Key stories from the Cotswolds' economic past are set to be highlighted as part of an £875,000 drive to fund awareness of the reality of working class life.

Historic England (HE) has announced funding 56 new heritage projects across the nation, which the aim of revealing "the diverse stories of people and places at the heart of our history".

In all, seven projects - each receiving between £6,800 and £25,000, will – "explore and celebrate untold stories" in the South West - including a focus on the lives of women who worked at Cam Mills, near Dursley.

Among 380 bids for funding, 56 were selected for funding for the next two years, HE said, with the Cam project making it through alongside research projects on a bacon factory in Wiltshire and cottage industries in rural Dorset.

A project will also be created to explore a Bristol workhouse and depict the impact of the workhouse system on working-class people.

Rebecca Barrett, South West Regional Director at Historic England, said: "Wherever people live they are surrounded by historic buildings, landscapes and streets, industrial or coastal heritage. These projects will see people of all ages explore these valued local places and celebrate their 'everyday' shared heritage."

She added: "There are so many hidden histories to uncover. Every community has a story to tell. This is the strength of our Everyday Heritage grant programme, which funds projects that are community-led and really engage with local people by empowering them to research and tell their own stories."

The project focusing on Cam Mills, near Dursley, will be called "Women's Work in Cam Mills" and will aim to produce an oral history archive of the experiences of women's work in an area of Gloucestershire historically associated with cloth manufacture.

A spokesperson said: "Cam Mills is the last of around 200 historic cloth mills that are still standing in the area. The project will record the memories of women who worked at Cam Mills who were born in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, to capture recollections of employment, domestic work and social changes during the period." 

All the recordings will be entered into the Gloucestershire Archive and will be accessible via QR codes along local walking trails.

Launched in 2022, the HE programme has already funded 57 projects from across England.

Recollections of women who worked at Cam Mills are vivid - and may not be hard to trace. In one online forum, a relative of a woman who worked at the mill between 1948 and 1973 wrote: "In the summer it was very hot and in the winter they froze. Mum's fingers were eventually curled into the shape she used for tying the wool when it broke. She was left with severe arthritis in her fingers and in later years could hardly hold a cup."

Another wrote: "a working life in the mill was a hard one."