Trust Wins the Dorothea Award for Conservation

Swannington Heritage Trust has won the "2004 Dorothea Award for Conservation" presented by the British Association for Industrial Archaeology. The award is for the Trust's continuing work of restoration at Hough Windmill in Swannington coupled with their sensitive presentation of the history of coal mining on two adjacent sites. The Gorse Field contains landscape evidence of 800 years of the development of coal extraction culminating in the use of the horse gin winding engine, an example of which has been constructed on site. The nearby Califat Spinney contains the remains of the C 19 coal mine that was the scene of a flooding disaster in 1863 in which three miners including a sixteen year old boy, lost their lives.

The award, sponsored by Dorothea Restorations Ltd, takes the form of a certiificate, a handsome commemorative plaque and a prize of £500. It was presented at the annual general meeting of the Association at Hatfield on 1 5th August. Denis Baker, Chairman of the Swannington Heritage Trust, said "It is particularly pleasing to receive such a prestigious national award from a body universally acknowledged as the most authoritative in the field of industrial archaeology. I believe that it recognises not only the work of the Trust in practical industrial conservation but also as a propagandist and interpreter in the field. I hope that our members and supporters will be rewarded and reinvigorated by this marvellous acknowledgement of the contribution the Trust has made in the field of industrial archaeology at the vital local level at which we operate." Further information can be had from Denis Baker on 01530 222330.

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