UWTSD Students Build Heritage Skills and Biodiversity Assets During Hands-On Week at the Gower Heritage Centre

Students from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Architecture, Construction, and Environment (ACE) programmes have taken part in a week-long “Heritage Skills Week” at the Gower Heritage Centre, gaining practical experience in traditional building methods and ecological monitoring while contributing to real improvements on site.

Staff saw the week as an opportunity to immerse students in a live, community-benefitting project at the Gower Heritage Centre. The result was a highly collaborative learning environment where students could choose any task that interested them, naturally forming mixed-discipline groups that worked seamlessly together.

By the end of the week, students had achieved a significant amount:

• A new timber-framed bird hide, constructed to completion apart from the final cladding and designed with side cassettes to house future bug hotels. These will be filled by local schoolchildren as part of the Centre’s ecology and wellbeing sessions.
• Several metres of new dry-stone walling, replacing a plastic retaining structure around a raised flower bed and enhancing the site’s heritage character.
• Wattle and daub installation, with students completing almost an entire wall of the outdoor exhibit space.
• Ecological field skills, with learners independently identifying small mammals present on site through monitoring techniques.

Feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive. Many highlighted the value of gaining real-world experience that directly benefits an end-user, while also enjoying the chance to “get their hands dirty,” literally, through tasks such as levelling and securing timber structures or shaping a sturdy, aesthetically pleasing dry-stone wall.

Senior Lecturer Alisdair Cunningham said: “The students threw themselves into every task and have produced work they can genuinely be proud of. This week was all about giving them practical skills rooted in sustainability and heritage, and the Gower Heritage Centre has been the perfect environment for that hands-on learning.”

Roy Church, Trustee at the Gower Heritage Centre, said: “It’s been fantastic to welcome the UWTSD students to the Centre this week. Their enthusiasm, teamwork, and willingness to get stuck in has made a real difference to the site. The new structures and improvements they’ve created will be used by school groups, visitors, and the local community for years to come. We’re incredibly grateful for their hard work and hope to build on this partnership in the future.”

The collaboration between UWTSD and the Gower Heritage Centre will continue, with plans to develop more opportunities for students to engage in heritage conservation, environmental monitoring, and community-focused construction projects.

Further Information

Rebecca Davies

Executive Press and Media Relations Officer    
Corporate Communications and PR    
Email: rebecca.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk    
Phone: 07384 467071