Romans Join Fight Against Wind Turbine Plans

Locals in the north of England will use their area’s rich Roman heritage to fight a major electricity supplier’s plans to build wind turbines near their village.

RWE npower Renewables – one of the UK's leading renewable energy providers – wants to build up to six turbines as part of its Stobhill Wind Farm development. The farm would generate enough electricity to power between 4,800 and 7,300 UK households every year.

The company has already conducted preliminary investigations into the site and submitted a ‘scoping report’ to Durham County Council. A full planning application is expected before the end of 2009.

But residents oppose the plans, saying the turbines would be built within 400 metres of houses in the one-pub village of Bolam, threatening the area’s serenity.

Area Needs More Fieldwork, Says Archaeologist

A campaign group, Bolam and Area Action Group (BAAG), which is fighting the proposal, says it hopes the council will grant conservation status to the village, thus protecting it from the development.

Archaeologist Niall Hammond, from the County Durham-based firm Archaeo-Environment, told the Teesdale Mercury that the land earmarked for development is a important historical site because Dere Street – a major Roman road from York to Hadrian’s Wall – is located just to the east of the village.

He said more fieldwork was needed to confirm Bolan’s prehistoric and Roman significance. “[The current] absence of evidence is most likely due to medieval and later plough activity, and lack of fieldwork in the area as soils, topography and proximity to Dere Street make both late prehistoric and Roman activity in the area highly likely,” he said.

“The wider area of the middle Tees valley surrounding Bolam contains significant evidence for both prehistoric and Roman activity. Two cropmark sites are known from aerial photographs to the north-east of the village and which currently have no identification, and these may represent evidence of now-buried occupation sites of later prehistory or Roman periods. A Roman marching camp is known as a cropmark from Sandforth Moor, less than a kilometre to the south.”

Leave a comment on this post

About The Author

Lynette Eyb

Last three pieces by this author:

Did Ryszard Kapuściński Follow Herodotus' Example and Make Things Up? | Top 10 Ancient Sites in Syria | People Power Could Signal the End of Uluru Tourist Climb

Lynette Eyb is the books editor of Heritage-Key.com. She trained in Australia as a journalist before moving to London, where she wrote for and edited various magazines. She has travelled extensively, exploring the ancient wonders of China, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, the UK and Ireland along the way. Lyn lives in Bordeaux with her partner and their young daughter.