Tag: get involved

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Join the Ballast Hills Burial Ground Project at Home Educators Day

The Ballast Hills Burial Ground Project will be taking part in Home Educators Day at the Great North Museum: Hancock (GNM:H) on 13 February 2026, offering hands-on activities and a rolling presentation designed for home-educating families.

Discover how a burial ground becomes a classroom

Using Ballast Hills Burial Ground as a case study, we will show how burial sites can support cross-curricular learning across history, literacy, numeracy, geography, and creative work. While we draw on Ballast Hills, families and educators can apply the same ideas to their own local cemetery or burial ground.

Activities throughout the day

Design your own gravestone
Explore how inscriptions, symbols, and materials tell stories about people’s lives, then create your own design.

Build a family tree
Map out your family connections and discover how ancestry is traced through records, stories, and archives.

Historical occupations challenge
Interpret real job titles recorded at Ballast Hills and explore how work and society have changed over time.

Education Activity Sheet: Bringing the Evidence Together
A guided set of activities will help students and families to investigate how different types of evidence connect. Topics include:

  • Bills of mortality and how deaths were recorded
  • What graves tell us about families and relationships
  • Dates, ages, and life expectancy
  • Living conditions and longevity
  • Memory, forgetting, and who is remembered
  • Walking on history and recognising hidden landscapes
  • Bringing different sources together to build a fuller picture of the past

Explorer’s Guide
Take away ideas and prompts for visiting and studying your own local burial ground, turning it into a place of ongoing learning.

Running Presentation
A short, rolling presentation will run throughout the day, introducing Ballast Hills Burial Ground and demonstrating how one site can support a wide range of curriculum-linked activities. Drop in at any time.

Why take part

  • Activities suitable for a range of ages and abilities
  • Practical ideas for cross-curricular learning at home
  • Opportunities to connect history with real places and real people
  • Resources you can take away and use in your own local area

Event details

  • Date: 13 February 2026
  • Time: 9:00 to 14:00 (quiet hour from 9:00–10:00)
  • Location: Great North Museum: Hancock

Join us for a day of discovery, creativity, and learning through place. If you have any further questions about this event, please contact a member of the Learning team at the GNM:H by email: learning@greatnorthmuseum.org.uk.

Part of the Ballast Hills Burial Ground Project: unlocking the past, enjoying the present, and planning for the future.

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December Newsletter Now Available: Reflection, Growth, and What Comes Next

The latest edition of the Ballast Hills Burial Ground newsletter is now available to read online: December 2025 Newsletter.

December offers a moment to pause and take stock of the work that has unfolded across the project. Following a short break in November, this issue brings together activity that has continued behind the scenes, particularly across archive research, data development, and planning for the next phase through to June 2026.

This edition reflects a project that continues to grow in both scale and depth. New student interns and volunteers have joined the archive and digital work, strengthening the capacity to enhance catalogue records, develop research notes, and expand the project dataset. This collective effort supports a shared aim to make the evidence for Ballast Hills Burial Ground more accessible, more usable, and more meaningful for future research and interpretation.

Alongside this, attention has turned to how the project communicates its work. A small media refresh will begin in the new year, helping to connect the blog, Instagram, and Facebook more effectively. This will support clearer and more consistent sharing of research activity, discoveries, and opportunities to get involved.

This issue also continues the newsletter’s tradition of combining research with reflection. A seasonal contribution, Sonnet on the Shortest Day by Robert Gilchrist, offers a nineteenth century perspective rooted in the site itself. Historical research features, including work on Nonconformist clergy and burial practices, further deepen understanding of the people and beliefs connected to Ballast Hills.

Looking ahead, the project will continue to build on this foundation through archive research, public engagement, and collaborative interpretation. Opportunities to contribute, whether through research, writing, or sharing memories and materials, remain central to the project’s direction.

You can read the full December newsletter here.

As always, thank you to everyone who contributes time, knowledge, and interest. This work continues to develop through shared effort, and each contribution helps to shape how Ballast Hills Burial Ground is understood, remembered, and cared for now and in the future.

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Out in the Field at Ballast Hills

We’ve been hard at work at Ballast Hills Burial Ground, recording gravestones with the help of some truly fantastic volunteers. Despite the overgrowth, unpredictable weather, and the challenges that come with deciphering centuries-old inscriptions, our team has been making great progress and having a few laughs along the way!

We’ve now recorded nearly 175 of the 275 gravestone segments. That means we’re down to the final 100!

It was also great to speak to so many people coming from or heading to the Ouseburn Festival over the weekend. Your interest and encouragement help keep the momentum going.

If you’d like to get involved, we still have sessions available. Whether you’re interested in helping with the recording or prefer to support us by clearing overgrowth so inscriptions can be read and scanned, your contribution would be hugely appreciated.

