The pigs are back in town

Regular visitors will know that last year we said goodbye to our biggest pigs Beryl and Bertha due to their mammoth size causing health problems, along with the four weaners that stayed with us for the summer. The great news is that we now have six new piglets living at Butser Ancient Farm!We have four Saddlebacks from our friends at Manor Farm near Southampton, and two Oxford Sandy and Blacks from Bedales School in Petersfield. When we first introduced them to each other there were the usual squabbles and nibbles of ears, but one week later they have devised a hierarchy among themselves and now tumble along together quite happily.But alas! Our piggies are yet to be named! We have set up a name suggestion box in our visitor centre, and we would love your ideas on what to call our new porcine pals. Until we make a decision, here they are in all their ferocity:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWk4FxITV4I[/embed]

Beltain 2016: 'It was the best one!'

What a fantastic weekend it turned out to be in the South Downs! Our annual Beltain festival was bigger and better than ever before, and the team at Butser would like to extend a very warm thank you to all the visitors, volunteers and exhibitors who made the event an evening to remember. This year our mystery wickerman took the form of a great wicker stag, with the body of a man and the head of a deer – complete with white blaze, gleaming eyes and antlers!

The site was filled with an array of brilliant performers and exhibitors, including prehistoric re-enactors, ancient craftsmen, drummers, Morris dancers, live folk music, ancient musicians, storytelling, Roman cookery, astronomy, woodwork, metalwork and magnificent birds of prey. We truly are very grateful to all our performers for making Beltain the magical event that it was meant to be – the visitors seemed thrilled with what we had to offer this year.

Thanks to ticket fees, on-site purchases and the overall generosity of our visitors, we have raised a wonderful amount of money to fund future archaeological projects and develop our education programme. Every year the farm welcomes more and more visitors, and we are keen to develop the site further to enhance your experience with us and really take our visitors on an intriguing journey back to ancient Britain.

We would once again like to thank all our volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring Beltain together. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2017 on Saturday 29th April!

Above: The wickerman by Rebecca Saunders

Above: Pentacle drummers by Inside Hampshire

Above: Drumming by Eleanor Sopwith

Above: Clash of weapons by Eleanor Sopwith

Above: Roman cookery by Eleanor Sopwith

Above: Ancient people by Eleanor Sopwith

Above: Ancient crafts by Eleanor Sopwith

Above: Pentacle drummers by Rebecca Saunders

Above: The burning man by Eleanor Sopwith

Above: Lighting the torches by Rebecca Saunders

Above: The torch procession by Rebecca Saunders

Above: All that remained of the wickerman on Sunday morning!

Very Lovely Visitors

This Easter we’ve been overrun by wonderful visitors enjoying prehistoric life in the sunshine. We’ve had shamanic drumming demonstrations, weaving displays, Iron Age cookery, Roman soldiers and metallurgy workshops, as well as our Easter bunny hunt and all the usual archaeological activities for the whole family!We thought we’d share below some of the kind and thoughtful comments left by visitors this holiday. We hope to meet more of you throughout the week and the rest of the warm months!‘Our first visit! Had a fab time, very interesting and the kids loved it. Thank you and keep up the good work – great stuff!’‘First visit for several years and enjoyed the new additions very much. A wonderful interpretation of ancient Britain.’‘Such lovely staff. Very knowledgeable. We missed you over the winter!’‘Wonderful achievement – great to see the past and live it too. Great day out for all ages!’‘Fascinating! Friendly and informative staff made for a very enjoyable and informative visit. Thank you.’‘What a great place. We will definitely come back for more! People were awesome, friendly and knowledgeable. I am looking forward to Beltain and hope to hear from you about running Nålbinding courses!’‘I loved the place because I learned some new things that I can tell my teacher!’‘Thank you! Your staff are amazing and the roundhouses and Roman villa are absolutely awesome!’

Celebrating National Parks with Liz Truss

Yesterday was an exciting day for Butser staff, as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Liz Truss visited as part of a new campaign to engage people with their national parks. The scheme involves giving every schoolchild in the country a chance to visit one of their local national parks, as new figures reveal only 10% of schoolchildren currently have access to outdoor learning.“National Parks already welcome over 90 million visitors every year and make a major contribution to our vibrant rural economy – but too many children in our country are not aware of these natural wonders… By instilling a love of nature in our young people and building thriving communities in every National Park, our plan will allow these unique spaces to flourish for generations to come.” (Liz Truss)Together with our friends at the South Downs National Park Authority, we welcomed the Secretary of State to visit Butser Ancient Farm, and later Queen Elizabeth Country Park, to see how beneficial outdoor learning is for local children. Thanks to SDNPA for their collaboration – and for providing a great selection of local cakes!Remember, from this weekend we’re open every day until Autumn – we look forward to seeing old friends and welcoming new visitors! Easter weekend activities include our Bunny Treasure Trail, Roman soldiers on site and the Hampshire Coppice Group demonstrating on Monday.Meeting the Butser and SDNPA teams in the Janus Visitor CentreWalking down to the Iron Age enclosureChalk carving with Herne Junior SchoolExploring the Little Woodbury roundhouseTaking a look inside the Danebury roundhouseOur new Saxon longhouse based on local excavations from ChaltonThe South Downs National Park put on a great spread of local cakes!

