EXARC member Marc Cox from Newhaven Coppice (UK) is looking for support to get the Blackdown Experimental Archaeology Research Centre started and create a “world class Open Air Museum, Craft Hub and Archaeological Research Centre, telling Britain’s woodland story over the last 10000 years.” 

The Blackdown Experimental Archaeology Research Centre is based in Somerset, UK, in nearly 100 acres of woodland with “glorious towering oaks, wild dense hazel coppice and clearings humming with a cacophony of wildlife.” The area will be divided into three parts which visitors will be able to discover chronologically from the Mesolithic, via the Bronze Age to the Anglo-Saxons. There will be reconstructions of ancient buildings for each time period that will offer teaching aids for school groups, act as the space for traditional craft courses as well as a museum.

The project is currently in phase 1: getting the right permits, navigating the planning system, contacting the councils responsible and consulting with specialists about how best to proceed into the next phase. And this is where funding is absolutely crucial.

The promotional video on their YouTube channel gives a wonderful first impression about how much love, passion and attention to detail is going into that project. 

If you want to support Marc and the Blackdown Experimental Archaeology Research Centre, please follow the link to their crowdfunding page and further information on the project.