Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter · Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage SiteNewsletter SUMMER 2018 SUMMER 2018 Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter

Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter

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Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site NewsletterThank you to the following people who have contributed to this edition of Megalith:

Clare BlickPatrick CashmanRos ClealBriony CliftonBrian EdwardsElizabeth FalconerJo Hutchings

Contact us at

Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Coordination UnitWiltshire and Swindon History CentreCocklebury RoadChippenhamWILTSHIRESN15 3QN

[email protected]. 01225 718 470

Sarah SimmondsStonehenge and Avebury WHS Partnership [email protected]

Helen MiahStonehenge and Avebury WHS Partnership [email protected]

www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org@StoneAveWHS

Editor : Helen Miah

Designed by Michael Goddard [email protected]

Published by Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Coordination Unit 2018Supported by Historic England and Wiltshire Council

Chris JonesHelen MiahSteph PayneSarah SimmondsGill SwantonJessica Trethowan

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Welcome to the seventh editionof Megalith, the annual newsletter for the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.

In this edition we have a wonderfulcollection of articles reflecting the widerange of values associated with the WorldHeritage Site. There really is something to interest and engage everyone, fromour magnificent prehistoric landscapesright up to the cutting edge technology of a virtual reality Avebury which you canfind out about on page 24.

In 1918 Cecil Chubb gifted Stonehenge to the nation and to mark the centenarythis year two very different events tookplace. Find out about how archaeologiststurned out in boaters, bonnets andsuffragette costumes to play cricket againstShrewton Cricket Club at an event whereCecil, himself a local Shrewton man andkeen cricketer, would have felt quite at home.

The Impact with Light project saw Finnishartist Kari Kola create an amazing lightinstallation, for one night only, atStonehenge to mark both this centenaryand World Heritage Day in April this year.You can see some of the stunningphotographs of the results on the coverand inside.

Another centenary, the year some womenfinally got the vote, is celebrated with anexhibition focussing on women inarchaeology at Avebury. You can readabout this and a connection between JaneAusten and Avebury Manor in this edition.I explore connections further afield in anarticle on my visit to South Korea this year.I consider what challenges Stonehenge andAvebury face in common with Silk Routesites and why international links are soimportant.

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Looking across to Silbury from Waden Hill

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Finally, a warm welcome to our latest newconnection, Helen Miah, who joined theWorld Heritage Site team at the end of2017. You can read about Helen’s growingpassion for the World Heritage Site andhow she is bringing her skills, experienceand even her hobbies to bear inencouraging people out into the landscapeto connect with the World Heritage Sitethrough geocaching as well as their owncreativity.

We’d like to thank contributors to thisedition including English Heritage, theNational Trust, Historic England, HighwaysEngland, Wiltshire Council, WiltshireMuseum, Natural England, the RSPB,Bournemouth University, local landownersand farmers and the local community.

To learn more about the World HeritageSite and its management visit:

www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org,

follow us on Twitter@StoneAveWHSor like us on our Facebook page:Stonehenge and Avebury World HeritageSite.We hope that you enjoy this edition ofMegalith. Please contact us if you'd likeextra copies or you’d like to get involved insome of the exciting activities you’ve readabout in Megalith.

Sarah SimmondsStonehenge and AveburyWHS Partnership Manager

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Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site NewsletterStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter

The very close connectionbetween heritage and nature inthe World Heritage landscape isbrought to life in somefascinating articles exploringprojects aimed at boostingbiodiversity in the Site andbeyond.

Find out about how NaturalEngland, the RSPB and others areworking closely with farmers andvolunteers to deliver bloomingbarrows, butterflies andimportant landscape scalewildlife corridors.

Connections and partnerships areat the heart of our approach tomanaging the World Heritage Site.We hope you will agree that thisedition of Megalith really bringsout the range of partners involvedand their dedication and passionfor working together to look afterall aspects of the World Heritagelandscape and make it a vibrantand exciting place to visit.

Blooming barrows - our historic and natural heritage intertwined

On farmland in the south of theStonehenge World Heritage Site, just over the busy A303, years of sympatheticmanagement to protect historicmonuments, reconnect them in thelandscape and restore our naturalheritage are starting to show tangible and delightful results.

Most striking is arguably the NormantonDown barrow cemetery, which forms a line of barrows and burial features on a ridge immediately southwest of theStonehenge circle.

These historic monuments are on private farmland, and at the start of the21st century were maintained as smallislands of grassland and scrub surroundedby cereal fields. However, the farmers,supported by Natural England’s wildlifefriendly farming grants, have since takenmany of the surrounding fields out of arable production and turned them to grassland. Volunteer work parties have also been active in removing scrub fromthe barrows.

