A talk by Dr Helen Wickstead, Kingston University and Martyn Barber, English Heritage on the Damerham Archaeology Project. 08th Nov 2011 19:30
A lecture in the Salisbury Museum Archaeology Lectures (SMAL) series. SMAL lectures are held on the second Tuesday of each month from September to April in the Lecture Hall at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
Oral history of Coppice Worker to be shown at the Cranborne Chase Woodfair
Today we are editing a short video featuring Ernie Steele a traditional coppice worker from the Cranborne Chase. We will be showing the video at this weekends Cranborne Chase Woodfair on the 8th and 9th October. See www.woodfair.org.uk
Saturday, 1 October 2011
West Country Carriers. Lecture at Devizes Museum 29th October 2011
West Country Carriers and Stage Coaches Before and After Turnpiking 1640-1780, an Illustrated Lecture by Dorian Gerhold, Lecture Hall, Devizes Museum
Saturday 29 October 2011. Cost £5 (Members £3)
Saturday 29 October 2011. Cost £5 (Members £3)
Dorian Gerhold FSA is a Principal Clerk at the House of Commons who is also a very professional writer on historical topics. This lecture will throw new light on the economic and social development of life in the West of England and is sure to appeal to anyone interested in how goods were transported before HGV's and motorways. For more information and to book on line visit West Country Carriers and Stage Coaches or telephone the Bookings Secretary on 01380 727 369 or email her at d.barnett@wiltshireheritage.org.uk.
Friday, 30 September 2011
Flint and Pottery Courses at the Ancient Technology Centre, Cranborne
Three methods will be explored, hard hammer percussion, soft hammer percussion, and pressure flaking and their will be ample opportunity to knap flint under direct guidance from an experienced knapper. Day two will provide an opportunity to work on a knapping project and explore the production of birch tar glues and sinew work for creating composite tools.
The course is run by Luke Winter, manager of the ATC and experimental archaeologist whose past research has centred on the replication of stone tools, their use in butchery tasks and what this tells us about human evolution and cultural development.
This course is designed for beginners and aims to develop a set of skills that can be improved with further practice. The type of tool produced in this course depends entirely on individual skill. £99.00 including longhouse stay.
Neolithic / Bronze age Pottery
On the first day we will start by preparing our own clay, grog / tempers then build our own simple pots and the learn delicate art of fire management. The fire will burn on into the evening and will be a great social event so bring an instrument, a story or experience as we tend the fire into the night.
On day two we will look at the success of our firing and then concentrate on making beakers and urns using traditional techniques. As pots need a significant drying period participants can take their pots home to fire themselves or we can do it for you in a conventional Kiln.
Anna Hudson is an experienced potter, crafts person and artist who has worked with the centre for several years. Her experiences are many and varied and attention to detail second to none.
£99.00 including longhouse stay.
To book your place call Pascale on 01725 517618 …… atc@dorsetcc.gov.uk
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Forthcoming Talk on the Knowlton Prehistoric Landscape at Salisbury Museum
Lecture at Slaisbury and South Wiltshire Museum 11 Oct 2011 19:30
“Round Barrows – That’s where Bronze Age people buried their dead init! Nuff said”. Factually correct, if a tad simplistic, but of course the potential for learning more about society from studying these monuments it could be argued is still in its infancy. The landscape of Cranborne Chase has been at the forefront of British prehistory and archaeology since the middle of the 19th century, it having one of the densest concentrations of prehistoric monuments in north-west Europe.
In 2003 John Gale embarked upon a seasonal campaign of excavations at the little known and apparently flattened barrow group at High Lea Farm near Hinton Martell north of Wimborne. The fieldwork was completed in 2009 and the analysis currently under way is discovering information which suggests that we still have a lot to learn about these ‘familiar’ monuments of the Wessex landscape.
John will also be incorporating some early results of his recent survey work at the Clandon Barrow in west Dorset which has a bearing on the lecture title.
A lecture in the Salisbury Museum Archaeology Lectures (SMAL) series. SMAL lectures are held on the second Tuesday of each month from September to April.
“Round Barrows – That’s where Bronze Age people buried their dead init! Nuff said”. Factually correct, if a tad simplistic, but of course the potential for learning more about society from studying these monuments it could be argued is still in its infancy. The landscape of Cranborne Chase has been at the forefront of British prehistory and archaeology since the middle of the 19th century, it having one of the densest concentrations of prehistoric monuments in north-west Europe.
In 2003 John Gale embarked upon a seasonal campaign of excavations at the little known and apparently flattened barrow group at High Lea Farm near Hinton Martell north of Wimborne. The fieldwork was completed in 2009 and the analysis currently under way is discovering information which suggests that we still have a lot to learn about these ‘familiar’ monuments of the Wessex landscape.
John will also be incorporating some early results of his recent survey work at the Clandon Barrow in west Dorset which has a bearing on the lecture title.
A lecture in the Salisbury Museum Archaeology Lectures (SMAL) series. SMAL lectures are held on the second Tuesday of each month from September to April.
