Bogs, Dams and Revenants

[steepholm]

In the early 1940s they drowned the village of Derwent in Derbyshire to make the Ladybower reservoir, to slake the thirsts of Sheffield and Nottingham. Shortly afterwards, the new reservoir was used by the "Dam Buster" squadron, as practice for destroying the Möhne, Edersee and Sorpe Dams.

This year the dry weather revealed part of the village again, and it drew tourists, some of whom amused themselves by drawing graffiti or taking stones from walls. This has caused quite a lot of angst. For example:

There's a fair amount of graffiti and defacement on the ruins. It's a huge part of our history and now "Cheryl" and "Steve" have scratched their names in the rock. We need to look after it, we have a responsibility like you would at any historical site. (Steve Rowe, Edale Mountain Rescue Team)

Whilst we understand that people are fascinated by the appearance of these usually hidden ruins, the structures remain an iconic archaeological feature of the Peak District National Park. As we wouldn't expect people to vandalise any of the National Park's many heritage buildings or other archaeological features, the remains of the homes and other submerged buildings are no exception. We urge people to leave these features intact to open a valuable window onto history, not just today, but for future generations to enjoy. (Anna Badcock, Park Authority Cultural Heritage Manager.)

Well yes, I kind of agree, and yet it wasn't "Cheryl and Steve" who destroyed the village in the first place, nor bounced bombs on top of it shortly after. If Derwent is such a valuable part of our heritage, why is it at the bottom of a lake?

The answer is of course that it's only valuable because it was destroyed - or rather, its destruction led paradoxically to its partial preservation. We must be grateful to the large-scale municipal vandals of 1940, even as we condemn the small-scale private vandals of 2018.

Similarly, if I marched into the British Museum and took an axe to the Lindow Man I'd be arrested - but it is only thanks to the actions of the people who did the same thing 2,000 years ago that we have his body at all. We owe those people a debt, it seems, for killing him and leaving him to our mercies, tender or otherwise.

Comments

[cmcmck]

People left graffiti (some of it highly dubious) in Pompeii and that's considered hugely valuable.

Double standards much especially when it'll soon be at the bottom of a reservoir again?

[steepholm]

Them's my feelings too.

[lilliburlero]

All I'd ask of Cheryl and Steve is that they did a good lasting job, like all that late 17th and 18th century graffiti one finds in churches (it seems to taper off in the 19th, and I'm not sure whether that's evangelical revival or the beginnings of a conservationist mentality or both overlapping?) so that next time there's a drought we find them again. Though I suspect that won't be so far into the future as to make Cheryl and Steve seem poignant, indeed I expect it will be well within their lifetimes, and will happen again, and again.

[steepholm]

That old 'engraved' graffiti often involves quite a bit of chipping away at the stone, doesn't it? I wonder how they got away with it - unless, of course, no one really cared much.

[lilliburlero]

I think in the days of hard-riding country parsons, no-one bothered excessively, and in addition 18th-century box pews and so on offer a fair amount of concealment.

[steepholm]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about box pews! That might make quite a bit of difference. "The Lectern as Panopticon: Graffiti and Surveillance Culture": now I want to write (or at least read) the paper.