Left:Project Conservators Claire Smith and Paul Calcutt working on the pots at Wiltshire County Council's conservation centre in Salisbury.

A major conservation project by Wiltshire County Council and two Wiltshire museums to preserve over 100 Bronze Age pots has reached the halfway point.

More than a hundred pots were discovered near Stonehenge, Avebury and other historical sites across Wiltshire by the Victorian archaeology pioneers, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, William Cunnington and General Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers.

Nowadays, the pots form priceless components of collections of which have been designated as being of national historic importance at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum and Wiltshire Heritage Museum.

Project Conservators Claire Smith and Paul Calcutt working on the pots at Wiltshire County Council's conservation centre in Salisbury.

"The work has proved to be challenging - trying to remove very hard Victorian cement from ceramic that resembles a crumbly biscuit is not an easy task," explained Wiltshire County Council's conservation and museums manager, Louisa Burden.

"The project aims to give members of the public and researchers access to these historically important objects. If they had not been conserved that would not have been possible, as the pots are very fragile."

Dating back to between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, 52 of the pots have already been conserved, while the 53 remaining are expected to be finished by April 2004.

Right:Project Conservators Claire Smith and Paul Calcutt working on the pots at Wiltshire County Council's conservation centre in Salisbury.

The job has been made even more interesting however, due to the restoration work already attempted by the Victorians who originally found them. To modern eyes, these early attempts appear quite bizarre and with such materials as cement, terracotta plant pots and bicycle spokes, carry a certain historical value in themselves.

"I am delighted with the progress being made towards completing this nationally important project," said Jane Scott, Wiltshire County Council's cabinet member for children, education and libraries.

"These fine examples of Bronze Age ceramics form a fascinating part of Wiltshire's, and Britain's, history - and that is why it is so pleasing that they will remain on public display."

The work is expected to cost a total of almost £200,000, the funding for which is being provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Wiltshire County Council, the South West Museums, Libraries and Archives Agency and the two museums involved.

Further funds have been kindly donated by the LJ Skaggs and Mary C Skaggs Foundation in the USA.