The Museum of Bath Stone is about to embark on its most adventurous project to date! We are inviting the communities of Combe Down and Fox Hill to take ownership of their heritage and help us observe, describe and record never-before-seen footage.
We are recruiting 20 volunteers for this unique project. Due to the nature of the funding supporting this development, we are prioritising placements for those applying from the Combe Down and Fox Hill areas of Bath, with those living further afield with former or existing connections to the area also being firmly encouraged to apply.
Key details
Project duration: November 2022 – January 2023
Project name: Bath’s Underground History Unlocked: A Community Digitisation Project
Volunteers required: 20 individuals from Combe Down and Fox Hill
Volunteer commitment: 10 hours (approximately)
This projects aims to develop within the local community a familiarity with the former underground landscape of the UNESCO World Heritage Site city and strengthen Combe Down and Fox Hill’s association and connection with the building of Georgian Bath.
Volunteers in the ‘Bath’s Underground History Unlocked’ project will be given exclusive access to never-seen-before archival footage documenting the Combe Down Stone Mines, and receive training in archival practice under the direction and expertise of the museum’s Collections Manager. Volunteers will then be given the opportunity to record their independently made observations in accordance with archival standards for video description and, these observations will lay the foundations of a new research facility accessible to all Museum of Bath Stone visitors in 2023.
No previous experience is necessary and, full details of what to expect and how to register can be found on the Project Page of our website. Each project volunteer will receive an exceptionally warm welcome and will be supported continuously and throughout their volunteering placement at the Museum of Bath Stone.
Please note this is a time-sensitive project and volunteer registrations must be submitted before midnight, Monday 24th October 2022.
On the completion of the project, the newly digitised films will feature in the new interpretation, enhancing the museum’s visitor experience. Work will also begin to take the information captured by project volunteers and cross reference this with details held within the other 100,000+ records pertaining to the Combe Down Stone Mines; enabling for the first time, a complete and comprehensive database. If you live outside of the Combe Down/Fox Hill areas, we encourage you to get in touch and request further details of our other collections based volunteering roles.
The Combe Down Stone Mines Stabilisation Project is an exceptional example of geological engineering and demonstrates in no uncertain terms, the consequences of exhausting a finite natural resource. The Museum of Bath Stone protects the memory of the Combe Down Stone Mines for those who dug this stone with their bare hands and for all of us, the people to which these special places are no longer physically accessible.
This project will enable the preservation and conservation of records pertaining to the Combe Down Stone Mines, further enhancing the museum’s collection and the public’s collective understanding of this integral part of Bath’s history.