A recent Cumbernauld News article stated that our plans for a Community Archaeology project wasn’t feasible. Unfortunately the Cumbernauld News didn’t approach ourselves for a comment on the article and the below letter was submitted to them for publication in the next edition.
Last week’s Cumbernauld News reported on comments by John Kirkhope, a local architect, under the headline “Archaeological dig ‘unlikely to be a success’”. As Chair of the Friends of Cumbernauld House Park I was disappointed to read these comments from someone who has not attended any of our meetings or made any attempt to contact the group to find out more about our plans for a community archaeology project.
We hope to deliver a professionally supported, community-led archaeology project to investigate the former Cumbernauld Castle, delivered in an education and training environment with input from schools, community groups, and local individuals. We have taken advice from two professional archaeology firms, spoken with the Heritage Lottery Fund, and discussed the matter with North Lanarkshire Council, all of whom fully support our project.
We are delighted that the community have already shown great interest in our plans, with attendances at our monthly meetings having increased as a result and, despite the comments made last week, we will be pressing ahead with our attempts to develop a community archaeology project to investigate and explore the ruins of the former Cumbernauld Castle. Anyone who wants to find out more about the project, and about the work of the Friends of Cumbernauld House Park, is welcome to attend our next meeting and AGM on Monday 8th April in Cumbernauld Theatre at 7pm.