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Surveying grassland quadrat at Normanton Down

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Today it is not just the barrows thatsupport chalk wildflowers such as wildthyme, milkwort, small scabious, dropwortand fairy flax but also the surroundinglandscape setting. Drifts of lady’s bedstraw,red clover, ox-eye daisy and bird’s-foottrefoil carpet the ground, with the paletteof colours topped up with randomwildflowers such as the deep purple ofclustered bellflower and rose pink

of common centaury. The growingnumbers and diversity of insect life are alsotestimony to the change from arable fieldsto a haven for downland wildlife. Mostconspicuous being the butterflies such ascommon blue, meadow brown, dark-greenfritillary and marbled white which providean extra mobile dimension of colour inmid-summer.

This open landscape retains a rare air of tranquillity and is home to increasinglyimportant populations of once morewidespread farmland birds such as thestone-curlew, lapwing, corn bunting and

skylark. A core areahas been set up withone of the farmers as the NormantonDown nature reserveby the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).Monitoring hasrevealed that therelict chalk flora is

now spilling off the barrows into thesurrounding grasslands and reconnectingthe ancient monuments with a landscapeof yesteryear. This has been augmented bybringing in flower-rich hay from nearbydownland farms and strewing it on theDown. Additionally by sowing and drillingwildflower seed collected from nearbySalisbury Plain.

This process needscareful managementand the farmer, grazier,RSPB and NaturalEngland meet annuallyto review the seasonand plan next year’scomplementary sheepand cattle grazing. The grazing keeps thebarrows free of scrub,provides an opensward for wildflowersand of course dung forinsects, which in turnprovide food fornesting birds.

The success of this partnership at work is best seen in early spring, when the big open skies of this ancientlandscape are alive with the tumbling of displayinglapwing, chortling skylarks, and the evocative wailing of stone-curlews at dusk. The clean lines of themonuments are easiest to pick out on the open downwhere frolicing lambs bleat and yellow nodding cowslips stretch to the horizon.

Patrick CashmanSite Manager, RSPB Wiltshire Reserves

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Blooming barrows

Sowing wildflower seed at Normanton Down

Clustered Bellflower

Common Blue butterfly

Marbled White butterflyDropwort coming into bloom

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Earlier this year Highways England held a public consultation on its proposals forthe A303 past Stonehenge, betweenAmesbury and Berwick Down. HighwaysEngland’s aims for the scheme are totransform journey reliability, enhance safetyand improve connectivity to the SouthWest whilst at the same time bringingbenefits to the Stonehenge WorldHeritage Site which is currently bisected by the existing A303. The schemecomprises an 8-mile long dual carriagewaymade up of the following key elements:

l A twin-bore tunnel at least 1.8 mileslong, through a large part of the WorldHeritage Site landscape past Stonehenge

l A new junction between the A303 and A360

l A new junction between the A303 andA345 at the site of the existing CountessRoundabout

l A bypass to the north of WinterbourneStoke with a viaduct over the Till valley

Highways England has used theconsultation feedback to develop its plansand make changes to the proposalssubmitted for public consultation in thespring of 2018. The proposed changeswere designed to minimise impacts onthe World Heritage Site and itsOutstanding Universal Value. The publicwere invited to comment on the proposedchanges via a supplementary consultationwhich ran for 28 days in July and August.

The feedback from the supplementaryconsultation has been added to thatalready received and should help HighwaysEngland to identify an improved solutionbefore submitting its application later thisyear for a Development Consent Order to build the scheme. If developmentconsent is granted by the Secretary ofState, construction is planned to start in2021 and the new road would be open for traffic in 2026.

For further information visit the HighwaysEngland website at:www.highways.gov.uk/a303stonehenge

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Helen joins the WHS team

Helen Miah joined the World Heritage Site Coordination Unit at the end of November 2017replacing Liam Wiseman as thePartnership Officer. Helen has a background in public sector Arts and Culture and PerformingArts Education.

A recent convert to the greatoutdoors Helen is delighted to be working in such an inspirationallandscape.

She is thoroughly enjoying exploring and learning about the extraordinaryOutstanding Universal Value of the Site and the complexities of working across a dynamic partnership of stakeholders.With a passion for broadeningengagement, Helen has had fun at a number of events this summerencouraging everyone to think more about World Heritage by making their own World Heritage ‘inspired by’ charm.

See page 34 for more.

A303 consultation


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Beneath the boards at Avebury Manor

Avebury Manor is a 500 year old, multi-phase Manor house built on the siteof a Benedictine priory. Last winter, threeNational Trust volunteers and I beganan excavation beneath the floorboards oftwo rooms on the second floor.

We went in ahead of ceiling conservationworks in the room below (carried out by Cliveden Conservation) because therewere several centuries of untouched dustbeneath the boards which neededexcavating, and the discoveries plotting and recording.

