Witney News - Cogges - Hidden Camp Project

Cogges - Hidden Camp Project

Over half term the 'Hidden Camp' took place at Cogges in partnership with OYAP (Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership) who successfully fundraised for the activities through HLF as part of a bigger countywide project called 'Hidden' which aims to connect young people to local heritage.

A group of young people aged 14 to 19 worked with Karen Wydler and Janine Charles for 5 days, using outdoor learning, cooking and woodland skills as tools for understanding the history of the site at Cogges, and with the aim of gaining some life skills.

During the week they built an outdoor kitchen using Saxon techniques such as coppicing hazel, learning how to tie knots and to lash poles together, thatching and wattle and daub, green wood working, harvesting food and cooking over open fires and in the earth ovens that were built earlier in the year.

There were lots of conversations about life in the 10th/11th Century at Cogges, and connected that to life now (what it is like now, and what is possible as an alternative - eg eating and cooking healthier food, hearing about social history, understanding the geography/landscape, connecting existing roads/pathways to the past).

The project was a great success and the group will meet again in mid November to share the learning with family and friends.