Following the success of the 'Overlooking the Wye' scheme in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the grant of £1.9M from the Heritage Lottery Fund, there was an opportunity at New Weir Forge, Symonds Yat West, on Tuesday to see how the grant is being spent.

Following tree felling to reveal the historic fabric of this important industrial site, the timber will be removed using horses.

New Weir Forge is a large industrial complex that once operated on the Wye. The remains of the Weir are now associated with the rapids that attract canoeists to tackle this stretch of the Wye.

However the historic complex of docks and ironworks hidden in the trees alongside are little known as part of the project the Ironworks are to be conserved and interpreted.

The site is thought to have been started in the 16th century, though much of the site that is visible is much later, some of the remains probably relate to the massive expansion of iron working in the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean during the 17th Century during the Civil Wars, when the Furnaces and Forges were producing shot and canon. In 1814 the weir was damaged and the site fell into decay.

The conservation works have started with the thinning of the tree cover around the Forge site. The trees will then need to be removed using horses in the traditional manner.

Horses are less damaging to the archaeology than modern machinery and are ideal in this location. Once the site has been cleared it will be excavated, by Herefordshire Archaeology as a training excavation, then conserved and interpreted.

The funding will also help with the conservation of 40 other sites within the three counties and two countries that straddle the Wye Valley. This will include the nationally important historic ironworks of the Angiddy Valley, including the remains of the Angiddy Furnace and the mill, hillforts at Symonds Yat and the Doward and many smaller sites.