We crossed the threshold with relativelyhigh hopes of finding a few interestingartefacts and, as it turned out, it was anexciting excavation almost straight away.Within the first hour of day one, the firsthistoric coin of the excavation wasuncovered. Not only was it the first coin, it was also a 16th century groat fromHenry VIII’s time (1526 - 1544), and itis in fantastic condition!

The remainder of the dusty material didnot let us down after what we thoughtmay have been the highlight of theexcavation. Although we still have plentymore to sift through, we have uncovereddozens of pieces of clay pipe, painted wallplaster and a beautiful 16th century brassjetton (a coin-like counter used to assistwith calculations). There was also an early19th century gaming token made of ivoryin the shape of a fish; unfortunately with a broken tail.

These types of ivory tokens were oftenbrought in from China at this time, and youcan find them written about in Jane Austen:“Lydia talked incessantly of lottery tickets,of the fish she had lost and the fish she hadwon…” (Pride and Prejudice). The workcontinues, with a volunteer force helping tosift through the remaining dust, perhapsfinding a small ivory fishtail in the process.

Briony Clifton, National Trust AssistantArchaeologist, Stonehenge and Avebury WHS

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Early 19th century gaming token

Sixteenth century groat

Painted wall plaster

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To celebrate World Heritage Day 2018, I placed 3 new geocaches on byways nearWindmill Hill and hosted a CITO (Cash inTrash Out) Event. Over 30 cachers camefrom across the region and together wecollected over 30 bags of rubbish from thearea, mostly near to the A4. It’s beenfascinating seeing who finds the caches andreading all their logs.

‘Last of the morning and a very cutecontainer! Thanks for bringing me back tothe magical place. I've not been up here inyears! TFTC! (thanks for the cache)’ is a typical comment.

There are millions of geocaches all over theworld. It’s a fantastic hobby for gettingoutside, discovering new places and havingfun with the family. Geocachers are veryrespectful of the countryside and theenvironment and there are strict rules overwhere caches can be placed e.g. they arenever buried in the ground. The NationalTrust have included finding a geocache as#49 in their ’50 Things to do before you're11 ¾’, and have placed caches of their ownat many of their sites.

Helen MiahStonehenge and Avebury World HeritageSite Partnership Officer

Geocaching on WorldHeritage Day

Finding new and different ways to engageas many different people as possible is acentral theme of the World Heritage SiteManagement Plan. Engaging people withculture is also an absolute passion of mineand has been central to my life. It is notsurprising then, that given the opportunity to develop events to celebrate WorldHeritage Day, I should seek to find ways to engage a different audience. In this casethe geocaching community.

For anyone that hasn’theard of geocaching myfavourite description is, ‘I use multi-millionpound satellites to findTupperware in thewoods!’ Put it anotherway Geocachers useGPS tracking systems,now commonly found in all mobile technologyto hide and seekcontainers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locationsmarked by coordinates all over the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproofcontainer containing a logbook andsometimes a pen or pencil. The geocachersigns the log with their established codename and dates it, in order to prove thatthey found the cache. After signing the log,the cache must be placed back exactlywhere the cacher found it.

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Collecting rubbish along the byway

The Fox Geocache

Bags of litter collected on World Heritage Day

‘I use multi-million poundsatellites to find Tupperware in the woods!’

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It was a pleasure to welcome YoungWANHS (Wiltshire Archaeology andNatural History Society) for a specialsession to celebrate World Heritage Dayin April. Our young visitors worked as a team to create a model of Stonehenge.

Next was a tour of our prehistory gallerieswith a chance to sketch some of thefabulous Bronze Age objects on display.Each young artist created a fantastic,colourful painting of the @StoneAveWHSlandscape. For a further celebration,visitors both young (and not so young) hadthe opportunity to build our famous ‘FoamHenge’ and then make their own miniatureversion to take home.

There was something for everyone! If you partake of Twitter, don’t miss thelatest representations of Stonehengeshared by @clonehenge. This entertainingaccount celebrates its 10th anniversary thisyear ; great photos and very much worth avirtual visit!

A special exhibition opened for May and June, dedicated to the memory of Dr Paul Robinson, FSA. Paul was Curator at the Museum for more than 20 years,and passionate about Wiltshire. Throughworking closely with Art Fund, he helpedensure that Wiltshire’s Story was told, andwill continue to be told, for generations to come.

Our exhibition until 13 October 2018showcases the work of Peter Dunn,archaeological artist. Best known for hisseries of reconstructions of Stonehenge for English Heritage, we are delighted to beshowing Peter’s beautiful artwork here inDevizes. His extraordinarily detailed andintricate paintings really bring the past alive.

