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“It is a unique and special area that has attracted the interest of people down through the ages.
“The funding will benefit greatly those who live, work and visit the area, as well as future generations to come.”
The award has been made through the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape Partnership Scheme, an innovative programme which enables community partnerships to work together to enhance and protect the historic character of their local landscapes.
Added Stephen Boyce, Heritage Lottery Fund Deputy Director: “What is so wonderful about this scheme is how it has brought local groups together to make a huge difference to this important landscape. This Heritage Lottery Fund award will deliver great benefits for everyone involved.”
The funding is part of a wider £2.2 million project which involves the County Council, English Heritage, landowners, farmers and volunteers.
The Sandstone Ridge is one of Cheshire’s most distinctive landscape features, standing prominently above the surrounding plain, offering spectacular long-distance views across Cheshire to the Welsh mountains, Peak District and Merseyside.
It has a strong natural character, with concentrations of woodland, heathland and peatland.
Its chain of hill top Iron Age forts are all set within a framework of attractive sandstone buildings and boundary walls.
The ‘Habitats and Hill Forts’ project will improve the condition of the hill forts and associated heritage features and restore and increase natural habitats in their vicinity.
It will make the hill forts more accessible, by improving access where appropriate and link them to the Sandstone Trail.
An integral element of the project will be the involvement of local communities through volunteering and training opportunities.
The project, led and developed by the County Council, will have the benefit of operating within the broader management framework of the Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership which involves 3,500 local people, 400 farmers and landowners, 1,000 businesses and 44 villages and Town and Parish Councils.
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Note To Editors: For more information please contact County Councillor Steve Wilkinson on 01565 734195 and Alun Evans from County Council Regeneration on 01244 603177.
For the Heritage Lottery Fund please contact Dervish Mertcan or Katie Owen, HLF Press Office on 020 7591 6102/6036. Out of office mobile 07973 613 820.
Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) Landscape Partnership programme is unique in the way it brings together members of the community, local, regional and national organisations to deliver schemes which will be of benefit to some of the UK’s most outstanding landscapes and rural communities as a whole. In partnership, disparate organisations work with local communities to uncover and conserve the heritage of their landscapes. To date HLF has supported 19 schemes.
HLF grants have supported more than 22,500 projects, allocating £3.6 billion across the UK. Website www.hlf.org.uk
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