THE HAWTHORN Ridge Crater Association (HRCA) has announced its formation with the intention to support and develop the most intensive study of any Great War battlefield ever attempted writes Andy Robertshaw.
The association will be leasing the site from the owner, the local council, on a 99 year lease for a symbolic and ‘peppercorn’ €1 fee. The objectives of the project are to improve access for visitors, manage the crater’s upkeep and to protect the site for future generations whilst providing a detailed study of the area with various partner organisations.
Working within a defined boundary of the Beaumont-Hamel area, an international team of experts and volunteers will conduct a programme of research, using all sources of evidence, to create an in-depth archive of material devoted to the battlefield of 1914-18, its post-war reconstruction and the impact of the Second World War and modern tourism.
The Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association is a Franco-British collaboration based in France and founded on the 1901 French law of a formal association. It is supported by Keele and Staffordshire Universities in the United Kingdom, and will employ the services of experienced Great War battlefield archaeologists and historians.
