Barefoot at the Barge?

Designed by Mathewson Waters Architects and built by the award winning Green Oak Carpentry Company

Visitors to the Avebury World Heritage Site this year may be able to take advantage of the new arts venue at the Barge Inn, Honeystreet, Alton Barnes.

2012 will mark another milestone in the pub’s 200 year history. Honeystreet Ales are undertaking a major transformation of the old barn site, constructing a beautiful new visual and performing arts space, ‘The Barefoot’, right next to the Barge Inn. Designed by Mathewson Waters Architects and built by the award winning Green Oak Carpentry Company, construction starts in March. The £250,000 project, funded by Honeystreet Ales, will provide an exciting and inspirational new arts space.

The Barge Inn is situated alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal and within walking distance of the Anglo-Saxon church at Alton Barnes and the Norman church (with its ancient yew tree and other pagan associations) at Alton Priors. Avebury, Silbury and West Kennet Long Barrow are some 15 minutes drive away.

From an inner darkness to a thin mist…

John Aubrey (1626-1697)

John Aubrey may have been described by his friends as, "Shiftless, roving and magotie-headed..." but he was among the first to examine and record Stonehenge, Avebury and other megalithic structures with any degree of accuracy. Writing about Avebury and Stonehenge Aubrey says, "I have brought (them) from an inner darkness to a thin mist."

There will be a lecture by Professor Michael Hunter FBA (author of John Aubrey and the World of Learning) and recently retired Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes, Wiltshire from 2:30pm on Saturday, 24 March 2012.

More here.

Landscape with Stones: Paintings and woodcuts by Nick Schlee

An exhibition of oil paintings and woodcuts by British landscape artist Nick Schlee, focusing on Avebury and the Ridgeway. This new exhibition features some of Nick Schlee's most bold and vivid work portraying the ancient monument of Avebury and the nearby Ridgeway. 80 year old Nick says of the exhibition -

“More than half of the pictures in the exhibition feature those mysterious ancient stones that mean little to most of us, but must have meant a great deal to our forebears.

“Painting them, without being able to share the feelings they engendered for the people who erected them, is a problem. I can only describe their outside appearance. The spirit within is closed to me. It is as if I were recording the skin of a peach without any idea of its taste, its texture and delicious succulence.”

Venue: The Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes from Saturday, 14 January to Sunday, 2 September 2012.

More here.

Avebury: An illustrated talk

On Monday, 14 November Dr Ros Cleal (or Dr Nicola Snashall) will be giving an illustrated talk on Avebury.

Organised by Newbury National Trust and held at St Bartholomew’s School from 7:30pm. Visitors £3. Telephone 01635 551034 for further information.

Prehistoric Wiltshire: An Illustrated Guide and talk by Bob Clarke

Prehistoric Wiltshire: An Illustrated Guide by Bob Clarke. Foreword by Francis Pryor

Wiltshire contains some of the most important archaeological sites in Britain and its Prehistoric remains range from the splendour of Stonehenge to the awesome Avebury stone circle, with Silbury Hill and the Kennet Long Barrow being other noted megalithic monuments in the county.

Among these important sites are also found smaller, perhaps lesser known monuments to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, including the cursus barrow cemetery at Fargo Plantation and Woodhenge.

Bob Clarke, author of numerous books on military archaeology and history, takes us on a tour of the prehistoric sites in this archaeologically rich county, using aerial photography and outstanding images, which accompany the informative text and diagrams.

Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781848688773. Paperback. 128 pages. b&w and colour illustrations throughout.

Bob Clarke will also be talking about his book this Sunday (6 November) at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum. The talk will be followed by a book signing. Venue: Sunday 6 November, 2:30 - 4:30. Entrance fee £3 which includes tea/coffee and cakes.

Avebury - Graphic Novel

Avebury - Graphic Novel: A short novel about the mysterious village of Avebury by Tom Manning.

This is a university project that was given out in order to induct us into the second year of the Illustration course. The theme of the project was that it should be based in the strange village of Avebury, north of Stonehenge, UK. Avebury is a very mysterious and ‘weird’ place filled with standing stones, deep trenches, rampaging druids and man made hills, theres no knowing what you might find there. WIth this in my mind I planned to introduce Avebury as an isolated, desolate area of wilderness, not unlike ‘the Zone’ in the 1979 Russian film ‘STALKER’.

Tom Manning.

To The Manor Reborn

Avebury Manor

A BBC1 series will feature experts transforming the 16th century National Trust property, Avebury Manor, to some of its former glory. A spokeswoman for the BBC said, “The series will see a team of experts working together to bring Avebury Manor historic house back to life by transforming its rooms into different periods of history.”

The four, hour-long episodes, start in November and will be presented by Penelope Keith, star of the TV sitcom, To The Manor Born.