The Rod of Asclepius


Roman relief of Aesculpius embedded in the south wall of the Church of St Giles, Tockenham

Several miles further north of Clyffe Pypard (and at the end of our journey in this direction) lies the Church of St Giles at Tockenham. Writing on her blog, Northstoke -
http://northstoke.blogspot.com/2008/01/alton-barnes-church-st.html Thelma Wilcox says -

"This church is not of notable interest, but the reused Roman statue embedded in the wall probably came from the Roman villa nearby.

""Roman tesserae, tile fragments and pottery sherds were found at Tockenham and a possible villa was suggested. The site has been subject to investigation by the Time Team in 1994 and was confirmed as being a villa with associated structures, probably dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries. Finds from the excavations have included pottery, tesserae, window glass fragments and roofing tile. Scheduled." Taken from Pastscape Monument No.887838.

""The Rod of Asclepius symbolizes the healing arts by combining the serpent, which in shedding its skin is a symbol of rebirth and fertility with the staff, a symbol of authority, befitting the god of Medicine. The snake wrapped around the staff is widely claimed to be a species of rat snake, Elaphe longissima, also known as the Aesculapian (Asclepian) snake. It is native to south-eastern Europe, Asia Minor and some central European spa regions, apparently brought there by Romans for their healing properties." Taken from Wikipedia.

"The snake wrapped round Aesculpius's rod is a single snake and not to be confused with Mercury's double snakes.

"There are also wooden posts embedded in the south wall of the church - Pevesner says, that inside, the bell-turrets stand on old posts, and that they are flanked by new timber-framed work."

Accommodation: The Goddard Arms


Clyffe Pypard

This entry on accommodation in the Avebury area is something of a personal one and in memory of Lesley, the former landlady of the Goddard Arms at Clyffe Pypard. Lesley has now sadly passed away but, along with her husband Terry, she ran the Goddard Arms for many years before they both moved to Cornwall.

Lesley, Terry, the Swindon artist Ken White* Jan, Mike, Ted, Ray (now Gilbert) O'Sullivan and myself were friends and fellow students at Swindon School of Art in the mid 1960s. During their time at the Goddard Arms Lesley and Terry created not only one of the friendliest pubs in Wiltshire but also encouraged artists and musicians from all over the country to exhibit and perform there. Lesley and Terry also created one of the first places in the area to offer authentic Thai cuisine and their Thai evenings and 'lock-ins' became legendary.

The Goddard Arms at Clyffe Pypard is one of the few places in the Avebury area offering hostel accommodation. Though not really within walking distance of Avebury it is only a short journey there by car or bicycle. More information here - http://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodation/south-west-england/hostels/clyffe-pypard/index.aspx

* Ken's website is here - http://www.kenwhitemurals.co.uk/home.html Perhaps one of his best-known works is of a World War II pinup, arm outstretched and about to drop a handkerchief bearing the colours of British Airways. The image can be seen on the nose of Virgin Atlantic aircraft - http://www.kenwhitemurals.co.uk/murals/49.jpg Ken is also well-known for his murals, as well as his paintings depicting Swindon's links with the Great Western Railway.

Avebury: its lesser-know features. John Aubrey and Nikolaus Pevsner at Clyffe Pypard


The slate headstone of Nikolaus Pevsner and his wife Lola at the Church of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard

A couple of miles down the lane from Winterbourne Bassett lies the little hamlet of Clyffe Pypard.* John Aubrey (1626-1697) visited Clyffe Pypard in, or around, 1660 - some twelve years after his visit to Avebury where he records being, "...wonderfully surprised at the site of these vast stones, of which I had never heard before, as also the mighty bank and graffe (grass) about it." At Clyffe Pypard he describes the Church of St Peter as, "Here is a handsome Church, and have been very good windowes."

While the tower, nave, aisles and porch of the Church of St Peter were built in the 15th century there remains some 14th century stonework in the south porch. Further study may show that the Norman church was built on the foundations of an earlier Saxon one and, as at other Christianised sites, the Saxon church may have been built on a pre-Christian structure. Six of the buttresses have sarsen stones under them, only one of which has been cut to the shape of the buttress. The other five sarsens, one of which is very large, are left protruding as they do under the buttresses of the Church of St James, Avebury; the Church of St Katherine and St Peter, Winterbourne Bassett and the Church of St John the Baptist, Pewsey.**

The Church of St Peter is situated at the bottom of a steep escarpment and is set in a well-cared for graveyard surrounded by trees. There is a distinct air of a 'grove' about the place which is reminiscent of the grove, and its disordered sarsens, by the river close to Pewsey Church. The leafy and sarsen-paved footpath that leads east past the church comes out on a secluded meadow with a magnificent tree at its centre. Nearby is a stream and lake. Nikolaus Pevsner, art and architectural historian and author of The Buildings of England, is buried with his wife at a place between the lake and the church - their grave is marked by a headstone of slate.