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Coming Soon.. Exhibition by the Archaeologist Martin Green 'Out of the Earth' at Salisbury Museum 19th Oct onwards
Renowned potter Chris Carter and archaeologist Martin Green share their fascination with the prehistoric past of Cranborne Chase. Through art and artefact, they reveal a story of the humans that occupied the landscape before history was written. The exhibition runs from the 22nd October to 14th January 2012 at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum
Out of the Earth explores a dialogue between artist and archaeologist as they respond to the objects excavated from flint-rich soils of Cranborne Chase. Artefacts from Martin’s own museum, which displays the finds he has discovered over the years, will be on display alongside Chris’s artwork and objects from Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Heritage Museum. Together, the objects describe and uncover the imprints left by farming, community and ritual activities in the past.
Chris and Martin describe themselves as ‘sons of the soil’, both having been raised on farms in the countrysides of Warwickshire and Dorset. They met following a BBC4 radio show ‘Open Country’ which featured Down Farm on Cranborne Chase. Martin had been excavating there since he inherited it in 1979 and Chris’s interest in the Chase landscape soon developed into a passion for exploring it through his art.
The exhibition shows new developments in Chris’s work and is itself a testimony to the continuing influence of prehistoric people on us today as their artistry, communities and ritual activities are re-discovered through archaeology. Chris describes the way he searches for his pots in the clay as akin to the archaeologist’s search for an object in the earth. Cranborne Chase has encouraged his art to take new routes which have seen him sculpting from flint and creating 2D collage works. A deep-seated influence of the landscape and farming is apparent in his work; his pots suggest the sinuous twist of the plough and the symmetry of the stone axe, whilst the surface textures reflect the processes of people and nature on the landscape.
Both pot and artefact have a power and contemplative quality that makes Out of the Earth an exhibition not to be missed. Here, the passion for the Cranborne landscape and for the people who lived on and moulded it, is deep-seated, inherent and heartfelt. The stories revealed are told by two people who know the landscape intimately, both inside and out, and can tell those stories with an authority and understanding that cannot be disputed.
Out of the Earth explores a dialogue between artist and archaeologist as they respond to the objects excavated from flint-rich soils of Cranborne Chase. Artefacts from Martin’s own museum, which displays the finds he has discovered over the years, will be on display alongside Chris’s artwork and objects from Salisbury Museum and Wiltshire Heritage Museum. Together, the objects describe and uncover the imprints left by farming, community and ritual activities in the past.
Chris and Martin describe themselves as ‘sons of the soil’, both having been raised on farms in the countrysides of Warwickshire and Dorset. They met following a BBC4 radio show ‘Open Country’ which featured Down Farm on Cranborne Chase. Martin had been excavating there since he inherited it in 1979 and Chris’s interest in the Chase landscape soon developed into a passion for exploring it through his art.
The exhibition shows new developments in Chris’s work and is itself a testimony to the continuing influence of prehistoric people on us today as their artistry, communities and ritual activities are re-discovered through archaeology. Chris describes the way he searches for his pots in the clay as akin to the archaeologist’s search for an object in the earth. Cranborne Chase has encouraged his art to take new routes which have seen him sculpting from flint and creating 2D collage works. A deep-seated influence of the landscape and farming is apparent in his work; his pots suggest the sinuous twist of the plough and the symmetry of the stone axe, whilst the surface textures reflect the processes of people and nature on the landscape.
Both pot and artefact have a power and contemplative quality that makes Out of the Earth an exhibition not to be missed. Here, the passion for the Cranborne landscape and for the people who lived on and moulded it, is deep-seated, inherent and heartfelt. The stories revealed are told by two people who know the landscape intimately, both inside and out, and can tell those stories with an authority and understanding that cannot be disputed.
Friday, 23 September 2011
Man Made Water Bodies are an important feature of the AONB as new guidance explains
There is evidence for relic water meadows stretching along the bottom of all the chalk river valleys in the AONB including bedworks, sluices and bridges. These provide evidence for the former crucial role of the sheep-corn system of agriculture in the AONB from AD 1600 to AD 1900.
The former use of water meadows and mills, and the creation of ponds and lakes have all had an impact on the landscape of the AONB seen today.
Systems of fish ponds and small man-made lakes are associated with chalk rivers and river valley bottoms, many of these have Medieval origins, but some also forming modern heavily designed commercial fish farms. Man-made lakes are associated with the creation of 'formal' designed landscapes of the 18th and 19th century's, including Fonthill and the pleasure lake at Shearwater - these are much more common in the northern half of the AONB.
Former mill buildings,are scattered through the river valleys including remnants of water wheels, mill races and mill ponds in chalk river valleys. These all mark evidence of former exploitation of water power in the valleys.
There are several operational watercress beds in the AONB marking the remnants of a once much more thriving industry in the chalk river valleys.
There is some evidence for the manipulation of the chalk rivers' especially where they flow through settlements - here the chalk rivers are contained in stone sided channels and the houses are often located on the opposing bank to the historic routeways, each with an individual stone bridge. The villages are associated with historic 'river' crossing points, including fords and clapper bridges.
More information on the historic use of water of the AONB can be accessed by clicking here: Theme 12: Water in the Landscape.
If you are responsible for managing a historic man made water bodies English Heritage have published some useful guidance entitled Moats, Ponds and Ornamental Lakes in the Historic Environment
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