COARS are delighted to announce that they have been selected by Historic England to undertake a Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) of the North Devon and Cornwall Coastline.

This survey will focus on the north coastline of Devon and Cornwall, stretching from Combe Martin, Devon (the western boundary of the Exmoor National Park) to Land’s End in Cornwall, and will also include the island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel. The primary aim of the project is to provide heritage information which can be fed directly into Defra and the Environment Agency’s Shoreline and Estuary Management Programme helping to ensure appropriate protection of, or mitigation of damage to, historic assets. The second aim is the enhancement of national heritage record which will provide Local Authority archaeologists with information relevant to mitigation consequent upon commercial and infrastructure developments.

The project will involve a range of specialists from the University of Southampton, along with the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading. The project will run until December 2016.