Archaeology and heritage
The New Forest has a unique history, from royal hunting ground to Napoleonic ship building, salt making to World War One & Two heritage.
The jewels in our heritage crown are more than 200 Scheduled Monuments and 600 listed buildings.
We provide opportunities to take part in a range of heritage tasks and projects. If you want to get active this could include archaeological surveys, to practical conservation tasks. We also offer tasks that are less physically demanding which you could do at home or join us in our Lymington office. We provide all the training and the occasional social event.
As well as meeting like-minded people, our volunteers gain skills such as archaeological surveying, desk-based research, photography, computer skills including MS Word, Excel & geographic information systems (GIS), through to practical skills gained via vegetation clearance on archaeological sites. It’s also a chance to discover more about the vast history and heritage we have in this special place.
Volunteering for 2023/24
New Forest Oral History Group:
We are re-launching the New Forest Oral History Group and are recruiting Transcribers (typists) to help transcribe oral history recordings, Editors to produce audio clips from recordings and Publishers to help get oral histories online. These roles are aimed at those wanting to volunteer from home.
Archaeology Surveyors:
We are recruiting volunteers to join us conducting archaeology surveys across the Forest. Our current focus is an updated survey of WW2 heritage. These roles are aimed at those wanting to get outdoors into the Forest.
Contact us
If you want to volunteer with us, please sign up using this form. You will be able to select a preference for Archaeology volunteering and receive tailored emails about your chosen activities.
Get in touch with our Volunteer Coordinator to find out more about volunteer opportunities; email volunteering@newforestnpa.gov.uk.
If you would like to get in touch with our Archaeology Team directly with any other queries, please email archaeology@newforestnpa.gov.uk.
