2012 Summer Solstice Observance

The National Trust has announced that -

The summer Solstice observance at Avebury is expected to be very busy and there will be limited car parking as a result. From Wednesday 20 June until mid-afternoon on Friday 22 June there will be a temporary campsite alongside the car park opening at 9am on Wednesday 20 June and closing at 2pm on Friday 22 June.

There'll be less than one hundred tent spaces, allocated on a first come first served basis. They are expected to be in high demand. There'll be no camping available on the weekends either side of the Solstice.

More here.

Julian Richards to lead series of walks around the World Heritage site of Avebury

Lewis Cowen writing in the The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald today reports that -

TV archaeologist Julian Richards is to lead a series of walks around the World Heritage site of Avebury this summer and autumn. Dr Richards, who presented BBC’s Meet the Ancestors, is a noted expert on the archaeology of Avebury and Stonehenge and will be leading the Wessex Walks on Wednesday, June 6, Saturday, September 1, and Sunday, October 21.

The Wessex Walks are part of a programme of study days running at museums, galleries and sites all over Britain throughout 2012.

More here.

Avebury and Stonehenge celebrations for World Heritage Day

Jill Harding writing in The Salisbury Journal yesterday reports yesterday that -

A CELEBRATION of World Heritage Day is set to take place at Stonehenge and Avebury in April. People are being invited to join English Heritage experts and discover the prehistoric landscapes and how World Heritage Site status is helping to conserve them. The event, being held between 10am and 6pm on April 18, is also a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. Tickets cost £35 per person and must be booked in advance.

Contact English Heritage customer services on 0870 333 1181 for more information and to reserve a place.

More on UNESCO’s 2012 World Heritage Convention here.

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.