A Decade of the CAER Heritage Centre

The project centres on Caerau Hillfort, a large prehistoric monument, in Caerau and Ely, suburbs in the west of Cardiff. It involves local community development organisation Action in Caerau and Ely (ACE), Cardiff University, local schools, residents, community groups, and many others working together. 

10 years on, the CAER heritage project has grown and developed, boasting a heritage-themed community centre, garden and playground, accredited courses and informal learning opportunities for local people, family fun days, school visits and a host of impressive archaeological and historical discoveries uncovered by hundreds of local people working with the University.

Dave Wyatt, Reader in Civic Mission and Community Action at Cardiff, is one of the CAER Heritage project co-directors. He reflects that whilst other urban areas have archaeological sites, what is unique is to have one that is internationally significant. In addition, Dave explains, "You can tell the history of the whole of Wales through this place". From the Stone Age to modern housing developments, every period is reflected in the heritage of these communities

Whilst the hill fort is a star attraction, what has made this project so valuable is the people at its centre. Local people have been involved all the way through, from participating in the digs, to contributing to the development and design of their new building. And whilst archaeology is a rich area for engagement – digs can bring communities together, and everyone can get involved – the project hasn’t stopped there. 

In many respects, academic research comes second to community development. Indeed, co-research with the community acts as a vehicle for addressing social and economic challenges locally. In the new centre, this is evidenced by the size of the kitchen and the allotment outside. 

Dave reflects that one of the significant local challenges is in-work poverty, so free activities and courses involving food and providing new skills, networks and opportunities are important. In addition, while there are archeological finds to see that date back thousands of years, this place is not a museum, but a place for learning, laughter, making, eating, and doing. 

There are a few key ingredients to their approach: co-creation at the heart; involving all ages; breaking down barriers through working together with children and adult learners; and embedding accredited adult courses and informal learning opportunities free at the point of access.  Dave comments: "Our community partners ACE have taught us everything about community development and co-coproduction and how to adapt these strategies to the co-creation of research and discovering new knowledge about the past. Dave Horton our fellow project co-founder from ACE was central to this process.”

Despite being secondary, academic research isn’t unimportant. Oli Davies, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Civic Mission, is Dave’s fellow co-director and part of the original team who set up the project. Oli led the National Heritage Lottery Bid that built the Centre. He reflects that this community is involved in world-leading research and he is excited by the past and future potential to learn more through the digs. Indeed, in the last three years, the community team have discovered the well-preserved remains of a Bronze Age settlement underneath a local park which has been dubbed the earliest house in Cardiff.  While these finds are exciting from an archaeological perspective, Oli notes that they also challenge unfounded negative stereotypes about the communities, the project providing a counter to the usual media focus on when things go wrong. The discovery of the Bronze Age Roundhouse was an important story which they told through local voices, and which even hit the headlines in the USA, Ireland and Ukraine.

When describing the last ten years, Dave reflected that the Engage Prize was significant for them. ‘Winning that competition really opened up doors for us. It was national UK recognition that this project was really important. And the prize money was great too! We used it to buy a huge portable gas fired urn – so we could always provide people with a hot drink even before we had a CAER Centre to meet in.’  Apparently, the urn served them well at community digs and events over the last 10 years and made people warm and happy. 

We asked how the project has been successfully sustained over the years. For the first five years the project was developed with a series of Arts and Humanities Research Council Grants, then from 2017-2023 two National Heritage Lottery Grants provided the significant investment needed to build the community centre and playground. The grant funded ACE staff, with the University funding Oli’s management of this phase. This ongoing support from the Cardiff University, has been essential throughout with the University recently providing a three year sustainability package which has facilitated the employment of two full time staff at the Centre: a CAER Centre development officer, Lois, employed by ACE and a community partnership officer, Tom, employed by the University. 

Dave reflects that this still requires significant negotiation, but the sustained investment has built a trustful relationship between community members, Action Caerau and Ely, and the University. He longs for a funding commitment of 99 years, hopeful that the deep evidence of how long-term projects build trust and ownership, and lead to sustained outcomes might mean sustained investment becomes the norm, rather than project funding timescales constraining the potential. He observes: "The University is part of Cardiff, it’s part of these communities, the key to sustainability is becoming an indispensable part of the university strategy, research and educational culture, so they have to keep funding you. Of course regular project based grant capture helps; and the CAER Centre generates income from the building which goes to our brilliant partners at ACE who own, run and manage it, and from whom we have learned so much." 

It is perhaps, not surprising that Dave Wyatt is an engaged academic to his core. His journey into academia was not conventional, and he was quick to create more access pathways to support widening participation to higher education. One of the people following this pathway is Tom, who is now the community partnership officer, who first volunteered for Caer Heritage project in 2014. He took the pathway to undergraduate study, went onto postgraduate level, then became a professional archaeologist and established a social enterprise in ancient crafts, he now brings his expertise and enthusiasm to supporting others. 

Reflecting together with Oli, Tom and Dave, what is clear is how this sustained project is leading to new opportunities for everyone involved and is a joy to hear about. The deep learning that they have done about civic and community engagement; co-led research and community development; and building a successful funding model is something that they are keen to share. We will be supporting Dave and the team to find ways to share their learning, and look forward to working with them.