It’s a warm afternoon in May, and the swallows are dipping in and out of sandy roundhouse roofs. The day’s visiting schoolchildren have come and gone leaving the farm in a peaceful daze, and the pigs lay sprawled in their sunlit mud pool. Surrounded by the soft sounds of rustling rapeseed and mewing buzzards, it’s hard to imagine 1,700 people milling through the gates ready to spend the evening at Butser Ancient Farm. Yet last weekend this is how visitors chose to spend the bank holiday; basking in the glow of a great wicker man towering 40 feet above them, engulfed by flames.

The tradition finds its roots in ancient Pagan lore, when a giant wicker man was burnt in the spring to welcome in the warmer months and persuade the gods to kindly provide a fruitful harvest. Rare fans of Nicolas Cage may have seen the recent remake of Robin Hardy’s 1973 horror The Wicker Man, in which the creepy residents of a remote Hebridean island force an unfortunate police sergeant to become their human sacrifice. While these kinds of stories are debatable, archaeologists believe other, less morbid rituals may have been performed such as herding cattle between two great fires to ward off disease, and collecting Beltain morning dew as a potent tonic.

Beltain at Butser is a slightly more casual affair. This year, visitors wandered through the farm with a range of entertainment, food and craft stalls to feast upon, including a falconry display, hog roast, bakery from the hedgerows, real ale and cider, Celtic mead, storytelling, gladiator fights and Roman cookery. Music was provided by local musicians and folk band Feckless, with Morris dancers and the Weorod re-enactors hopping around the site, entertaining the masses. The predicted wet weather politely held off until our wicker man started burning, resulting in a dry, merry evening with a wonderful atmosphere.

Here’s to a balmy summer and hearty harvest!

All photos by Paul Jacobs/Pictureexclsive.com