The Queenswood Heritage Gateway project, running until October 2019, aims to explore and showcase the heritage of the site with new opportunities for visitors to learn more about the arboretum and history of Queenswood.

The project is receiving grants amounting to just under £100,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The grant of £58,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, made possible by National Lottery Players, will fund practical improvements and new interpretation on the site and a programme of events and activities as well as a part-time project officer to manage the project.

There a number of strands to this ambitious project:

A new audio-visual trail, ‘Lyrics, Leaves & Lives’ will run through the Arboretum where visitors can listen to excerpts of oral history connected with the site, poems and bird song.

Within an area of oak trees in the Arboretum, a memorial to the First World War will be created. Queenswood was clear-felled during the Great War, all the trees cut down to provide timber to support the war effort, and the woodland we see today has regenerated over the last century.

The First World War Commemorative Woodland will provide a contemplative space which explores the role played by Herefordshire’s landscapes and rural communities during the war and the legacy it left. An artist will be commissioned to design an installation to form the centrepiece of the space.

The funding will also go towards improving the signage, making the site more welcoming and accessible and the team will be consulting with the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC), and the Alzheimer’s society on new signs and paths.

The project’s legacy will be the publication of a book explaining the timeline of Queenswood and Dinmore Hill and collating the social, cultural and natural history of the site. The project team are looking for volunteers to assist with researching the site with local heritage organisations.

Anyone interested in volunteering as part of the project should contact James Hitchcock on 01432 356872 or [email protected]

Keep up with the project’s progress at www.queenswoodandbodenhamlake.org