Remaining July Fieldwork Days & Time

  • Wednesday, 9 – 14:00 to 18:00
  • Saturday, 12 – 10:00 to 16:00
  • Tuesday, 15 – 13:00 to 19:00
  • Thursday, 17 – 10:00 to 16:00

Book a recording/cleaning slot: here or register your interest in get involed in other ways: here.

Here are a few images from recent field sessions, stay tuned for more stories.

P.S. The newsletter might be running a bit late this month due to all the fieldwork—but hold tight, it will be out before the end of the month!

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New Gravestone Recording Sessions – June & July 2025

We’re pleased to announce a new set of gravestone recording sessions at Ballast Hills Burial Ground, running through to mid-July 2025. These volunteer-led sessions are helping to document the site’s fragile and often overlooked memorials before they are lost to time.

This work is supported by the Ouseburn Trust and Newcastle University as part of a broader effort to preserve and better understand the site’s heritage.

No Experience Needed

Everyone is welcome. Whether you have a background in history, heritage, or are simply curious, you can take part. Training and equipment are provided on site.

Please Book Ahead

Please use the link below to secure your place:

👉 Book your session here

Although we are likely able to accommodate some drop-in volunteers, booking helps us plan effectively and ensures you’ll have the support and resources you need to take part.

Upcoming Sessions:

June

Wednesday 25 – 10:00 to 14:00

Friday 27 – 9:00 to 16:00

Saturday 28 – 14:00 to 18:00

July

Thursday 3 – 16:00 to 20:00

Saturday 5 – 10:00 to 17:00

Sunday 6 – 10:00 to 13:00

Monday 7 – 10:00 to 16:00

Wednesday 9 – 14:00 to 18:00

Saturday 12 – 10:00 to 16:00

Tuesday 15 – 13:00 to 19:00

Thursday 17 – 10:00 to 16:00

Additional dates may be added as the project progresses. We look forward to welcoming you to one of the sessions and working together to preserve this important part of Newcastle’s history.

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Discover and Engage with Ballast Hills Burial Ground on Social Media

Are you passionate about local history, genealogy, or heritage preservation? Do you have family connections to Ballast Hills Burial Ground (BHBG) or a curiosity about its past? If so, we invite you to connect with our project on Facebook and Instagram!

Join Our Facebook Community

The Ballast Hills Burial Ground Facebook Group (Join Here) is a private group designed for descendants, local residents, and history enthusiasts. It is a space where members can share stories, photos, and knowledge about this significant site. Whether you’re researching family history, exploring burial inscriptions, or interested in Newcastle’s heritage, we welcome you to be part of the conversation.

We are actively sharing gravestone inscriptions from the 1904 publication Inscriptions in Ballast Hills Burial Ground, Newcastle upon Tyne by Chadwick J & Dodds E. These posts highlight individual memorials, and we encourage members to engage—whether by sharing historical insights, discussing family connections, or reflecting on the stories these stones reveal.

Follow us on Instagram

Our Instagram account (@ballasthillsburialground) offers a visual journey through BHBG’s history. We share photographs, updates from the project, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into our research and discoveries. Through posts and stories, we highlight the site’s historical significance and ongoing efforts to document and preserve it.

Exciting News!

We are particularly excited to announce that we have a new social media and communications intern joining the team! Expect even more opportunities to hear about the project through fresh content and engagement across our platforms. Additionally, we are working towards releasing our first newsletter by the end of the month, which will provide updates on our latest findings, upcoming events, and ways to get involved. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please email us at ballast.hills@newcastle.ac.uk to be added to the distribution list. Please reach out to us if you have specific content you would like to share or suggest for the newsletter!

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Share Your Views: Consultation Event on Ford Street Development

Igloo is hosting a consultation event on Wednesday, 22 January, to gather community input on plans for developing the site between Maling Street and Ford Street in the Lower Ouseburn Valley. Known locally as the “Candleflame” site, the location lies downslope of Ballast Hills Burial Ground (BHBG), adding a layer of historical significance to the proposed development.

The drop-in session will take place at 51 Lime Street from 12:00 to 20:00 and is open to all—residents, business owners, and anyone with an interest in Ouseburn’s future. No booking is required, so you can stop by at a time that works for you.

It’s unclear whether the burial ground extended as far as the Candleflame site, but burials are known to extend toward Ford Street. During the 1978/79 realignment of Ford Street, graves were disturbed, and human remains were removed and relocated elsewhere (Newcastle Journal, 24 November 1978, p. 10; 1 December 1978, p. 7).

The geophysical surveys conducted at BHBG in late 2024 may help identify the most effective tools for detecting burials by revealing patterns within the known site. These patterns could then be used as a reference to predict the burial ground’s boundaries when applied to areas extending beyond the currently understood site. We are still in the process of analysing the results.

This consultation session is a vital opportunity to share your perspective and help shape the plans for the future of the Lower Ouseburn Valley. Your participation is essential, as this development has the potential to significantly impact the area’s character and sense of place.

For those unable to attend, checkout the consultation website, which will be open until 17:00 on Monday, 29 January 2025.

