The Centre of Archaeology will be part of an important new project exploring a unique historical Second World War location with a dramatic link to the Holocaust.
Thanks to National Lottery Players, the Cumbrian based charity Another Space, which produces and manages the Lake District Holocaust Project, has received £48,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) as part of a £62,000 project. The project will involve an archaeological survey and dig at the site of Calgarth Estate, home to three hundred Jewish child Holocaust Survivors on their arrival in the Lake District in 1945.
The survey and dig will be carried out at the Lakes School in the summer of 2019. The school stands on the former site of the wartime workers housing scheme of Calgarth Estate. The estate was originally built in 1942 to house workers at the nearby Short Sunderland “Flying Boat” factory at White Cross Bay, and was gradually demolished over time until it finally disappeared in the mid 1960’s.
The archaeological work will be led by the Centre of Archaeology’s Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls and Kevin Colls, and will include a cutting edge technological survey to identify what remains of the estate lie hidden below ground. This will be followed by excavations that will focus on uncovering the remains of hostel accommodation on the estate that slept single workers from the factory.
Each of the six hostels on Calgarth Estate housed fifty people in small, individual rooms, and each room had a bed, chest of drawers and bedroom furniture. For the child Holocaust Survivors, who had spent years in terrible conditions, these hostels were utterly luxurious.
The survey and dig will take place over the summer and autumn of 2019 and will see wide ranging opportunities for people to work closely with leading archaeologists. There are great opportunities to get involved as volunteers to learn about all aspects of excavation, conservation, and exhibition work.
Calgarth Estate stood from 1942 to around 1964. It was home to two hundred families and three hundred single workers. It had a school, shops, entertainment hall, and laundry. The single storey houses were nicknamed “Shorts Palaces” by the residents and had indoor bathing and central heating facilities, still rare for working class people in the Lake District in the 1940’s. The estate was eventually demolished and Lakes School opened on the site in 1967, and most of the former residents were rehoused on the then newly built Droomer Estate in Windermere.
Trevor Avery, Director of Lake District Holocaust Project says “This is an amazing opportunity for everyone to become involved in a project that is literally unique in the UK, and it is here in the Lake District. The story of Calgarth Estate in the Lake District and its connections with the flying boat factory at White Cross Bay, is fascinating. Added to that, no other location in Britain has such a strong, physical connection to the Holocaust and makes this of national importance”.
The Lake District Holocaust Project was established in 2007 to commemorate the links between the three hundred child Holocaust Survivors who came to the Lake District in 1945, and the community that welcomed them. In 2018 alone, the story has featured in “Who Do You Think You Are?” With Robert Rinder on BBC One, “Paul Rose in the Lakes” on BBC Two, and programme dedicated the story was broadcast in “Open Country” on Radio Four.
About the Heritage Lottery Fund
From the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players’ money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. www.hlf.org.uk.
For further information, images and interviews, please contact
Trevor Avery, Director, at Lake District Holocaust Project on 07876433490 and info@ldhp.org.uk