introduce experimental archaeology to wider communities, helping to build engagement and make the project a model for helping people to come together, learn new skills and build self-confidence and connection to this special place.”
Read more: Travellers set up camp in Hengistbury Head car park
The Living in the Round project aims to expand on the work of the previous Performing the Past campaign (2019 - 2022) which trained over 20 volunteers to deliver prehistoric activities and re-enactments.
One of the campaign’s first events will be hosted by Wessex Astronomical Society on July 23, with a demonstration of telescopes and investigations on how people used the night sky to tell stories and plan for the seasons ahead.
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