Heritage on the Line: HS2 and Buckinghamshire’s Past
If HS2 is constructed it will carve its way not only through the ancient Chiltern landscape but a substantial number of historic sites in Buckinghamshire both above and below ground.
Since the announcement of the line’s proposed construction, the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society has been active in raising heritage issues with HS2 Ltd and increasing public awareness of its impact. Recently, the society arranged a well-attended open day to view the remains of the church and graveyard of old Stoke Mandeville, a little known historic feature in the care of the local parish council, which would be completely obliterated by construction of the line.
The society has now arranged a whole day event with ten speakers looking at a number of threatened locations, ranging from ancient deposits where hippopotamus bones have previously been discovered, to a Roman small town and parts of two deserted medieval village sites. Heritage on the Line will be at Weston Turville village hall on Saturday 16th May 2015. It will be a ticketed event, see http://www.bucksas.org.uk/ for further details.