QPIPS has received a grant of almost
£25,000
to investigate and record local history.

Part of this money is to be spent on a survey and interpretation by archaeologists from Bournemouth University of the Park’s intricate system of earthworks (see accompanying pictures), which indicate that Bournemouth’s history is far more complicated and interesting than we have been led to believe. Click here to see a preliminary survey map. Early indications are that here in Queen's Park we have the remains of a field system, on land that has been previously thought to have been barren heath for thousands of years. Click here for the interim report. More details will be given in a public lecture in January or February 2005.

We are also interested in the Park’s more recent history, and would love you to share any old photographs that you might have of the Park and the surrounding area. Rebecca Sheppard is compiling an oral history which she would like to supplement with your photos. Do please talk to her about your memories of Queen’s Park, or write to her at the address given below.

The Initiative is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society, and The Countryside Agency. The grant will also pay for local groups and schoolchildren to learn about local history and archaeology from the staff of Bournemouth University, and for individuals to learn about video and stills camerawork, and desktop and internet publishing. If you are interested in taking advantage of any of these opportunities, please write to Rebecca Sheppard at QPIPS, P.O. Box 4998, Bournemouth BH8 9WQ, or history@qpips.org.uk.

At the Picnic in the Park on 20th June 2004, several hundred local people studied the LHI exhibition, signed up for oral history interviews, and brought photos along to be scanned for the archive.