Peat Moors Centre

Peat Moors Centre
Circular thatched building seen through trees
Peat Moors Centre is located in Somerset
Peat Moors Centre
Location within Somerset and the United Kingdom
LocationWesthay, Nr Glastonbury, Somerset
Coordinates51°10′44″N 2°48′35″W / 51.1789°N 2.8096°W / 51.1789; -2.8096
WebsiteCentre web site

The Peat Moors Centre lay on the road between Shapwick and Westhay in Somerset, England. The centre was run by the Somerset Historic Environment Service, but Somerset County Council closed it in October 2009 in the course of budget cuts.

Peat gatherers at Westhay, somerset levels
Peat stacks and cutting at Westhay, somerset levels
Harvesting the peat at Westhay, somerset levels

The museum was dedicated to the archaeology, history and geology of the Somerset Levels. It also included reconstructions of some of the archaeological discoveries, including a number of Iron Age round houses from Glastonbury Lake Village, and the world's oldest engineered highway, the Sweet Track. From time to time the centre offered courses in a number of ancient technologies in subjects including textiles, clothing and basket making, as well as staging various open days, displays and demonstrations.

Somerset County Council, the owners of the Peat Moors Centre, closed the centre[1][2] for budgetary reasons on 31 October 2009.[3] The former staff hoped to launch a successor to the centre, run by a community interest company, to be known as the 'Somerset Lake Village Project' and involving the reconstruction of an Iron Age lake village.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Fury at suggestion of visitor centre closure". Western Gazette. This is Somerset. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Peat Moors Centre is to close". Heritage Action Journal. 2009.
  3. ^ "Roman invasion marks end of Peat Moors Centre". Western Gazette. This is Dorset. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  4. ^ Plans for a new lake village Archived 2010-06-08 at the Wayback Machine This Is Somerset, published 2010-06-03, accessed 2011-01-21
  5. ^ Peat Moors Centre The Megalithic Portal, accessed 2011-01-21