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Shots from 13th-century catapult discovered outside Kenilworth Castle
Eight stone catapult-shots from Henry III’s siege of Kenilworth Castle have been found perfectly preserved outside its walls. The shots range in weight from 20kg to 105kg, and would have been launched at the castle walls during the king’s 172-day attack in 1266. Similar discoveries made in the 1960s allowed English Heritage to link the ammunition to the siege. The shot was found during a project that has been taking place at Kenilworth Castle over the last four months, intended to improve accessibility around the site for pedestrians and wheelchair-users.
Northamptonshire celebrates heritage with Bronze Age boat launch
The Big Bronze Age Boat Build project has been working for two years to create replica Bronze Age sailing vessels using period-accurate tools and techniques. The project, led by environmental charity Stanwick Lakes, was funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Volunteers have worked for more than 700 hours to build the boats, which will be launched in a special event on 21 July, along with a ritual tool sacrifice and demonstrations of craftmanship such as bronze-casting and textile-making. More details about the event, including how to attend, can be found on the Stanwick Lakes website: https://stanwicklakes.org.uk.
Galway’s award-winning digital graveyard project
Galway County Council has received a second award for its digital graveyard project, which saw local communities working to map more than 40,000 graveyard memorial records across Co. Galway. The project was supported by Galway Rural Development, FORUM Connemara, the Heritage Council, the National Monuments Service, and Galway County Community Archaeology Service. Funding was granted to provide expert training to locals, who used mobile technology to record the monuments through drone-mapping. The records and maps are available to be viewed online: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/b42c38a841b84d2b8da39ebd9b6b3c00.
Text: Rebecca Preedy
