Hamlet recognised as centre for stargazing
Dedham Vale National Landscape Dark Skies campaignA hamlet has been awarded special dark sky status in recognition of its low levels of light pollution and efforts to promote stargazing.
Thorington Street in Suffolk, close to the Essex border, is the first place in England to be designated an International DarkSky Community by DarkSky International.
The hamlet, consisting of about 40 homes, is in the centre of the protected landscape of Dedham Vale, immortalised in paintings by artists including John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough, Alfred Munnings and Maggi Hambling.
Dan Oakley, policy and destination manager of DarkSky, said: "The level of commitment to achieve dark sky status from such a small community was amazing."
Dedham Vale National Landscape Dark Skies campaignNine residents worked on the campaign for DarkSky accreditation over nine years.
They explained the goal to local parish councillors and local MPs as well as businesses, schools and community organisations.
National Trust offered the campaign, rent-free, a large Tudor barn, garden and field as a DarkSky Discovery Centre, used for astronomy and associated talks and events.
"I feel really lucky to live in an area where the dark sky means I can look up and see the stars and moon," said resident Jayne Liu.
"Preserving this precious gift is something we should all aim to do."
Charles Clover, chairman of the Dedham Vale Society, which initiated the campaign, thanked all those who had taken part.
"We are incredibly grateful to them and we hope the boundaries of the Dark Sky Community continue to expand to include most, if not all, of the Vale," he said.
Other places chosen for this status are Orkney, Coll, and Moffat, in Scotland; Presteigne and Gower, in Wales; and Sark, in the Channel Islands.
Other areas within the United Kingdom already hold other levels of DarkSky accreditation, including Cranborne Chase, overlapping the boundaries of Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Somerset, and Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), off the Llŷn Peninsula in north Wales.
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