Event Details:
📍 Location: 51 Lime Street
🗓 Date: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
⏰ Time: 12:00 – 20:00
No booking required – drop in at any time!

Whether you attend in person or contribute online, your input will help ensure that decisions about this development reflect the diverse views of the community, including the descendants of those buried at BHBG. Don’t miss this chance to have your say.

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Press Release: calling all descendants

We are excited to share that Newcastle University has issued a press release showcasing the latest developments in the Ballast Hills Burial Ground project. Dr Myra Giesen, the project lead, invites descendants of those buried at Ballast Hills to connect with the team and share their stories. Contributions will help shape an online Life Register and preserve this heritage for future generations. Archaeological surveys and archival research are ongoing, and the team welcomes volunteers to assist with various aspects of the project.

Read the full press release here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2025/01/ballasthills/.

Join us in uncovering the hidden stories of Ballast Hills and ensuring that every voice is remembered.

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Preparing for Gravestone Pathway for Recording

The BHBG project, led by Newcastle University, continues to focus on Ballast Hills Burial Ground’s historical significance and cultural heritage. As part of this effort, it aims to record and understand the site’s gravestones through comprehensive 3D scanning and condition assessments in early 2025.

A 1929 report provides information from 946 in situ gravestones before the site transitioned into a park. A quick summary compiled in 2023 noted the presence of 71 whole gravestones with legible text, 32 half gravestones with partially legible text, 196 whole gravestones without text, and 261 broken gravestones, bringing the total to 660 gravestones. These data are guiding current preparations.

To prepare for the upcoming recordings, on 14 December, a team of four volunteers from the Ouseburn Trust (OT) Green Team, along with Dr Myra Giesen (the project’s Principal Investigator), worked for two hours to begin clearing the gravestone pathway. Care was taken to remove encroaching turf slowly, to limit soil disturbance, and to avoid damage to the gravestones. Although progress remains slow, the approach ensures each gravestone retains its integrity. Members of the OT Green Team, and possibly some of its cooperate volunteers, will be returning in January.

We welcome volunteers to assist in the recording of the gravestones, likely to be in March 2025, over multiple days, including at least one weekend. If you are interested in joining the recording effort, please register your interest here. Registering will ensure you are notified once days are confirmed and you receive any necessary training in advance of the workday(s).

Note, we are slowly posting BHBG gravestone inscriptions on our Facebook page. It is a private group so you will need to join to see them.

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Call for Descendants: Join the Ballast Hills Burial Ground Story

Are you a descendant of someone interred or memorialised at Ballast Hills Burial Ground (BHBG)? We invite you to connect with others who share this unique heritage and join a new BHBG Descendants Group. This initiative aims to amplify the voices of your ancestors, enrich the narrative of BHBG, and foster a deeper connection to this historic site.

The BHBG Descendants Group will provide a space for descendants to share stories, contribute insights, and help shape the ongoing work of the project. Whether your relatives are buried here or simply remembered on a gravestone, your participation is invaluable in bringing this history to life.

If you would like to join or learn more, please reach out to the project team at ballast.hills@newcastle.ac.uk.

We also also sharing gravestone inscriptions on our Facebook page, offering glimpses into the lives of those who rest at BHBG. Join us in honouring their legacy and building a community that celebrates this remarkable burial ground’s rich history.

Let’s ensure the voices of the past continue to resonate through the generations.

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Join the BHBG Project Team as a Volunteer!

We are excited to offer new volunteer opportunities with the BHBG project. If you have an interest in history, community engagement, or fieldwork, we invite you to join us. Our project aims to uncover and preserve the stories of Ballast Hills, and we are seeking dedicated volunteers to support this mission. Here are the roles currently open for applications:

  • Historical Researcher: Explore archives and uncover the rich history of BHBG and its community.
  • Biography Researcher: Research and document individual life stories, shedding light on the lives and legacies of those interred or memorialised here.
  • Life Register Contributor (starting late-November): Assist in populating an online database with record of those buried or memorialised at BHBG.
  • Oral History Collector: (now starting in 2025) Capture local memories and stories that highlight the burial ground’s significance and the impact it has had on the community.
  • Media and Communications Support: Help expand the reach of our findings, events, and updates, building engagement through various media channels.
  • Volunteer Coordinator: Support the experience of our volunteers by managing schedules, resources, and communications, ensuring a cohesive and enjoyable environment for all.
  • Fieldworker (beginning Spring 2025): Join our team in recording gravestones embedded in the pathway.

If any of these roles resonate with you, we would love to hear from you! Volunteering with the BHBG project offers the chance to collaborate with researchers, historians, and community members who are all passionate about celebrating and preserving this important heritage site.

How to Apply: Please complete the Volunteer Interest Form, or email us at ballast.hills@newcastle.ac.uk with any questions.

We look forward to welcoming you to the BHBG project team and working together to honour the stories of Ballast Hills.