We have some rather exciting news for all the archaeobotanists out there! A few weeks ago we invited someone from the Species Recovery Trust to use our site for an intriguing plant-based experiment. A small patch of greenery outside our Neolithic longhouse is being used as an experimental area for growing Upright Goosefoot (Chenopodium urbicum), a plant that has existed in Britain since farming began when both the seeds and leaves were eaten. Its last known site was at a medieval farmstead in Essex, where it was last seen in 1995.Thanks to the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens, these plants are now growing fabulously in our Neolithic area! It’s all part of the Ancient Plants Project part-funded by Natural England, and is aiming to restore Upright Goosefoot and Darnel (an extinct grass of Roman origin) back to a network of working Iron Age and Roman sites across the UK.
Adiós! Auf Wiedersehen!
Yesterday we waved goodbye to the second of two fabulous exchange students who have been working at Butser for the last few months. Catalina from Barcelona and Dennis from Germany found places with us through the Erasmus programme, and were here to enhance their studies on Dennis’ undergraduate degree in linguistics and Catalina’s in heritage. They have been unbelievably valuable to us and both have created an interactive activity for visitors; Dennis’ is a Saxon word game in the Saxon house and Catalina has made a livestock game in the Iron Age enclosure!We always welcome new volunteers on exchange and work experience schemes, and although we may be a little biased, all of our temporary team members seem to have a fantastic time, learn brilliant skills and make friends with everyone. If you’re interested in joining us for volunteering or internships, please contact us at admin@butserancientfarm.co.uk. Here is Catalina learning woodworking skills to build her game – good luck to both Dennis and Catalina in their future careers!
In the name of pigs...
We’d like to thank all our young visitors over the last few weeks for putting suggestions in the box for naming our new piggies! We are pleased to announce that the names have now been drawn and are as follows…
The Oxford Sandy & Blacks are called Ron (male) and Sugar (female), and the four Saddlebacks are called Banjo (male), Alex (male), Buffy (female) and Rainbow (female). The lucky draw has spoken, for good or bad… Make sure you come and visit our lovely pigs in the sunshine this summer! They love attention, although we don’t recommend touching as they may think your fingers are delicious crudités.
Hello June!
After a beautiful bank holiday weekend in the sunshine, the weather has been a little bit miserable this week. It’s certainly not the June we were wishing for! Hopefully it will brighten up throughout the month and we’ll be treated to a delicious English summer – that means at least one day a week with no rain…For some of our farm wildlife, the rain is always a pleasant treat! We found this handsome toad on the steps of our visitor centre, looking a little bemused and covered in cobwebs (where had he been lurking?!). Fortunately we moved him before he was squashed by dog paws or visitor shoes, and he now lives in the wildflower bank among the comfrey flowers.
The swallows have now returned to their nests in the eaves of the roundhouse roof; if you look very closely into the darkness you can see them flitting in and out in search of insects. They certainly don’t seem to mind the smoke! We are also on the lookout for our family of stoats, who last year we watched carrying their kits across the site in search of a new den. We managed to get this photo of one mid-leap!
The swallows have now returned to their nests in the eaves of the roundhouse roof; if you look very closely into the darkness you can see them flitting in and out in search of insects. They certainly don’t seem to mind the smoke! We are also on the lookout for our family of stoats, who last year we watched carrying their kits across the site in search of a new den. We managed to get this photo of one mid-leap!
Elsewhere, the site is always filled with the songs of yellowhammers and wrens, and the cackle of woodpeckers as they dip across the downland. We have lots of great events over the next few months, so why not join us and bring prehistory to life amidst the beautiful scenery of the South Downs? Have a look at our events here.
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 Centre
Walking down to the Iron Age enclosure
Chalk carving with Herne Junior School
Exploring the Little Woodbury roundhouse
Taking a look inside the Danebury roundhouse
Our new Saxon longhouse based on local excavations from Chalton
The South Downs National Park put on a great spread of local cakes!