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Heritage Journal
news and views from Heritage Action
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Shameful heritage plunder near Avebury
April 27, 2005, 7:30 pm
Last Sunday, 24 April 2005, anyone who cares for the past who drove north out of Avebury would have seen a distressing spectacle. No fewer than 480 metal detectorists crowded onto two fields alongside the main road at Winterbourne Bassett, busily intent on digging up our common heritage. (pictured below)
Metal detecting is a hobby in search of respectability. Some detectorists are very responsible people who report their finds to the government's Portable Antiquities Scheme, allowing society in general to learn and benefit from the knowledge attached to these items. But the majority do no such thing - they just take.
Vulgar scene
The 'Near-Avebury Metal Detecting Rally' was a spectacular and avoidable own goal for the hobby. In a vulgar scene reminiscent of Supermarket Sweep, people raced to be first onto the land, anxious to claim the booty for themselves. Flint artefacts as well as metallic objects are now considered fair game.
All those who took part were members of national metal detecting organisations which proclaim their 'strong support' for the government's voluntary recording scheme. Bizarrely, though, they don't require any of their members to report finds, and the Scheme's statistics prove that most of their members certainly don't report finds. Whatever they find gets taken away by individuals for their own pleasure or to be sold on. Unreported and unrecorded. You may consider that the knowledge attached to these items has been stolen from our common heritage. That's because it has.
Fields were done over
In view of this, the rally would have been ugly enough had it taken place on waste land. But here, in the world-famous archaeology of the Marlborough Downs and close to The Ridgeway, 2 Iron Age forts and countless bronze age barrows, it was sickening. Those fields, classed as disturbed plough soil - "so it's legal, innit" are packed with our common history, from palaeolithic scatters onwards. Or at least, they were.
As it happened, the 480 people who 'hoovered' these 2 fields last Sunday reckoned very little was found. Maybe that's true, maybe not. How would anyone know? Maybe, as many of them claimed, it was because "those fields were done over" by a similar rally 10 years ago. Whatever the truth, when the full and detailed account of our past is written, those 170 acres in the heart of this vitally archaeologically rich area will forever show up as a blank in the record.
Shameful
Shame on them! And shame on the thinking members of the hobby for tolerating such selfish and ignorant behaviour from the majority. Shame on the management of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The Scheme's management must find the moral courage to loudly proclaim what is and isn't civilised.
Heritage Action complained to the detectorists in advance of the rally, at length and passionately. We were dismissed with a common detectorist attitude: "give the archies [archaeologists] an inch and they'll take a mile". Remember, the 'archies' are the ones that try to preserve or record the remains for us all, so we can learn about our past.
A hobby that wishes to become a partner and an extension of archaeology cannot afford such stunts. Nor can the archaeology of the Avebury area.
So if anyone asks for permission to metal detect on your land, ask them to prove that they regularly report finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. And ask for absolute proof - membership of a club or an association that claims to "support the scheme" is proof of nothing at all.
(Pictured above: this sign is cold comfort to anyone who values and respects our heritage)
photos: N Swift
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Crash on the Avenue
April 22, 2005, 4:47 pm
The local bus was today in a collision with a car on the West Kennet Avenue. Luckily no-one was hurt but this highlights - once again - the need to slow down on this narrow country lane. Its all too easy for drivers to lose control and crash as they gawp at the stones. In the past several stones on the side of the road have been hit.
In the 1920s the Ministry of Works buried a stone as it was deemed too dangerous to passing traffic.This stone was excavated in 2003 by the Negotiating Avebury project and reburied again.
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'Extra-terrestrials' due back at Avebury
April 18, 2005, 9:00 pm
The oil seed rape is now in flower and people all over the world are eagerly anticipating the first sighting of crop circles. The crop circle season, an annual jamboree of stunning landscape art, crazy claims and furious farmers is about to break out around Avebury as it has for many previous years.
All winter the circle makers have been slaving over their computers designing this season's offerings while elsewhere 'experts' have been slaving over theirs: writing books and articles explaining the circles are too impossibly beautiful to be man-made.
But the circles cost thousands of pounds of lost revenue to farmers. Part of one year's crop is ruined and the following year's regrowth produces a mixed crop with a reduced value. As one farmer said: �It may have been funny a few years ago but we've had enough now.� The damage is compounded by the tramping feet of hundreds of visitors many of whom don't keep to the tramlines (the tracks in the crop made by vehicles). Direct visits to circles are best avoided altogether - at some times of year the crops are sprayed with chemicals that can cause light-headedness.
