Quantock Heritage Group

01/08/2026

What a perfect way to spend a few hours walking along the 10,000 year old Great East Quantock river, filled with stories of permafrost, lost mills, deserted estates, Iron Age hill forts and apple trees!

Thank you to all who came along and made it a day to remember.



www.qhg.org.uk

26/07/2026

At the Test Pitting last weekend, we had a few comments and questions about the Great East Quantock River that we discovered in 2025. This river was probably formed at the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago and is the forerunner of the stream that now runs from Broomfield and out towards the River Parrett.

On Saturday 1st August we are holding a guided walk along much of the rivers path.

There will be a minibus taking us from North Petherton to Broomfield before we walk back.

Full details here - https://www.quantockhills.com/event-details/ancient-river-path-walk

Hope to see you there.

Join us for our second search for signs of an ancient river, a sequel to our event earlier in the year as the Quantock Heritage Group seek to unearth the mysteries of this watercourse that may have once spread along the geography of Kings Cliff.

19/07/2026

Well that was a tough weekend!!
The hard ground, the need to rotate the volunteers between digging, sieving and rest breaks meant that we could only do three pits, and all of them gave up some lovely finds, from a piece of Meccano that could very well have been lost by one of the diggers, to a very old looking piece of pottery that could be linked to the graves found under the community centre. From a piece of bone (possibly pig) that had cut marks to stone marbles.
First and foremost, thank you so much to the amazing people that allowed us to dig up a little bit of their gardens!!
Thanks to all of the volunteers, to the all the locals who came to have a look.
Thanks to Ant and Caroline for making things run so smoothly.
Thanks to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for visiting (we will get you in a test pit one day Damian).
And last but definitely not least, to the North Petherton Town Council whose encouragement and funding makes this possible.

14/07/2026

Another fascinating morning at The South West Heritage Trust looking at seriously old documents as part of our “Understanding the River” project.

11/07/2026

Next Saturday (18th July) we are heading back to North Petherton as we continue our multi year project, with funding from North Petherton Town Council, to uncover its past, buried in people’s gardens!

This will be our second visit this year, following the inaugural weekend a year ago …. and this weekend could prove to be a belter!

The four locations we have are all in the area we believe the village grew up from … and we couldn’t be more excited!

Over the next couple of days we’ll be announcing how YOU could get involved… so keep your eyes peeled!!

06/06/2026

Thanks for this guys ❤️

13/04/2026

*Thank you* North Petherton for welcoming us back!

*Thank you* to the Town Council whose support for the project has been pivotal.

*A big thanks* to the lovely people in the Walnut Tree for letting us take over part of their hotel.

*Thanks* to all of the amazing people who have given up parts of their gardens.

*A massive thanks* to all of the diggers and sievers and all of their aching muscles.

Let’s do it all again in July 🎉❤️

12/04/2026

We’ve got a couple of lovely finds so show on the tour this afternoon!!

Meeting at the Walnut Tree at 2pm.

12/04/2026

Good morning all from North Petherton.
Last day of digging today, 4 pits opened yesterday, 1 more to be opened today.

*** Free guided tour from 2pm, meeting in the Walnut Tree***

11/04/2026

*Update from the pits and an invitation*

Well already we are finding some really interesting finds!! It all has to be looked at by experts to confirm but we think that we have a tiny bit of blue Roman glass, a lithic (similar to a flint) possibly made of tuff (a type of stone not normally found in this area!). Around 6000 years old … one of the oldest finds from NP … add that to bits of pottery, charcoal and animal bone … a great start.

*Now the invite* … we will be doing a guide tour around the open pits. It’s free and will start in the bar on the Walnut Tree Hotel at 2pm!