A VOLUNTEER project which helps manage one of the richest archaeological sites in the country has been praised by Historic England.

Another Dorset site has also been placed on the group’s Heritage At Risk register amid fears that scrub growth is putting the buried archaeology at risk.

The Royal Naval Cordite Factory in Holt Heath is one of 82 sites added to the register in the south west.

The cordite factory was built in 1916, and continued to produce explosives until 1945. During the First and Second World Wars, the site produced cordite, acetone and nitroglycerine and was instrumental in the development of the chemical compound picrate just prior to the Second World War.

This substance reduced the barrel flash visible across a battlefield when a gun was fired. The factory covers a large area of land, with lots of small workshops surrounded by earth banks, to contain any accidental blasts.

A large number of individual buildings and structures still remain, now in varying degrees of collapse, and a programme of works to identify and repair the most significant of these is urgently needed. Much of the site is within a nature reserve and only open to the public by prior arrangement. 

But it’s good news for the South Dorset Ridgeway Project, which was recognised by Historic England for its work.

A spokesman for Historic England described the project as ‘excellent’. Volunteers visit and help assess the condition of 60 archaeological sites. 

Many of these are on the Heritage At Risk register but more are in an unknown condition.

A spokesman for Historic England said: “The South Dorset Ridgway is an extremely archaeologically rich area of the country with over 100 scheduled monuments, with some barrow cemetery sites comprising over 40 individual barrow mounds each.

The Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) has received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for this three year project which will help the future management of these sites. Risk factors include arable farming, vegetation growth and animal burrowing. The volunteers’ findings are being reported to the county Historic Environment Record and to Historic England allowing the AONB to target work where it can do the most good.”

John Ette, Heritage at Risk Principal for Historic England in the South West said: “The South West has over a quarter of the nationally-important sites in England. From prehistoric monuments and landscapes to industrial buildings and military heritage, there are many challenges when sites become at risk. Historic England continues to invest grant aid and to dedicate time and expertise working with owners, developers and communities to find solutions to rescue precious sites in the South West so people can continue to enjoy them and the stories they tell about our past.”