Past, present and future; landscape, art andhistory; we work together in partnership#heritage4generations @StoneAveWHS

#heritage4generations @WiltshireMuseum

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Peter Dunn, archaeological artist

The Piper window, featuring Avebury and other Wiltshire icons

Young WANHS at the Museum

Foam Henge

Bush Barrow display

The Piper window, featuringAvebury and other Wiltshireicons, casts a glow over artefactsrepresenting 30 years of Art Fundsupport, including the originalcartoon painted by the artist andacquired by the Museum in 1984.


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Stonehenge The story so far

Stonehenge is one of our greatest prehistoric treasures, a unique stone monument and a lasting testament to the beliefs and skills of our ancient ancestors. It has survived, even if now in a semi-ruined state, for around 5,000 years since building started.

In the early21st century,with a newvisitor centre,enhancedinterpretationand theopportunity to explore thesurrounding

landscape, it attracts well over a millionvisitors a year. Stonehenge has neverreally been forgotten. Romans andSaxons visited it while medieval monksdrew it and created elaboratemythologies to explain its construction. Since then, and particularly over thelast four or five centuries, it has beenthe subject of endless investigationand speculation by antiquarians,pioneering archaeologists andscientists, as well as mystics, stargazersand all those who seek its spiritualityand meaning.

In late 2017 Historic England published a new edition of Stonehenge - The story so far by archaeologist Julian Richards.Since the first edition in 2006 there hasbeen a flurry of activity: re-examinationsof old ideas, extensive geophysical surveyof the wider landscape and many newexcavations both within this landscape and,significantly, in 2008, at Stonehenge itself.There have been new discoveries, somefundamental questions have beenanswered while others have been raisedand some ideas have been turned on theirheads.

This book is not the final answer. It reflects our current understanding ofStonehenge, but future investigations willundoubtedly change this, perhaps again in quite radical ways. Despite the bestattempts of archaeologists and scientists,Stonehenge will always retain some of itsmystery – one of the reasons why it is such an object of universal fascination. The title, Stonehenge – The story so far, is a carefully considered choice.

Julian draws on nearly 40 years of personal study to explain the developmentof Stonehenge’s complex structures and places them in their rich landscape of burial and ceremony. In seeking to explain how Stonehenge was built thisbook draws on experimentation andpractical insight, and helps us to answersome of the big questions: who built it andwhen, how and why?

We will probably never have all theanswers even when faced with supposedly‘hard’ archaeological evidence, there willalways be differing ways in which it can be interpreted. This is why archaeologyand in particular exploring the prehistoricpast is so fascinating. The story isconstantly changing.

The book is aimed at those who arefascinated by Stonehenge but who wantmore than the guidebook can offer. If thishas whetted your appetite for exploring

the Stonehenge landscape, thentake a look at the Stonehengeand Avebury Map – ideal forwalkers and others wishing to discover the fascinatinglandscape of the two halvesof the World Heritage site. With Stonehenge on one sideand Avebury on the other, the map shows and describesboth visible and hidden

remains, with information about where you can find out more. Happy reading and exploring!

Clare BlickHistoric England

Megalith readers can get 25% discounton both these titles by shopping at theHistoric England online shop – visithttps://retail.historicenglandservices.org.ukand enter MEGA18 on the basket page.

Stonehenge – The story so far by JulianRichards (9781848021006,£25.00)

Stonehenge and Avebury Map(9781848021266, £9.99)

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Kate Davies, English Heritage Director of Stonehenge said: “We were thrilled to work with Kari Kola on this incredibleproject to light up Stonehenge. Kari’s project shone a light on Stonehenge on World Heritage Day in this centenary year of the monument being given to the nation.

Kari’s breath-taking art helps us to see Stonehenge in a different light. Looking at the ancient stones today, it is easy to assume that their future was always secure but at the beginning of the 20th century, that was far from the case – our most important prehistoric monument was at risk of collapse. 2018 marks a hundred years of Stonehenge belonging to us all and the monument getting the care it deserves.”

Kari Kola’s Impact with Light at Stonehenge was installed using 80 LED lights overnight and in the early hours of World Heritage Day.

English Heritage is hosting a programme ofspecial events, lectures and activities tocelebrate 100 years of care andconservation at Stonehenge.

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http://www.englishheritage.org.uk/Stonehenge100

English Heritage shines a light on 100 years ofcare and conservation at Stonehenge

To celebrate UNESCO World HeritageDay on 18th April and as part of activitiesto mark 100 years of care andconservation at Stonehenge, EnglishHeritage worked with Finnish Light ArtistKari Kola to light up the iconic stone circleat the heart of the World Heritage Site.

Artist Kari Kola illuminated the monumentovernight and into the dawn of WorldHeritage Day which was also celebratedaround the World Heritage Site andbeyond with a special programme ofactivities and events, including talks andvolunteer-led activities at Stonehenge.

The incredible artwork at Stonehenge was the first element of Kola’s Impact withLight project which aims to focus attentionon World Heritage Sites, aiming to increaseawareness of UNESCO’s work, culturalhistory and global themes such as climatechange.