Troublesome though they are, it can�t be denied they are wondrous creations.
Here�s one of the final ones from last year, the result of three days and nights of hard work by 'extra-terrestrials'.
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Avebury Society Lecture
April 17, 2005, 3:18 am
A review supplied to us by Andrew Blackall of Avebury Lodge
Around a hundred ticket holders packed the Devizes Assembly Room for the
April 'Avebury Society' lecture, introduced with gentlemanly charm by Alistair Service. The lecture, delivered by archaeologists Joshua Pollard and Mark Gillings made a lively double act as they bounced their Avebury observations around the room like a couple of intellectual Space Hoppers.
How many ways are there to bury a stone? How many traditions with which to burn one? It seemed appropriate at this stage to remind ourselves that archaeology at this level has no political axe to grind; it is merely the study of the past using scientific and historical data. That our ancestors decided to hide and destroy many of the Avebury Stones is something that clearly needs addressing within the boundary of our individual emotions; yet with the historical finger of blame pointed squarely at the Church there is apparently no written data to prove or disprove this theory; in essence we were left to consider that the last Avebury Stone buried was tucked away in the 1920's for safe-keeping.
So much to take in; not least the wonderful suggestion that the Kennet Avenue actually has a natural break in it, perhaps to encompass the local terrain ... This in itself is stunning news indeed and dovetails neatly with our voyeuristic observations of Stukeley.
Consideration was given too to the undressed stone that had once been polished and the evidence of ancient diggings around The Cove.
As the lecture drew to a close hands shot into the air with questions for Josh and Mark who responded with relaxed charm, leaving us with a thousand unanswered questions reverberating from our new found understanding.
As we poured out I was drawn to ponder the fate of the West Kennet Long barrow rats ... might we succumb to the intoxication and heady charm of a shrine in which we shelter too? Great stuff! Rock on!
Josh Pollard and Mark Gillings (with hand in bandage after a gardening
accident)
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Burning issue
April 16, 2005, 6:00 am
A house fire in Avebury High Street was dealt with speedily on Friday afternoon, although perhaps not as promptly as in the days when what is now the Henge Shop was the village fire station.
The incident highlighted a continuing concern on the part of residents - particularly those with thatched roofs. Despite yellow lines and a private parking system visitors often park on both sides of the road or even on pavements and block crucial access for emergency services. Fortunately, on this occasion the appliance was able to get through without a problem.
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Biker Night returns to the village
April 14, 2005, 8:00 pm
Spring has seen the return of regular Biker Nights at the Red Lion - every Wednesday until September. These have been held for the past three years and attract several hundred enthusiasts.
Please bear in mind that parking for visitors on Biker Night can be difficult, especially as the National Trust car park closes nightly to deter camping.
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Avebury's eye
April 13, 2005, 9:07 pm
It's almost a year since the Avebury webcam was live. The very last image, pictured below, was taken on 5 May 2004.
The camera is mounted on the side of the Chapel but has been vandalised repeatedly since it was installed in 2002. Each time, Kennet council has repaired it at the local taxpayers' expense. Sadly, it is currently pointing downwards after someone broke it from its mount.
UPDATE April 15: We have been informed that the webcam will be restored this summer. It will provide new images every 10 seconds and will also provide a facility for live streaming if required. We have suggested that if it is angled a little higher and 24/7 coverage was provided then moonrises could be observed.
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Off-White Horse
April 13, 2005, 4:04 pm
The Cherhill White Horse is looking rather grey and is due for it's biennial makeover.
photo: Claire Bennett
Members of the Cherhill White Horse Restoration Group are planning to re-chalk it on 11 and 12 June (weather permitting). If you would like to help them please contact Rob Pickford on 01249 822884.
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Very White Horse
April 13, 2005, 3:58 pm
The Hackpen White Horse has already been cleaned and is now immaculate.
Happily, the words 'No Ban' that were burned into the nearby hillside by pro-hunting campaigners have now completely disappeared. Unfortunately, the vandals who burned the words have never been found.
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Geophysical survey - update 13 April
April 13, 2005, 6:07 am
The Bristol University geophysical survey team that we reported on 6 April has now completed the survey of the first of the meadows to the east and south of Silbury Hill. The Roman road next to the mound has shown up very clearly.
A survey of a second meadow has now begun and will take about a week, weather permitting.
The team will be on site for three weeks. They will investigate fields close to Waden Hill where a Roman settlement once stood. In addition, once consent has been granted they will survey a meadow that contains part of the buried Palisade Enclosure.
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Avebury Manor pillars restored!
