HART, the National Trust's Heritage and Archaeology Rangers Team, is an exciting volunteer initiative set up to improve the Trust’s understanding of the archaeological sites under our care. It is a scheme involving teams of dedicated volunteers undertaking fieldwork and collecting information about the current condition of these important sites and buildings.
The capacity for National Trust properties to co-ordinate volunteers who enroll is still being built up and varies across Regions, therefore not all applications to volunteer can be accommodated at present - decisions will be based on the geographic availability of HART Support Staff.
What do HART Volunteers do?
- Visit and explore archaeological sites cared for by the National Trust, ranging from earthworks to buildings
- Go off the well-beaten track to explore and monitor some of the less well known archaeological sites
- Collect information on the condition of monuments
- Along the way you will learn more about some of the hidden archaeology of the National Trust
- Act as champions for the archaeology
- Develop new skills including map reading, identifying archaeological sites and assessing condition
- Take an active role in “conservation”. The information collected by you will help to inform the management of our archaeological sites.
How is the HART data used?
The information collected by the HART volunteers provides the National Trust with:
- Information that identifies archaeological sites at risk, so we can then target our resources
- Information that can help us to tell new stories about the site
- A management tool that can be used to help us plan future conservation work
How do I become a HART Volunteer?
IMPORTANT: Before you can conduct any monitoring site visits you must have registered for the National Trust HART programme and received full training from your local archaeology co-ordinator. Training will provide further guidance upon how to undertake the archaeological monitoring, land-ownership (much of our land is tenanted) and health and safety.
Only after attending the necessary training, please Register here. To help us process your request, in the Comments box please enter the name of the NT Contact who has provided training.
Volunteering for the National Trust
For general information and the answers to some of your questions about volunteering with the National Trust please visit the volunteering pages on the main National Trust website.