Sustaining Black Down is a long-term project that will help conserve the heritage landscapes, biodiversity and archaeological features of the Burrington Commons, working with local communities and recreational users. The AONB has established the Black Down Advisory Group to work towards reducing the erosion and protecting and conserving the special features of the site. Members include the landowner, Burrington Conservators, Natural England, English Heritage and local authority Rights of Way teams.
There are two main project elements of the Sustaining Black Down project entitled ‘Discovering Black Down’ and ‘Conserving Black Down’.

Discovering Black Down aims to work with local communities and user groups to achieve well managed and sustainable access to the Burrington Commons, and discover the areas rich heritage. It will do this by encouraging greater understanding of the heritage values of the area by engaging local communities, user groups and target audiences in a range of learning, interpretation, participation and volunteering programmes.  The AONB Unit has applied for a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant of £195,500 towards a total project cost of £250,700 to deliver this project.  The Heritage Lottery Fund decision on this application will be known by January 2012.

Conserving Black Down The aim of this project is to conserve the landscape, biodiversity and archaeological features of Black Down and Burrington Ham. It will do this by repairing and restoring heavily eroded paths, landscape scars and habitats resulting from increased numbers using the area for walking, cycling and horse riding. It will also seek halt the decline in condition of the archaeological features of the area by implementing the recommendations of a recently developed Archaeological Management Plan.

Sustaining Black Down Conservation Plan (PDF Download 92KB)
Black Down Final Project Scoping Report April 2010 (PDF Download 800KB)
Black Down Consultation Report March 2010 (PDF Download 180KB)

Key Achievements to Date:

• The AONB Unit has installed vehicle barriers and boulders at the main entry points to the site. This has tackled the problem of illegal off road driving which is the largest cause of damage affecting the site.
• The Beacon Batch Barrow sited beneath the trig point on Black Down has been capped with protective stone pitching to protected this ancient monument from erosion while enabling continued sustainable access.
• Gateway signs have been installed at key entry points to Black Down and Burrington Ham to show the special qualities of the sites.
• Waymarkers have been installed on routes across the site to clearly differentiate between bridleways and footpaths.