Kari Kola said, “The Impact with Lightproject begins at Stonehenge. The site is truly iconic and globally one of the mostsignificant in terms of the origins of ourcultural history. The light installation atStonehenge was realised in cooperationwith English Heritage and I am deeplyhonoured by the way in which the charityhas embraced my work.

Impact with Light was the first step on myjourney to the International Day of Light in May when I crafted a light installation onthe UNESCO headquarters in Paris.”

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The Stonehenge Chubb Centenary Day Marking a century ofpublic ownership of themost famous prehistoricsite in the world, 2018witnesses the centenary of Mary and Cecil Chubb’sgift of Stonehenge to the nation.

This gift was ultimatelybrought about through theShrewton born and raisedCecil meeting the then Mary Fern when he was playing cricket, with theircourtship growing to the background ofcricket matches.

The couple married in 1902, Mary received a £100,000 legacy in 1905,and in 1915 Cecil bought Stonehenge at auction because he thought a localperson ought to buy it. It seemed fittingthen to celebrate the selfless act of giftingStonehenge to us all in 1918 by organisinga cricket match at Shrewton and creatingan event that Mary and Cecil Chubbwould have been familiar with.

Held on Sunday 8th Julyat Shrewton RecreationGround, the StonehengeChubb Centenary Daywas based on annualevents that, from theeighteenth century,established a celebratoryformat at bothStonehenge andShrewton throughcultural gatherings and

exhibitions entwined with cricket, bandmusic and singing.

In a unique community-hosted crickettournament Shrewton Cricket Club took on and beat teams of archaeologists(wearing period flat caps), heritageprofessionals (wearing boaters andbonnets), and the Prehistoric Society(dressed as Suffragettes). Adorned withbadges from the fields of archaeology and heritage, the trophy was a moderntake on the ‘good hat’ awarded as the prizeat the earliest known cricket tournamentheld at Stonehenge in 1781.

Period music was played to echo villagecelebrations dating back to at least 1826,the Shrewton Silver Band put on a fineperformance. Greg Hancock wrote andpublished ‘The Ballad of Cecil and MaryChubb’ especially for the event. This song is available to download[https://greghancock.bandcamp.com/track/the-ballad-of-cecil-and-mary-chubb].

The Shrewton Valley Horticultural Societyput on a flower show, recalling their annualshows first held in 1856. Other stallsincluded the Stonehenge and AveburyWorld Heritage Site, ShrewtonCommunity Speedwatch, Health WatchWiltshire, and Wessex Archaeology. Therewas in addition a display of vintage sewingmachines, and Shrewton Scouts andGuides were active throughout the event.

English Heritage’s display included a magnetic self-build model of Stonehengeand the ice cream van kindly visited onloan from the Stonehenge Visitor Centre.English Heritage also provided prizes for a Stonehenge Replica Competition, whichattracted entries from under -11s, 11-14,15-18, and adult age groups.

Even Cecil and Mary Chubb were inevidence, in the form of a life-sizecardboard cut-out sponsored by EnglishHeritage. This was created from a photograph supplied by Jane Hills who kindly responded to an appeal for a photograph of Mary broadcast by the BBC.

The event was kindly sponsored byAmesbury Museum and Heritage Trust,Wessex Archaeology, and Wiltshire Life.Partners, players and prize givers includedShrewton Parish Council, Shrewton Cricket Club, Stonehenge and AveburyWorld Heritage Site, English Heritage Trust,The National Trust, Historic England, BAJR,Wiltshire Council, The Prehistoric Society,the Southern Co-op and Wiltshire Council.

Brian Edwards

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On June 1st this year the museum atAvebury celebrated the 80th anniversaryof its opening in 1938. Its founder,Alexander Keiller, purchased AveburyManor in 1937 and converted the Manorstables into a museum to display the findsfrom his excavations in and aroundAvebury. Unlike his previous, private,museum in London, the Avebury museumwas for the public and was located withinthe site from which the collections came. The National Trust purchased the museumbuilding in 1943, the collections were giftedto the nation by Alexander Keiller’s widow,Gabrielle in 1966, and from 1944 to 1994the museum was managed by EnglishHeritage and its predecessors.

Since 1994 the museum has beenmanaged by the National Trust under anagreement with English Heritage; it is open362 days a year, and has been for manyyears.

In 2001 the museum was enlarged when a permanent exhibition was created in a large barn close to the original museumbuilding, and in 2005 a new store and areafor research visits was opened inconverted buildings around 150m from the public galleries. This year the exhibitionin the Barn gallery has been redisplayed,with completely rewritten and redesignedgraphic panels and with the contentbrought up to date. More additions areplanned, particularly in order toincorporate the results of excavations inand around Avebury and research on themuseum collections.

