PLANS to build a complete replica Celtic village and ancient-crafts education centre in the Forest have been revealed.
The huge project to bring a major new visitor attraction to the area was outlined to the Review this week by one of its originators, Jasper Blake, director of the Dean Archaeology Group.
Sites are presently under discussion with Forest Enterprise.
The project will include full-sized, furnished Iron Age round houses, several fields for crops and animals, and an Iron Age forge. A re-enactment team, the "Silures", will people the site in historical costume.
Cinderbury will host school visits to explore Iron Age living history and the roots of technology as well as providing a programme of talks for scholars and the public. Festivals reflecting life 2,500 years ago will also be held on the site.
"First and foremost we want it to be educational and informative," said Mr Blake, who has engaged Shan Jayran as co-director to employ her marketing and educationalist background.
"We very much want to involve skills and crafts of local people – for example, local potter Martin Stephens of Taurus Crafts has agreed to help – for creating artifacts using local materials," he added.
And Shan Jayran said she wanted visitors to go away with an experience rather than just another museum impression.
"I have visited other places in England and Wales where there are similar projects and all the children and visitors agreed that the hands-on experience was the most important thing for them," she said.
Mr Blake said he hoped to fund the project with grant aid which was being actively pursued, and initially £60,000 to £70,000 would be needed. Thereafter running costs would be met by gate money.