Spring has Sprung!

After months of grizzly and confusing weather, dare we say it’s starting to feel a little like spring? The air feels fresher and all those aromas of budding leaves are filling our lungs here at Butser. Yesterday we were lucky enough to witness the birth of our first lamb! From now on they’ll be popping out all over the place, and soon our flock will have doubled in size.Most excitingly, the A-frame of our wicker man has now been raised and the rest of the build will follow over the next few weeks, ready for our Beltain festival on 30th April. This year we have a brand new design that is rather different to our previous wicker men, but we’re hoping it will look grander than ever! As all Beltain-goers know, it’s very important to please the gods to ensure a hearty harvest…Meanwhile, the wildlife on site is waking up to the bustle of spring. Yellowhammers, robins, dunnocks and blackbirds have been decorating the hedgerow behind the Roman villa, and the song thrush has been tooting her melodies in the forest by the car park. The goats are particularly happy, as the fresh air and sunshine means they can leave their wooden shack and play outside in the grass. The chickens are contented as ever, despite their ongoing hatred for the pheasants.

Wildlife at Night

We find all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures at Butser, and recently we decided to try and capture our most elusive creatures on camera. Local school Bedales kindly lent us their trail camera from the Biology department, and over the last few days we’ve been placing it around the farm to see what visitors we have at night.We know that a barn owl comes and eats in our Saxon house, and another bird of prey eats in the villa, but unfortunately our attempts to film them have so far been unsuccessful! Last night, however, we decided to place the camera at the junction between the paths and paddock near the Stone Age enclosure, and on the ground we placed a few dollops of dog food.Success! We spotted a fox, badger, bunny, pheasant, magpie and our own chickens. We’ll keep putting the camera out this week and next to see what we can find – lots of fingers crossed for the owl!BadgerChubby Fox Tiny bunnyMagpieChickens

What is Imbolc?

This weekend at the farm we’ll be celebrating the festival of Imbolc, a Gaelic event marking the beginning of spring. Also known as Brigid’s Day, it is most commonly held in early February, half way between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Saturday afternoon will be filled with storytelling, poetry, music and a light feast by firelight; but why did our ancestors celebrate Imbolc? And why do we still honour it today?The linguistic origin of Imbolc is still debated among etymologists, but the most common explanation comes from the Old Irish i mbolc, meaning ‘in the belly’ and referring to the vernal pregnancy of ewes. Seasonally, it has always been associated with lambing time and the blooming of the blackthorn tree, and in ancient Ireland it was one of four Gaelic festivals, the others known as Samhain, Beltain and Lughnasadh.On the night before, the Gaelic goddess Brigid was said to visit virtuous households and bless their inhabitants. She represented fertility and the lighter half of the year, so her power to bring people from the dark season into the spring was very important. Families would make a special supper, typically including colcannon (mashed potatoes with kale), sowans (oat husks), dumplings (suet balls), barmbrack (fruited bread) and bannocks (flat bread).At Butser Ancient Farm, we will be holding our own Imbolc event this Saturday 30th January from 1-4pm. We’ll hear stories from Jonathon Huet of Walk with Trees, poetry and singing around the roundhouse fire, with a light vegetarian meal included. Tickets are £12 and can be bought here. Join us to bid farewell to this grizzly winter weather and welcome in the warmer months!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year from everyone at Butser! We’re hoping we’ve left the drizzle behind us in 2015 as the new year has so far been cold and crisp, just how we like it! Over the festive break we were forced to shut the goats inside the piggery building to keep them warm, dry and away from their waterlogged paddock, and when they were finally released back into the fresh air they were full of joy. Here’s Bella eating a cantaloupe melon:Elsewhere on the site our Saxon building is almost completed, with just the flooring and doors to finish in time for the warmer weather. Our barn owl is still making full use of the cosy rafters to eat her food, and had kindly left a mountain of pellets for us over the holidays. We are now hoping to invest in a trail camera to catch her on film and see what she’s up to!We will now also be gearing up for our Beltain festival over the next few months, with a huge wicker man to build, catering and music to organise and a whole farm to prepare. The oddly warm weather seems to have forced the wildlife into an early spring, and we’ve been enjoying listening to the song thrush singing in the conifer trees by the car park.We’re looking forward to what the new year will bring, and hope to see many new visitors among the familiar faces we welcome each year.