What the next 80 years holds is anyone’sguess, but we hope that the museum willstill be here, at the heart of the WorldHeritage Site, caring for and presenting thecollections, facilitating research, and addinginterest and enjoyment to the experienceof visiting Avebury.

Dr Ros ClealCurator, Alexander Keiller Museum

The museum is free to National Trust andEnglish Heritage members and to residentsof Avebury parish (for the latter pleasebring some proof of address), otherwiseadmission charges apply.

Research visits to the collections or to usethe library can be arranged by emailing theCurator,[email protected]

Women andarchaeology atAveburyThe work of Alexander Keiller atAvebury is well established andrecognised, but the contribution ofwomen to the archaeological work here is largely unknown. Throughoutthis year a small exhibition in the Barn

Gallery of theAlexanderKeiller Museumis highlightingthe work of nine femalearchaeologists in the AveburyWorld Heritage Siteduring thetwentiethcentury.

As part of this exhibition the National Trust commissioned theorganisation Trowelblazers to create a series of graphic panels to presentthe work of women in archaeology on a broader historical scale, to establish the context in which theAvebury women were working.

https://trowelblazers.com

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The Alexander Keiller Museum at 80

The newly displayed Barn gallery of the Alexander Keiller Museum

Veronica (Liddell) Keiller at Windmill Hill during the 1925-1929 excavations

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How can virtualreality technologies help us to exploreancient sites?

The sun is rising into a clear blue sky. I hear the plaintive call of a red kite circlingabove me, and the gusting wind is carryingthe calls of distant roe deer and wolvesfrom the Marlborough Downs in thedistance. I can see the outside of anenormous banked earthwork in front ofme, and tantalising views of stones thatappear to lead to an inner area. I set outacross the grass and wild flowers, throughthe entrance and onto a causeway; I seetwo dizzyingly deep ditches on either side,which momentarily take my breath away.

I keep walking, passing between two stones that tower over my head, and into a wide-open expanse of grassland,enclosed by white-topped banks thatrecede into the distance. The land slopesup gently, towards two collections ofstones in the interior of the circle, althoughfrom this distance I can’t see any pattern or form in their arrangement.

But this is a strange place. The sun isshining, but I can’t feel its warmth. The wind is blowing but my hair doesn’tmove. Walking up the slope doesn’t makemy knees hurt. And yet I am here. And so are others; I see someone in thedistance, walking along the path betweenthe collections of stones near the centre.I’m in Virtual Avebury, wearing a headsetthat completely replaces my view of thephysical world, and I’m holding a device in each hand that enables me to movearound and interact with this virtual place.

Virtual Avebury has been created fromlidar data, archaeological findings andhistorical documents, to simulate how theAvebury Stone Circles may have appearedand sounded around 2,300 BCE.

One of the foci of our research is howthese kinds of immersive simulations mightbe incorporated into museums andheritage interpretation, and we invitedvisitors to Avebury to try the simulationduring June, July and August 2018 at our VR station in The Barn Gallery of theAlexander Keiller Museum.

We’re really interested to know how a sense of Virtual Avebury as place mightemerge from peoples’ experiences there,particularly as pairs of visitors can be in the simulation at the same time, speakingto each other and chasing each otheraround the stones.

Our early findings demonstrate a range of reactions from visitors, but theoverwhelming one is ‘I didn’t realise howbig Avebury is!’ You can follow the ongoingproject, see dates for further publicparticipation and see the findings from the research at:

https://tinyurl.com/virtual-avebury.

Virtual Avebury is a project funded by theArts and Humanities Research Council andEngineering and Physical Sciences ResearchCouncil, under the 2017 ImmersivePartnerships scheme. It is a partnershipbetween Bournemouth University, the National Trust, virtual reality developersDaden Limited, and soundscape specialistsSatsymph.

Professor Liz FalconerBournemouth University

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Simulation of the southern inner circle, Avebury

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The VR equipment used to experience the simulation

Simulation of the southern entrance to the henge

This year the North Wessex DownsAONB, the Wiltshire Geology Group and Bournemouth University took part as well as the WHS and Wiltshire Museumwho have worked together for severalyears.

The Bournemouth University displayillustrated how landscape – and in this casethe Stonehenge landscape – can be usedto promote Health and Wellbeing.

The Geology Group brought displays and examples of fossils found in Wiltshire,which fascinated both adults and youngpeople.

The AONB stand presented theopportunity for people to see where theylive in relation to the area it covers and todiscover how it plays a part in protectingthe landscape.

The Museum’s own display featured itswork in the preservation and display ofthe archaeology of the County and theexhibitions that both it and SalisburyMuseum have to illustrate whyStonehenge and Avebury are a WorldHeritage Site.