About a mile from Clyffe Pypard, towards Broad Town and close to Little Town Farmhouse, is the cottage which Pevsner used as a country retreat. The cottage was formerly the home of the poet and literary critic Geoffrey Grigson, whose friends included Paul Nash and John Piper. Nash and Piper between them produced numerous paintings of Avebury, West Kennet Long Barrow, Stonehenge and other megalithic structures.***
.
* The 'Clyffe' of Clyffe Pypard refers to the adjacent escarpment. 'Pypard' refers to Richard Pypard who was Lord of the Manor in 1231.
Geoffrey Grigson's 1960s guide to touring the countryside (The Shell Country Alphabet) has been republished. For a review see -

William Stukeley at Winterbourne Bassett

The "Celtic Temple" at Winterbourne Bassett. From William Stukeley's Itinerarium Curiousum of 1724. Note Silbury in the background

A mile or so along the lane from the White Horse Inn (below) at Winterbourne Bassett are the remains of a stone circle, described by William Stukeley in Abury, a Temple of the British Druids, with Some Others Described of 1724 thus, "At Winterburn-basset, a little north of Abury, in a field north-west of the church, upon elevated ground, is a double circle of stones concentric, 60 cubits diameter. Many of the stones have late been carried away. West of it is a single, broad, flat, and high stone, standing by itself. And about as far northward from the circle, in a ploughed field, is a barrow set round with, or rather compos'd of large stones. I take this double circle to have been a family chapel, as we may call it, to an archdruid dwelling near thereabouts, whilst Abury was his cathedral."

All that is now visible above ground are three fallen stones in a field. The standing stone on the verge of the T-junction opposite the field was erected in the last decade of the 20th century and was originally pink in colour, indicating that it had probably never formed part of a stone circle.















The Winterbourne Bassett Stone Circle today; only three stones from the circle now remain. Image credit Chris Brooks

Stonehenge, Bluehenge and a heritage cover-up?

Though somewhat outside the remit of Avebury Matters, the recent announcement in the press of a 'Bluehenge' close to Stonehenge is exciting news indeed. One wonders, however, why knowledge of this discovery was not made public before now. Not all remains hidden however. Mike Parker-Pearson (director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project ) is due to give a talk at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum on the 10 October* and it seems certain that Bluehenge will not only be given more of a hearing on Saturday than hitherto planned but will now also be discussed in some detail. Sadly, the cover-up label is going to stick to this one for a long time to come - though we can't help thinking those playing their cards so close to their chests in this instance have only themselves to blame for that label.
But putting that to one side, if there's no danger to the Bluehenge site itself surely it should have been mentioned when it was first found. Any talk of first having to verifying 'carbon dating' before informing the public of the find really is nonsense; of course such data needs to be examined before anything scholarly is published but preliminary findings, especially findings of such a high concentration of bluestone chips so close to Stonehenge, is a pretty clear indication of something very important within the area. Something surely the public has an immediate right to know about and not something that should be kept secret until individuals, corporations and organizations think they should be told.
So what's the real reason for the delay in announcing this potentially very important discovery at Bluehenge? Couldn't be could it that, because of sponsorship deals, our American friends will get to see it on their TV screens before we do? We smell a rat with a big $ sign round its neck and a couple of book deals under its paw. It's all very well saying that the only way to fund such excavations is to secure sponsorship deals but, although that might be true in purely financial terms it also smacks of a serious lack of moral fibre - ie the selling of heritage discoveries to the highest bidder. We're accustomed to seeing such shenanigans in politics and international trade - re: Britain's kowtowing to the Chinese in order to secure our markets there while China's ethnic minorities are flushed down the pan; or 'our' sucking up to Saudi Arabia re: BAA Systems in order for 'us' to secure lucrative arms deals with said same 'county') but it's sad to see it now happening in the world of archaeology. What happened to ethics and things done in the public interest? In this case our heritage, and keeping us informed as and when it happens
As with a lot of things with the heritage label, protecting it and sharing new finds with the public as and when they occur doesn't seem to matter any more. Sponsorship, TV deals, the writing of books, papers and the advancement of personal reputations seem to be far more important.

* Mike Parker-Pearson will be talking at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum on Saturday, 10 October 2009. More information here - http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=452&prev=1 His forthcoming book, If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge, published by the National Geographic Society, will be available from April 2010.

Wiltshire Heritage Museum. Image credit Willow




Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes has started to catalogue and digitise all the books in its Library -
http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/library/ onto the Google library - 5000 so far in five months. The fully digitised versions (Full view) are still limited but there are some real gems in the list that presumably will eventually get the treatment. Meanwhile, there are the Limited previews which are pretty good, and Phil Harding's enthusiasm for the library is infectious - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qqU8owM4BQ

Avebury: its lesser-known features. Tom Robinson













Tom Robinson: Avebury stone-smasher

William Stukeley (1687-1765) felt sufficient disgust at the destruction of the stones at Avebury to parody farmer Tom Robinson by christening him “The Herostratus of Avebury” and producing this tailpiece for his Aubury book in 1743. On the left smoke rises from one of the burning pits where the stones were first heated and then dowsed with water to crack them. A bat hangs ominously above Robinson, while on his right a hag presides over the dark and tragic scene of even more stones awaiting destruction.

Tom Robinson’s headstone is in Avebury’s churchyard.

More here – http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/the_shame.html
and from the H M J Underhill Archive here -
http://web.arch.ox.ac.uk/archives/underhill/viewarchive.php?albumID=1

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