Highlights from the Chess Valley Heritage Day

There was a working Bronze Age smelting furnace, iron age coinage, chalk sculptures, and people could try painting with pre-historic pigments and home made paint brushes.

The event organised by the Chilterns Heritage and Archaeology Partnership (CHAP) and the River Chess Smarter Water Catchment Project (RCSWC) with funding from Thames Water. RCSWC  uses a catchment-based, holistic approach to improving the invaluable River Chess Chalk Stream. The day aimed to share understanding of the heritage of the Chess river catchment, which has been shaped by human activity for thousands of years. Cholesbury is the site of the prehistoric hillfort, Cholesbury Camp, created during the iron age, protected and maintained by dedicated volunteers at the Chiltern Society.

Our thanks also the Hawridge and Cholesbury Cricket Club for opening their doors to provide much needed hot drinks and food and Christine Stott  and the Hawridge and Cholesbury Commons preservation society for allowing the event to take place.’