Community project casts Rudloe's heritage in stone

A unique and fascinating new project, led by Westlea Housing, has now been completed in Rudloe, near Corsham – with six 'educational stones' being placed in various parts of the neighbourhood.

Each stone features part of a picture and a question linked to the history of the area. One reads 'When were the quarries under Rudloe first used by the military?'; and another 'What was the name of the original quarry?'

The picture element on these stones is from a quarry background and has been divided into pieces, with one part engraved into each stone. The idea is that this will give children (and others interested) a chance to do 'frottage'; this is a rubbing of the stones with paper and crayons to form a work of art – a technique more usually associated with brass. The children will be able to build up the picture as they go around the stones. The questions will be of interest to children, residents and people outside the Rudloe area; they are themed, based on the history of the quarry, mining and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Westlea Housing has led this project and provided funding – with great support from partners: Hanson’s Quarry donated the stone for this project and A4 Aggregates gave a discount on the engraving of these stones. Additional funding came from the area’s Extended Schools Network Co-ordinator. Further support came from various outside agencies - including Corsham councillor Allan Bosley; the MoD; Corsham Area Development Trust; and Corsham Civic Society.

"The assistance we’ve had has been crucial to the successful outcome of this project," said Julie-Anne Maughan-Smith, Westlea’s Neighbourhood Worker for the area. "This has been an amazing neighbourhood project that has involved many local people and organisations. And with the stones now installed, we can look forward to this sharing of knowledge having an impact for generations to come," said Julie-Anne. "These stones are a feature for Rudloe residents to be really proud of."

Helen Pearcey of Broadwood School posed one of the questions engraved on one of the stones, and input from other schools around Corsham, not just Broadwood, has been crucial to the structure of the stones. Local schools will receive a map of the area along with copies of the questions and answers; this will add to school activities and support both the Art and History subjects in the curriculum.