The History of Agriculture this year wascereal production through time, as everbacked up by loans of items from WiltshireMuseum, the highlight of which was theIron Age Quern over which many peoplelaboured to grind enough wheat to make a pancake, let alone a loaf! The wheat waskindly provided by the CB CooperPartnership and was probably a lot easierto grind than that with which ourancestors had to contend.

As always, thanks to Wiltshire Museum for the loans. All the “manned” standsprovided activities (as usual the ‘dig’disintegrated into a sandpit resulting inmany grubby and rather yellow children).The activities were definitely an attractionand one which one hopes holds theparental attention on the displays.

Mentioning “manning”, we were a very small team this year but able to cover for each other when a tea break was required, somy personal thanks to Helen, David,Henry, Colin and Isobel.

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Open Farm Sunday In 2017 Open Farm Sunday took place at Avebury, courtesy ofCB Cooper Partnership. It featured an art collection, reflecting the WHS Management Plan, plus activities for children in the art sphere led by Charles Rodwell.

Wiltshire Museum loaned itemsrelated to dairy production, the milk for which was kindly donated by theFarthing family. Other displays illustrated how the methodology used in archaeological prospection can helplandowners to understand the below-ground evidence of activity in the past.

Gill Swanton.Archaeologist, Co-chair of ASAHRGand Farmer


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The event took place on June 10th at Temple Farm, by kind invitation ofCount Goess-Sarau and was a greatsuccess due to the hard work ofTemple’s staff, exhibitors and the fineweather. Over 2,000 people attended,some from as far away as Bristol andHampshire – and those were only theindividuals we found out about.

Over the years the section in which theWHS Coordination Unit stall appearshas evolved into ‘Landscape and HistoricEnvironment’, which allows plenty offlexibility in what themes may befeatured and who is able to take part.

It was originally conceived as a way to add something different to an OpenFarm Sunday event, as we live in aspecial place where the history ofagriculture is present in the landscapeand in the excellent Museumcollections in the area. The WorldHeritage Site has always been the focusand this year, as ever, provided activitiesin which visitors could take part.

The Porton to Plain Wildlife Connections projectVolunteers, alongside the Natural EnglandField Unit and local team, are busy asbees surveying the farmed landscapebetween the wildlife rich chalk grasslandsof Porton Down, Parsonage Down and Salisbury Plain Sites of SpecialScientific Interest (SSSI).

This area of Wiltshire remains one of thekey strongholds of chalk grassland acrossEurope. Salisbury Plain is the largestexpanse of chalk grassland in northwestEurope and Porton Down is one of thelargest areas of unimproved chalk grasslandin the world.

The Stonehenge WHS landscape is at theheart of this area being surveyed thissummer as part of a new project to ensurethe future of some of our most importantbutterfly, bird and bat species. Faced withhabitat fragmentation, many species are finding it increasingly difficult to movethrough our landscapes.

The Porton to Plain Wildlife Connectionsproject, being co-ordinated by NaturalEngland, will help us understand andrecord the important areas for feeding and breeding wildlife. We are particularlyfocusing on blue and marsh fritillarybutterflies, farmland birds such as cornbunting and bats including the rarebarbastelle bat. This field work, combinedwith other recent survey records, will be used to produce maps showing existinghabitat and potential areas which could be enhanced to provide a well-connectedlandscape for wildlife. Working alongsidethe WHS team, archaeologists and localfarmers, we will also use the information to identify locations where it is possible to protect both WHS archaeology and wildlife.

The maps will help us provide support and up to date information for farmers and partners working to deliver benefits at a landscape scale. The project is alsointended to help support future fundingapplications such as Environmental LandManagement schemes and opportunitiesarising out of Defra’s 25 Year EnvironmentPlan. The information will also helpinfluence future built developments andassess their impact on the wider landscape.

Initial surveys this summer will focus onsearching for the marsh fritillary and threeblue butterfly species (adonis, small andchalk hill) together with their food plantsdevil’s bit scabious,horseshoe vetch andkidney vetch. To assistwith the survey,volunteers were invitedto attend NaturalEngland and ButterflyConservation trainingworkshops held onPewsey Downs andParsonage Down National NatureReserves.

The project is being run in partnershipwith the National Trust, ButterflyConservation, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust,RSPB, and the Wiltshire Bat Group.

Natural England would especially like to thank the volunteers, local farmers andlandowners for their valuable contributionsand support for the survey.

Further updates on the project will beposted on the Natural England NNRFacebook page or on Twitter@NESouthWest or contact AdamLangford for more information:[email protected]

Stephanie PayneNatural England Land Management Adviser.

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In May this year I was invited to SouthKorea to present at an internationalsymposium on the East Asian Silk Routewhich stretches from Japan throughKorea to China. At first sight the linksbetween the Maritime Silk Route andStonehenge and Avebury sitting landlockedin Wiltshire may be difficult to perceive.However, the sites share some interestingsimilarities and challenges.