April 13, 2005, 5:55 am
We're pleased to report that the repairs have now been completed. The pillars look excellent and we trust it will last for many years without further mishaps.
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Sheepsbury Hill
April 13, 2005, 5:50 am
Additional fencing has been erected to form a sheep pen close to Silbury. Once the new water trough has been connected to the mains all will be ready for the new residents to move onto the hill.
Update 18 April:
The water supply is now being connected. An archaeological watching brief was carried out.
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Taking steps at the Marlborough Mound
April 8, 2005, 6:45 pm
Marlborough Mound is the second largest man-made mound in Wiltshire, the largest being Silbury Hill just five miles away, and can be found within the campus of Marlborough College.
Although there is a set of concrete steps at the back of the mound, visitors have been climbing up its north side weakening the terraces, which are beginning to collapse. Thankfully, Marlborough College started to shore up the terraces with wooden planks.
If you visit the mound please use the concrete steps at the rear next to the sea shell grotto.
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Shrine of the times
April 8, 2005, 6:32 pm
A new company, Greyweather Productions Ltd., who make documentaries, commercial and corporate films has moved into The Lodge at Avebury.
Andrew Blackall, director of Greyweather, said: "Avebury suggests a human ability to live in harmony with our landscape, she's the Mother of all shrines and in some ways we must remember that its development as a village has secured her future in a way that open farm land simply couldn't."
"The Lodge is as sympathetically built as any structure within the henge and its uses have been many; from family home to guest house, recording studio and now a hotbed of video production. Built by Lord Avebury during the reign of Queen Anne, many of my antiquarian heroes have actually visited The Lodge, from AC Smith to Keiller and Stukeley."
Andrew continues: "We're self-confessed stones nuts. We try and employ local people where possible, drawing our crew predominantly from Wiltshire and Gloucestershire."
One of their most recent productions is �Shrine of the times�, a new series presented by Paul Martin, host of the BBC antiques show 'Flog-it'. It showcases several �shrines� including, The Hell Fire Caves of West Wycombe, a Gertrude Jekyll garden, a Hari Krishna temple and, of course, Avebury.
Written, produced and directed by Andrew Blackall, �Shrine of the times� has been extremely well-received in the US and Canada where the pilot show has acquired cult status amongst its West Coast following.
You can sample �Shrine of the times� on their website at http://www.greyweather.co.uk
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Trees at Marden
April 7, 2005, 6:24 pm
The henge at Marden, near Avebury, has recently had trees planted along the roadside. This means that in future, visitors passing through the small village will be unable to see the badly denuded earthworks from the road at all.
Marden henge is larger than Avebury's and is worth a visit if only to give you an idea of what Avebury may have looked like if Alexander Keiller hadn't bought Avebury and restored the stones.
Marden was once also home to a huge barrow - comparable to Silbury - inside the henge, known as the Hatfield barrow. It was excavated in the late 1700s, but in the early 1800s the mound collapsed completely. Today there is no sign of it at all.
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Geophysical surveys at Silbury Hill
April 6, 2005, 5:11 pm
Bristol University has begun a three week geophysical survey of the meadows around Silbury Hill.
A geophysical survey is a way to look for archaeology buried underground without actually digging. Devices are used which can detect changes in textures and densities of things hidden underground. These might include stone, metal and some types of earthwork structures like ditches and middens.
Jim Gunter of the Bristol University team says: "We plan to survey the fields between Silbury Hill and Swallowhead Springs, and the meadows along the river Kennet towards the Sanctuary - where the Palisade enclosure once stood."
Also on the list to be surveyed are the meadows below Waden Hill, which are to be examined for archaeological evidence of the Roman village that once stood in the shadow of Silbury Hill.
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Silbury spring clean
April 6, 2005, 4:54 pm
The National Trust (NT) has called in local contractors to clean up the dead trees, bushes and undergrowth from around Silbury Hill.
Old fences are being dragged out and the area is being given a thorough spring clean. This will create a much clearer view from the viewing area for the visitors. Well done NT!
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Swallowhead Spring is dry
April 5, 2005, 4:13 pm
After an unusually dry winter, the Swallowhead Spring is dry at a time when we would normally expect to see it flowing. Indeed, it only flowed for two months in the past year.
The Winterbourne River continues to flow freely but the nearby Beckhampton Brook hasn't flowed for two years now. This explains why Silbury didn't have a 'moat' around it in 2004.
There is currently work on a water pipeline out of Devizes and we wonder if the water table has dropped as a result of this. Let's hope for some rain then perhaps the water levels will return to normal and Silbury Hill will get it's 'moat' back.
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