Heritage Projects
Exploring our current project and the legacy of past heritage work at Stanwick Lakes
Past Projects at Stanwick Lakes
From 2013 to 2024, Rockingham Forest Trust completed a series of National Lottery Heritage funded projects at Stanwick Lakes. These legacy projects each helped to uncover and celebrate the remarkable story of the Nene Valley and its people across the centuries.
Bronze Age & Iron Age (NV5000) | Settlers of the Nene Valley | Trading Places
Current Project:
From Iron To Empire
Roman Heritage at Stanwick Lakes Rockingham Forest Trust is currently undertaking an exciting two-year project exploring the Roman heritage of Stanwick Lakes, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Legacy Projects:
Bronze Age & Iron Age (Nene Valley 5000, 2023-2025)
Rockingham Forest Trust was awarded a £250,000 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver an ambitious three-year heritage project exploring the lifestyles and activities of the Bronze and Iron Age people who settled here over 3,000 years ago. The project focused on four main strands:
- – The restoration of the Bronze Age Bowl Barrow, raising awareness of its historical and cultural significance in the landscape.
- – Building a replica Bronze Age Boat using ancient skills and tools, with the help of community volunteers and specialist advice.
- – Creating a replica Iron Age settlement as a focal point for a Living History Experience.
- – A partnership with the Northants Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers to explore and recreate Iron Age textiles and clothing using traditional methods and natural dyeing.
A highlight of the project was the Big Bronze Age Boat Build, which invited volunteers and the wider community to explore how ancient ancestors used materials to survive, embracing experimental archaeology using only replica bronze tools and ancient techniques. The project was delivered in partnership with Dr. James Dilley of Ancient Craft, an experienced experimental archaeologist specialising in the Stone and Bronze Ages, who shares our belief that archaeology and heritage should be accessible for all.
Settlers of the Nene Valley (2018–2022)
Rockingham Forest Trust successfully completed the four-year Settlers of the Nene Valley project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the Nenescape Landscape Partnership Scheme. The project explored the lives of Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and Medieval settlers of the Nene Valley, celebrating their journeys, lifestyles and skills through a wide range of community engagement activities.
Activities included school projects, community events, and hands-on opportunities to learn traditional crafts and construction techniques. Free educational workbooks – aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils and created by volunteers – are still available to download.
Free Resources
Download these workbooks for fun facts and activities you can do at home!
Aimed at Key Stage 2, they were created by volunteers as educational tools through the Settlers of the Nene Valley Heritage Project at Stanwick Lakes 2018-2022.
Trading Places (2013–2017)
The Trading Places heritage project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, ran for four years between October 2013 and November 2017, working with communities from Wellingborough to Thrapston. The project focused on local trades, skills and lives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, involving re-enactors, storytellers, crime historians and traditional craftspeople to help schools and communities connect with the history of their local area.
Read the Evaluation Report to find out more about the project.
Traditional Crafts Courses
An important element of this project’s work was to set up a traditional skills training programme for young unemployed people from the area; giving them opportunities and experiences to build upon. To support this, an oak Training Barn was constructed at Stanwick Lakes in early 2014, which continues to host a range of public courses including blacksmithing, wood carving and leather bag making.
