Big Bronze Age Boat Build – Stanwick Lakes
An ambitious heritage project to build a Bronze Age replica log boat using only traditional tools and techniques is taking place at Stanwick Lakes this year. Supported by Dr James Dilley of Ancient Craft, the project will see volunteers making and using only bronze replica tools to carve out the log boat piece by piece, giving us a real insight into how our ancient ancestors used materials to survive and explore the ancient waterways.
As part of our National Lottery Heritage Funded projects, we are in the final planning stages of our Big Bronze Age Boat Build and have a very exciting few months ahead. Understanding that our ancient settlers would have used the waterways around the Nene Valley and Stanwick Lakes to hunt, forage and travel, the build will not only increase learning for skills such as woodworking but will be a team effort involving communities, partners and specialists.
Our project expert Dr James Dilley is an experimental archaeologist and flintknapper, specialising in the British Stone Age and Bronze Age. He founded Ancient Craft to dedicate focus towards educating and reconnecting people to their prehistoric heritage, and fully shares our heritage ethos of making archaeology and heritage accessible to all. We are really grateful for his support and partnership for this exciting project!
We have developed a wonderful heritage partnership with Boughton House, who have kindly donated us a fallen lime tree to use for our first boat build and we will continue to build a joint heritage story between these two historic sites throughout this project.
Our next step is to create some of the bronze tools to be used in the build. Our bronze casting weekend with the team of volunteers will take place this weekend 6th and 7th May.
Our first boat build weekend will take place on the 3rd and 4th June, outside the large barn in our heritage space.
All are welcome to come and watch the team make a start on this ambitious project and watch how it develops over the next few months.
