Traffic officers help uncover a piece of history at 800-year-old priory
A team of traffic officers gave up their time to help with the conservation of an 800-year-old priory – and unearthed a long lost piece of ancient wall.
Swapping their National Highways uniforms for waterproofs, the volunteers had offered to help remove some of the thick vegetation and shrubbery that had grown over the ruins at Grace Dieu Priory over recent years.
The Priory, in North West Leicestershire, dates back to 1239 when it was a house for Augustinian canonesses. It was closed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and later converted into a Tudor house.
But from the end of the 16th century the buildings went into dilapidation. It is now cared for by the Friends of Grace Dieu Priory who are trying to prevent the ruins going into further decline and who run events and activities throughout the year.
Caption: Hard labour for traffic officers clearing some of the vegetation away from the ruins
Traffic officers based at the nearby Shepshed outstation decided to do their bit to help the historic site, which is popular with visitors, and gave up a day to carry out some back-breaking clearance and conservation work.
Led by Team Manager Mark Endacott and Operations Manager Simon Mansfield, the team managed to clear a large area exposing an additional piece of ruins wall that hadn’t been seen for many years.
Caption: This area was heavily overgrown but traffic officers cleared the site and uncovered part of the ruins, the section of wall on the right
Mark commented:
“We all agreed that we wanted to try to make a bit of a difference to a cause within our local community and with the priory being so close to our outstation it seemed an obvious choice.
“It was a great day working together as a team and enjoying some fresh air whilst at the same time giving something back to the local community. The work seemed to be well received by dog walkers and we even rescued a frog that we were able to return to the local stream.”
Caption: Mark Endacott working with Alison Brand-Barker from the National Forest Company
Alison Brand-Barker, Community Engagement Officer for the National Forest Company which organised the work, said:
‘We were delighted to have a team from National Highways with us for a day to help care for the beautiful Charnwood Forest Geopark landscape.
“We cleared vegetation from a historic wall at Grace Dieu Priory, enabling heritage features to be seen by visitors to the site, and made new habitats for insects, mammals and fungi.
“The Friends of Grace Dieu Priory were thrilled with what National Highways achieved.”
Caption: The volunteers prepare to start the tidy-up
Notes to Editors
To find out more about the historic site visit the website www.gracedieupriory.org.uk and to find out more about Charnwood Forest Geopark visit www.charnwoodforest.org.