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ondsStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site

and the East Asian Maritime Silk Route

The symposium was inspired by recentexcavations of the Dangseong fortressaround two hours’ drive south of the South Korean capital Seoul. The excavationresults appear to reveal the important roleDangseong played in the internationalexchange between China and Korea fromthe 5th to 10th century under the SillaDynasty.

The discoveries are prompting a change in the approach to theunderstanding, protection andmanagement of the site. The focus is now extending beyond the fortress to include the ancientharbour, related port, and socialinfrastructure in the surroundinglandscape such as the Buddhist burial ground in the hills to thenorth of the site. The challenge isshifting from protecting andpresenting an individual site tomanaging a wider cultural landscape.

With funding from the nearby city ofHwasung and Hanyang University in Seoul plus a week’s annual leave from my

role as World Heritage SitePartnership Manager, I wasable to attend the symposiumto share my experience ofmanaging the Stonehenge andAvebury cultural landscape. Researching, understanding,protecting and interpreting notonly individual sites andmonuments but theirrelationship both to landscapefeatures and to one another is key to our approach tomanaging the World Heritage

Site. I presented an in-depth case studyon the various challenges we face both to the legibility of these relationships inthe landscape and to the physical remainsof the monuments themselves.


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King Taejoot Joseon, 1335 - 1408

Ch’angdokkung PalaceWorld Heritage Siteinscribed 1997

Onboard ship with international colleagues andmap of possible Maritime Silk Routes 1408

Traditional buildings within the Ch’angdokkung Palace complex, Seoul

Our partnership approach to overcomingthese challenges in a landscape withmultiple owners, and the central role of a robust management plan endorsed by all was of particular interest to delegates.

In addition to Korean academics andheritage professionals the symposiumincluded delegates from Japan, China andthe Institute of Archaeology at UCL.Discussions ranged beyond the immediatecultural landscape to consider Danseong’srelationship to the wider East AsianMaritime Silk Route and possiblenominations for World Heritage Site statusas part of a potential transnational bid.

World Heritage Site status meansStonehenge and Avebury is part of aspecial group of natural and cultural sitesthat are considered of such outstandingimportance that their significancetranscends national boundaries. This bringswith it significant international obligationsto protect the site but also offersunrivalled opportunities to work withpartners from across the globe to sharebest practice and devise new andinnovative ways to address the challengeswe all face in looking after our unique andirreplaceable sites.

Sarah SimmondsStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage SitePartnership Manager

The Silks Routes linked ancient societies contributing to theirdevelopment though the exchange of ideas and technologies.

Working with international colleagueshelps to continue this exchange andthrough mutual learning to contribute to one of UNESCO’s fundamental aims of promoting greater understandingacross different cultures.

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Jogyesa Buddhist Temple, Seoul, South Korea

With international colleagues at the Symposium

Site visit to Dangseong Fortress

Inspired by WorldHeritage

At the World Heritage Site PartnershipCoordination Unit we are always lookingfor opportunities to get out and about andspread the word about World Heritage.This summer we have been visiting variouscommunity events and having lots of funmaking ‘Inspired by World Heritage’charms. Here’s how it works.

We’ve got a series of fact sheets about 24 different World Heritage sites in the UK and across the globe. You pick one,maybe somewhere you’ve been, mypersonal favourite being Fraser Island off theAustralian Coast. Or somewhere you wouldlike to go, The Kremlin and Red Square orAngkor Wat for example. Next, inspired bywhat you’ve seen, read, thought about anddiscussed you select some beads and thread.It’s been fascinating listening to the reasonswhy beads have been chosen.

Sometimes people go for the colours,sometimes the material, texture, shape, feel, light reflective qualities… one youngerlad chose Stonehenge and Avebury becausehe lives there and he clearly felt a strongsense of ‘ownership’ of his World HeritageSite. He chose three beads, a green one forthe earth, a grey one for the stones and blue for the sky. Simple but perfect. Then youthread the beads on your coloured threadwith a wooden tag on one end and a charmclasp on the other. The last task is to stick ona World Heritage Site logo sticker. That’s it,you are all done, you can take your charmhome. You’ve spent time thinking about,learning about and creating something all of your own inspired by World Heritage.

Helen Miah


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Inspired by Fraser Island

Fraser Island lies off the east coastof Australia. At 122 km long, it isthe largest sand island in theworld. Majestic remnants of tallrainforest growing on sand andhalf the world’s perchedfreshwater dune lakes are foundinland from the beach.

Inspired by Gaudi

Seven properties built by thearchitect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) in or near Barcelona testifyto Gaudí’s exceptional creativecontribution to the development of architecture and buildingtechnology in the late 19th andearly 20th centuries.

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Documents

Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter · Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage SiteNewsletter SUMMER 2018 SUMMER 2018 Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter