ARCHAEOLOGISTS will be descending on Abberley after the village received £50,000 of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The money will enable Abberley Halls Preservation Society to carry out a project to understand the medieval layout of the village.

The latest project aims to build on the Abberley Lives venture, undertaken in 2011 and 2012 by the area’s WI, which looked at life in the village in the 20th century.

Marion Evans, society chairman, said: “Abberley Lives whetted people’s appetite for local heritage.

“We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has agreed to fund this project which we hope will open a window on life in the village 600 to 1,000 years ago.

“We can’t wait to discover what medieval Abberley was like.”

As part of the project, which is being launched at a public meeting on Monday, October 6, at 7.30pm in the village hall, archaeologists will be undertaking geophysical surveys, building surveys and two small scale digs.

They will attempt to date the older buildings and discover long lost features described in old documents and books about Worcestershire.

Local people and school children will be able to get involved by helping as volunteers with the work, learning how to excavate in a training dig and attending a series of talks and visits to see work in progress at various sites.

Running over the next 12 months, the project will be featured in a special medieval themed fair at Abberley Primary School’s summer fete in July 2015, providing an opportunity for the community to celebrate what was discovered.

Reyahn King, head of Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, said: “This project will add to what is known about the archaeology and the medieval history of Abberley.

“It will give the local community an opportunity to become involved first hand.”