40 Years of Protecting the Wemyss Caves

Aim

To celebrate our 40th anniversary and enable us to continue protecting this precious heritage for future generations.

In 1986 a stolen car was driven into Jonathan's Cave and set on fire, destroying a precious panel of Pictish carvings.

As a result, a group of local people got together and decided that if nobody else was going to fight to preserve our precious heritage, then they would. Forty years later, from those small beginnings, we have installed protective grilles, employ a site warden and give tours to around 2,000 visitors each year.

To celebrate our 40th anniversary we are organising a series of events for the local community and others interested in the site:

• A free community festival including demonstrations of Pictish stonecarving, leatherworking, jewellery making, pottery and other crafts. We'll also be holding a medieval court and running sessions on ancient music
• A free conference on what we have learned about the site over the last four decades
• An archaeology week to examine some of the less well understood aspects of the site
• An exhibition in our museum on the first 40 years of SWACS
• Willow weaving and other crafts in our museum's history garden

We want to use these activities to further raise the profile of the site and ensure its protection for generations to come.

To make all this happen, we need your help. We are applying for funding for many of the activities but still need to raise some through donations and crowdfunding. Any money left over will go straight into measures to help us protect the precious heritage here.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made