Battle of Hatfield Investigation Society

Dear All,

To recap - BOHIS need 3 permissions, 1 from the Diocese of Southwell for non invasive activities at St. Mary's and a 2nd (separate one) for invasive activities. The 2nd will only be granted upon evidence of satisfactory work from the non invasive stage.

We also need a single permission (for both non invasive and invasive) from the Welbeck Estates Company Ltd.

Unfortunately, due to administrative issues, the Diocese of Southwell have had to move their potential appraisal of our request for non invasive activities at St. Mary's, Cuckney from the 8th of September to the 13th of October. Yes, even the 13th is not a guaranteed consideration date as the P.C.C. still have to get the paperwork to them. We are monitoring the situation daily to ensure achievement of the best possible result.

This means that a possible "yes" from the Diocese re. non invasive activities would not be forthcoming before the end of November.

Of course this is very disappointing news for Joseph and I (especially as we've already "invested" over 2000 unpaid hours in this project).

A little happiness payback would be most welcome.

However .... some great news ..

The Welbeck Estates Company Ltd. have now formally agreed to allow us to perform all works on land adjacent to St. Mary's. This will last until the end of 2017. Don't worry, we're not intending to use all that time up !

You should also be aware that this agreement does not extend to a search for the battlefield, (which would be covered separately, and only necessary if evidence dating to the 7th century is forthcoming).

Since we ought to know whether we have secured funding for c. £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (H.L.F.) by the end of October, and considering the Diocesan date line (above), then the very earliest we could start is the middle of December, therefore, in practice, very early 2015 (weather permitting).

The BOHIS will be holding a 4th meeting in the near future (details to follow soon).