Win a free family ticket for 2024 this winter!

It’s the season of giving! To celebrate the return of our magical Midwinter Quest, we’re giving away a free family ticket every weekend! Read on to see how to enter…

Midwinter magic at Butser

By popular demand, the Deer Queen is back at Butser! Meet her and the Holly King on Midwinter’s Magical Quest, and step into a winter wonderland at Butser for a fabulous festive adventure. Discover winter folklore and escape the commercial holidays on this unique non-denominational day out!

Swap Santa’s grotto for the firelit den of the Deer Queen, or the evergreen hall of the Holly King. Meet characters from winter folklore, and help them restore the light to the land with their magical trail! That’s not all — get hands on with make-and-take crafts to create gifts and decorations, and say no to plastic by using all-natural materials. Explore our ancient houses transformed by winter magic, and get immersed in winter traditions from a simpler time.

Win a family ticket every weekend

We’re celebrating alternative family days out this winter, and that’s why we’ll be giving away a free family ticket every weekend. One lucky family who joined us on the quest will receive a free ticket for up to two adults and two children, to be used any time in 2024.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Join us for Midwinter’s Magical Quest on any of the days it’s running.

2. Take a picture of your merriest midwinter moment! Dress up for the quest, show off your crafts, take a picture with the Deer Queen or Holly King… Whatever makes you feel merry!

3. Show us your merry midwinter photo on Facebook or Instagram. Don’t forget to tag us and use the hashtag #ButserMidwinter to be sure we see!

4. We’ll pick our favourite photo after each weekend. Make sure you’re following us so we can send you your tickets if you win!

We can’t wait to see your merriest midwinter photos! Terms & conditions apply.

A royal celebration for our new Roman garden

After a year in the making, hundreds of volunteer hours, and over 10,000 authentic Roman tesserae (mosaic tiles), our formal Roman garden is finally open — and we couldn’t be more delighted!

Today marked the official opening ceremony, and we had the distinct pleasure of hosting a very special guest to officiate. His Royal Highness Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, has a keen interest in architecture and historic buildings, so we were delighted that he joined us to officially open our new Roman garden.

20 years in the making…

The opening of the new garden couldn’t have been more perfect — the villa itself opened 20 years ago this October, so what better way to celebrate than giving it the formal entranceway it deserves?

It’s also a great example of how our work at Butser is never done. In the 20 years since the villa was completed (the first to be built in the UK for over 1000 years!), it’s seen numerous renovations and redesigns as archaeologists’ understanding of Romano-British villas and aesthetics have changed. The biggest renovation was in 2018, which is also when we laid our very first mosaic — amazing to think that in just a few short years we’ve gone from no mosaics to three!

A Roman country garden

The new Roman garden has quickly become one of our favourite places at Butser — and we hope if you visit you’ll see why! It beautifully represents the types of garden features and plants found in Romano-Britain. We go into it more in our video on Butser Plus, but it’s filled with 65 varieties of plants either indigenous to Britain or introduced by the Romans themselves. At the centre lies a stunning mosaic made of over 10,000 authentic Roman tesserae (tiles), rescued in a dig from under the M4 and generously donated to us for this project.

In fact, none of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the kindness and generosity of our supporters. This garden was entirely funded in memory of Joan Rundle, a long-time Butser volunteer and Friend of the Farm with a special interest in Roman gardens and their plants. May her legacy long stand at Butser and be enjoyed by thousands of people in the years to come.

a royal opening

What better way to celebrate the completion of this special project than with a special opening ceremony? We were honoured to be joined by the Duke of Gloucester, and gifted him a replica bronze axehead crafted on-site to say thank you. After a guided tour of our ancient buildings, the Duke saw demonstrations of timber framing and metal-smelting in action, and even met some enthusiastic students on their school trip! Finally, the Duke officially opened the garden and mosaic to an audience of the original villa build team, mosaic and garden volunteers, and local dignitaries.

We’re incredibly proud of the work we do at Butser, and the things our dedicated little team can achieve, so it means a lot to us to have this kind of support and recognition from a royal visit. The last time we were visited by a royal was in the 70’s, when the queen herself visited Queen Elizabeth Country Park and Butser Ancient Farm, and met our founder Peter Reynolds!

The growth of Butser

Everything we do at Butser is a labour of love, and this garden is such a perfect example. But gosh, it’s so worth it. Just a few months ago, the area outside the Roman villa was just a patch of grass — what a difference some time and love can make!

In many ways, the growth of the villa reflects the growth of Butser itself. Our director Simon was a member of the original villa build team — and, as he says, it ‘hooked’ him on Butser. We’re all so proud of how much this little site has grown in the last 20 years, from a small research site barely open to visitors to a thriving centre that hosts over 60,000 visitors annually, all eager to learn about our rich past. The research is still at the heart of what we do — but now, we share it with more people than ever before.

So… What’s next?

You know us, we never sit still for long. We’re already working on our next big project: a Stone Age roundhouse that would have looked out over a wood henge! We’re so grateful for the incredible support that allows us to keep experimenting, keep learning, and keep sharing our work with as many people as we do. We hope you love the Roman garden — and what comes next — as much as we do!

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Want to help us keep experimenting, and join us on the journey? Support at Butser Plus for the price of a coffee, and get documentaries and updates on our latest projects!

Equinox Viking Boat Burn 2023 tickets on sale this week!

It’s nearly that time of year! With the summer solstice passed, we’re looking ahead to the equinox — and our Viking fire festival that comes with it! Here’s everything you need to know about getting tickets this year, including all-new parking & travel options!

Tickets are releasing this week, so get ready! That’s Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th, and Friday 30th June 2023.

If you’re not on our mailing list yet, make sure to sign up here →

This year, we’re bringing all-new parking and travel options to Equinox!

We do so love bringing folks to celebrate together at Butser, and our big fire festivals like Beltain and Equinox are some of our favourites. But they’re big festivals, and we’re a small site, so they really test our logistical ability to get everyone parked and into the festival.

That’s why we’re so excited to announce that this year, for Equinox Viking Boat Burn 2023, we have an exciting new parking & travel option! This year, you’ll have the option to park at a gorgeous local park, Queen Elizabeth Country Park, and choose how you’d like to get from there to us.

Lamp-lit Procession

We’re joined to Queen Elizabeth Country Park by a gorgeous 1.5km trail that gently winds through the South Downs to reach our door. Festival-goers who park at Queen Elizabeth Country Park will have the opportunity to join us on a procession to Butser, which will take around half an hour direct from the Visitor Centre at the park to the Equinox ticket gate. After the Boat Burn is complete and we’ve honoured the fallen warriors, we will be returning as a lamp-lit procession back to the car park at Queen Elizabeth to end your event. This brand-new pilgrimage will be an exciting addition to the Equinox Boat Burn and one we hope to repeat every year.

Shuttle Bus

We are also introducing a shuttle bus service for the first time! People who park at Queen Elizabeth Country Park will also have the option of booking a shuttle bus ticket, which will allow you to use this service to get to and from the festival. Buses will run regularly, and take about 5 minutes to get from Queen Elizabeth Country Park to Butser and the festival.

We hope these new options help more people than ever enjoy the magic of Equinox! Next on our wishlist: figuring out camping options… 👀 But that’s something for 2024!