MEGALITH JULY 2015 MEGALITH - Stonehenge & Avebury · This edition of Megalith covers a wide range...

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Stonehenge, Aveburyand Associated Sitesinscribed on the WorldHeritage List in 1986

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Cultural Organization

MEGALITHStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter MEGALITH

Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter JULY 2015

JULY

2015

Thank you to the following people for assistance with text for this edition of Megalith:

Clare BlickJess TrethowanAnneka HarrisPatrick CashmanBen CookeSarah SimmondsNick SnashallRose SomersetGill SwantonDavid Dawson

CONTACT USStonehenge and Avebury WHS Coordination Unit

Sarah Simmonds Avebury WHS [email protected] 900 324

Beth Thomas Stonehenge WHS [email protected] 741 066

Wiltshire & Swindon History CentreCocklebury Road ChippenhamSN15 3QN01225 718 470

www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org

@StoneAveWHS

Compiled by Beth Thomas

Designed by Michael Goddard [email protected]

Published by Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Coordination Unit 2015

Supported by Historic England and Wiltshire Council

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Naturally cultural,culturally natural

UNESCO has four categories of WorldHeritage Site: cultural, natural, culturallandscape and mixed. The Stonehenge andAvebury World Heritage Site is inscribed asa cultural site but managing the “landscapewithout parallel”, as Stonehenge andAvebury is described by UNESCO,inevitably means that conservation of thenatural environment is key to theprotection of the hundreds ofarchaeological features in the landscape.

The WHS Coordination Unit work closelywith a number of partners usually moreassociated with the natural environmentthan the historic. In this edition of Megalithwe feature a number of projects focusingon the wildlife and landscape of the WHS.These include: the RSPB’s “MagnificentMeadows” project at Normanton Down;the bird survey carried out in 2014; thehabitat survey undertaken by the WiltshireWildlife Trust for the WHS in 2014; andinformation on developments at FyfieldDown in Avebury.

This edition of Megalith covers a widerange of subjects and introduces the newStonehenge and Avebury WHSManagement Plan 2015, the first jointManagement Plan for the WHS. We do hope that you enjoy reading thisyear’s edition of Megalith. Please contactus if you require any further informationabout any of the projects mentioned.

Welcome to the fourth edition of Megalith, the newsletterof the Stonehenge and AveburyWorld Heritage (WHS). It provides a snapshot of the workcarried out in both parts of theWHS over the past year and looksforward to forthcoming events.

The World Heritage Site is managedby a wide range of partners fromWiltshire Council, English Heritage,Historic England, North WessexDowns Area of Outstanding NaturalBeauty and the National Trust to parish and town councils and individual landowners.

If you want to find out more about the work of the WHS whynot take a look at our websitewww.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org or follow us on Twitter@StoneAveWHS.

We hope that you enjoy this edition of Megalith. Please contactus if you want to know more.

Beth Thomas Stonehenge WHS Coordinator

Sarah Simmonds Avebury WHS Coordinator

Welcome

Maps © English Heritage

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The first joint Stonehenge and AveburyWHS Management Plan was launched on18 May 2015. The purpose of theManagement Plan is to protect and sustainthe Outstanding Universal Value of theWorld Heritage Site for this and futuregenerations. The Plan also takes intoaccount other interests such as access,interpretation, nature conservation, farmingeducation, research and the needs of thelocal community.

Within the UK, Management Plans providethe overarching strategy for the managementof the WHS. They are a materialconsideration in planning decisions andprovide an advisory framework for guidingmanagement initiatives. Management Plansare endorsed by the Department of Culture,Media and Sport (DCMS), and referred toUNESCO.

The Plan establishes an overall vision for thelong term future of the Stonehenge andAvebury WHS and sets out aims, policiesand actions for the positive management ofthe WHS in partnership with landowners,farmers, relevant agencies and organisationsin the local community.

The Plan is organised into four parts withsupporting information in the form ofappendices and maps:

Part One: The Management Plan and thesignificance of the Stonehenge and AveburyWHS includes a description of itsOutstanding Universal Value and other valuesas well as the policy and managementcontext and an assessment of the 2005/2009Management Plans;

Part Two: Key management issues andopportunities;

Part Three: Aims and policies;

Part Four: Implementing the Plan. thisincludes a table of aims, policies and actionssetting out priorities, lead and key partnersand outputs/success measures.

The Plan identifies 61 management issuesagreed by WHS partners and stakeholdersand discusses them in detail. These formedthe basis for the development of the aimsand policies for the management of theWHS as well as the 178 related actions setout in the Plan.

The issues fall into eight main themes:planning and policy; boundaries of the WHS;conservation; visitor management andsustainable tourism; interpretation, learningand community engagement; roads andtraffic; research; management, liaison andmonitoring.

The Plan was developed in consultation witha wide range of partner organisations andindividuals through a wide ranging publicconsultation process. We look forward toimplementing the Plan over the next sixyears with the help of those partners.

The full plan and a summary can bedownloaded at www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org/management-of-whs/stonehenge-and-avebury-whs-management-plan-2015/

The most significant issues affecting the WHS are:

n Sustaining the OUV of the WHS forpresent and future generations

n Providing adequate protection of theWHS and it setting through the planningsystem

n Continuing reversion to grassland andensuring renewal of existing agreements

n Improving the condition of themonuments under threat from burrowinganimals, scrub and tree cover.

n Enhancing the ecological value of the area

n Reducing the adverse impact of roads onthe WHS, its attributes of OUV and ability toexplore the landscape

n Monitoring the impacts of tourism andmanaging this sustainably

n Improved interpretation of the WHSparticularly the outlying monuments and thelandscape as a whole

n Encouraging sustainable research andeducation

n Funding and resourcing the coordinationof the WHS and implementation of theManagement Plan

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The Avebury WHS Transport Strategy isnow complete. This is the first suchdocument produced for a UK WorldHeritage Site and represents an innovativeblueprint for best practice in aninternationally protected landscape. The Strategy provides a holistic approachto managing the impacts of roads and trafficin the World Heritage Site and maximisingthe ease and enjoyment with which visitorsand local people can explore thismagnificent World Heritage landscape.

The Transport Strategy addresses thechallenges related to the management ofroads and traffic in the Avebury part of theWorld Heritage Site. These challengesinclude direct damage to monuments andtheir setting as well as impacts on theexperience of visitors and the day to daylives of the local community. The Strategyproposes a series of recommendedschemes to overcome these challengeswhile maintaining an efficient transportnetwork and access for local people andvisitors. It also provides a set of DesignPrinciples to ensure that any proposedchanges related to highways within theWorld Heritage Site are sensitive to itsunique characteristics.

WHS partners have worked alongside theCouncil’s consultants Atkins to produce thisdocument which was signed off by theAvebury World Heritage Site Committee inDecember 2014.

These partners include the North WessexDowns AONB who jointly funded theStrategy with Wiltshire Council, WiltshirePolice, English Heritage, the National Trustand Wiltshire Council Highways,Archaeology Service and conservationofficer. Avebury Parish Council has helpedto shape the World Heritage SiteTransport Strategy as members of the taskand finish group and through theirAvebury Parish Traffic Plan which has fedinto its recommendations.

The next steps will be to review therecommendations and draw up detailedschemes. These will need to go through a process of public consultation to helpensure that we satisfy the need to protectand enhance the WHS while meeting theneeds of visitors and the local community.

You can find the Avebury WHS TransportStrategy online atwww.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org/avebury-whs-transport-strategy/

Many of the partners working in the WHSoffer volunteering opportunities in a widerange of activities from working outdoors toconservation work, and from assisting witheducation work to room stewarding.

The WHS works with its partners through a group called the Stonehenge and AveburyLearning and Outreach Group (SALOG forshort!). The WHS Coordination Unit hashelped to facilitate recruitment events andalso social activities, known as VolunteersTogether, for the hundreds of volunteerswho help out.

Recent events have included a trip to theBarrow Clump excavation near Figheldean inJuly last year and a sneak preview of theWish You Were Here exhibition at theStonehenge Visitor Centre in April 2015. The latter event was attended by volunteerswho work with the National Trust atAvebury some of whom had not visited thenew Visitor Centre before.

Volunteers enjoy the opportunity to hearabout the latest news from WHS partners,meet new people and swap experiences. If you think that you might like to learn anew skill or meet new people why not take a look at the Stonehenge and Avebury WHSwebsite to find out more about what ourpartners have to offer?

Avebury WHS Transport Strategy Volunteering in the World Heritage Site

Phil Andrews explaining the excavation at Barrow Clump to volunteers

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Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Siteaficionados will know that for the past twosummers a team of us have been excavatingon a prehistoric site next to the West KennetAvenue at Avebury.

The dig is part of Between the Monuments, acollaborative research project with funds,expertise and support coming from theUniversities of Southampton and Leicester,the National Trust and Allen EnvironmentalArchaeology. We’re exploring the Aveburylandscape to discover what people weredoing and where they were living at the timemonuments like West Kennet long barrowand Avebury henge and stone circles werebeing built and used.

Archaeological fieldwork and the manymonths of work and specialist study thatfollow aren’t cheap and when we finishedlast year’s dig we weren’t certain we wouldbe able to fund another year of excavation.That’s when the local community stepped inand offered to raise the additional funds toensure we could dig for a final year on theWest Kennet Avenue occupation site firstdiscovered by Alexander Keiller in 1934. So with the help of a host of fantasticallygenerous local organisations and individualswe’re going to be back digging this year(every day except Fridays) between Monday20 July and Friday 7 August.

You can catch up with last year’s discoveriesand get daily updates from the trencheswhen we’re digging on our FragmeNTs bloghttp://ntarchaeostonehengeaveburywhs.wordpress.com/blog/ or follow our progressduring the dig on our Twitter feed@AveburyNT #AveburyDig. Better stillcome and take a look for yourselves. We’ll berunning daily dig tours starting from the BarnGallery of the Alexander Keiller Museum inthe Old Farmyard at Avebury, and our teamof volunteers will be down on the dig site toshare our latest discoveries with you.

And finally a heartfelt thank you to everyone(the list is long, but you know who youare…) who has given their time, energy andcash to ensure we have the opportunity towrite another chapter in Avebury’sastonishing story.

Nick Snashall, National Trust

Community Digs Deep to HelpArchaeologists Dig Deeper at Avebury


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Between the Monuments Excavation 2014 © National Trust

Five thousand year old Fengate Ware pottery from last year’s dig © National Trust

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Robin and Ben are keen to share what theydo with others through initiatives such as theMarlborough Downs Nature ImprovementArea and Open Farm Sunday which takesplace on the first Sunday in June each year.

There are problems for them, many of themcommon to farmers across the WHS andbeyond. These include dogs chasing andattacking sheep which can lead to abortedlambs and lost animals and also the parasiteNeospora which is carried in dog faeces andcan lead to infertility and lost foetuses incows. If you are walking your dog in thecountryside, particularly on arable land,please pick up after your dog. All farmerswould also ask that you follow theCountryside Code by: leaving gates andproperty as you find them; following pathsunless wider access is available; leaving notrace of your visit; taking your litter homeand keeping dogs under effective control.

The Butlers are proud of the importantwork that they do in producing food in aresponsible way with consideration for boththe natural and historic environment.

Farming in the WHS

Our habitat survey last year calculated thataround 75% of the WHS is in intensiveagriculture and so farming and farmers arekey to the management of the WHS. Since2002 Natural England, English Heritage (now Historic England) and the WHSCoordinators have worked together toimprove the protection of the monuments of the World Heritage Site by returningarable land to pasture. Around 242 hectareshave been returned to grassland undersuccessive agri-environmental schemes andthis is now providing calcareous grasslandwhich is improving the bio-diversity of the WHS.

We went to visit father and son, Robin andBen Butler who farm in the western portionof the Avebury WHS. Robin’s grandfathermoved from Hampshire and bought the farmwith the help of his brothers in 1936. Robin has recently handed over the businessto his son who is the fourth generation ofButlers to be farming in Avebury.

The Butlers are very passionate about theconservation of the environment and theyhave cover for tree sparrows, corn buntingand grey partridge, all key farmland birdspecies. They also allow margins for groundnesting birds such as skylarks. Working inpartnership with Natural England and theWHS Coordination Unit, an attractiveinformation panel was installed last year atthe Longstones in Avebury Trusloe.

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Ben and Robin Butler at the Longstones Panel in Avebury Trusloe

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This area has been removed from cultivation to protect the verysensitive archaeology in the area.

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The Vale of Pewsey project is a collaborativeproject between the University of Reading,Historic England (formerly English Heritage)and Wiltshire Museum, Devizes. The projectis partly funded by an Arts and HumanitiesResearch Council (AHRC) grant and willsupport the University of Reading’sArchaeology Field School. It aims tounderstand the role of the Vale of Pewseylandscape throughout time (from prehistoryto the post-medieval period), and go someway to linking the Stonehenge landscape to the south with the Avebury landscape to the north.

During the course of the excavations theproject will investigate a Neolithic buildingsurface previously exposed during earlierexcavations in 2010.

A suite of palaeoenvironmental investigationsalong the River Avon will also provideimportant information on past hydrology and the environment of the area. The Vale of Pewsey represents a gap in our knowledgeand this project will retrieve substantial andhighly significant data, firmly placing thislandscape within its surrounding WHScontext. At the same time, the project willcounterbalance the traditional chalk based‘Wessex models’ for prehistory by looking at the low-lying sandy valley landscape in-between. Fieldwork in the Vale will beundertaken during June and July this year.

For more informationhttps://www.reading.ac.uk/field-school/

Vale of Pewsey Archaeological Research Project: the Bit In-between

New Publications for2015

Historic England’snew book The StonehengeLandscape has comeout of theStonehenge (WHS)Landscape project,the aim of which was to ensure that therewas a full, up-to-date record andunderstanding of all upstandingarchaeological monuments within the WHS.This is the first time that the earthworks andsurrounding monuments have been surveyedby archaeologists to modern standards.The research led to the identification ofpreviously unknown sites and, perhaps moreimportantly, the re-interpretation of knownsites, including Stonehenge itself. The bookfocuses on all prehistoric and historic periodsincluding the later history of the landscape.The later history includes medieval remains,the influence of the Arts and CraftsMovement and the role of the StonehengeLandscape in early Aviation History.

Historic England is delighted to offerreaders of Megalith 20% discount and freepost and packing (in UK only) on TheStonehenge Landscape by Mark Bowden,Sharon Soutar, Martyn Barber and DavidField. (rrp £30). Please telephone 01235465577 or [email protected] and quotereference number 72207220150005 to takeadvantage of this offer and get your copy for£24. Offer expires 31st December 2015.

Wildlife AroundStonehenge

An attractive leaflet was produced in 2014 by the RSPB in partnership with theNational Trust Stonehenge Landscape Team. The aim of the leaflet is to helpvisitors to the WHS to explore the amazingwildlife around Stonehenge. It providesinformation on the different kinds of habitatand the wildlife found in each one. Theleaflet can be downloaded in advance ofyour visit from the National Trust website:www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stonehenge-landscape/wildlife/.

A chance to hold thepast in your hand - handle a maul or handle 'em all!

In Spring 2015 visitors to Stonehenge had achance to meet English Heritage’s MuseumPartners and discover and touch ancientartefacts found in the landscape around themonument over past centuries. Thesehandling sessions, run by Wiltshire Museumand The Salisbury Museum, offered a uniqueopportunity for visitors of all ages to learnabout and get hands on with these incredibleobjects which help to put Stonehenge intocontext.

The museums brought along a range ofobjects representing the wealth ofStonehenge finds in their collections -including mauls used for shaping the stonesand picks that were used for digging theditches at the monument. Visitors were ableto handle replicas of gold jewellery andbronze daggers, as well as real prehistoricstone and flint tools.

The handling sessions enabled us to tell afascinating story of Stonehenge - being ableto touch some of the actual tools andobjects associated with Stonehenge was achance not to be missed. These sessionsbrought the past to life at Stonehenge in atotally hands on way.

Find out more about the museumshttp://www.salisburymuseum.org.ukhttp://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/

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The Wiltshire Museum is home to muchmore than just its prehistoric collections. It has opened a new Gallery to tell the storyof the making of the Kingdom of Wessex.

The story is brought to life byphotographs of theWulfheodenas re-enactorgroup who have been inspiredby the finds from localcemeteries near Pewsey and at Figheldean. They have usedthese finds to re-create theweapons, jewellery andcostumes worn by PaganSaxons who lived in about AD 550. One of the re-enactors is Mark Routledge,who is now Learning and

Outreach Assistant at the Museum. He isusing his in depth knowledge of the Saxonperiod to develop a teachers pack to helpschools make the best use of the gallery andto develop a range of outreach sessions forschools.

The gallery features the gold jewellery buriedwith a lady, thought to be an Abbess, whowas buried on Roundway Down, close toDevizes. Her body was laid on a woodenbed, and she wore gold jewellery, including apair of pins, linked by a chain with a roundelat the centre that bears a Christian cross.

The story continues with King Alfred and hisfight back against Viking invaders and thedisplays feature a new discovery – a Vikinggold ring that may have been lost as theViking army fled back to Chippenham aftertheir defeat at the Battle of Edington.

Saxons at the Wiltshire Museum

The Wiltshire Museum inDevizes is home to many of thearchaeological finds from theWHS. It opened its prehistoricgalleries in October 2013 andno visit to the WHS would becomplete without a trip to seethe Gold From the Time ofStonehenge exhibition.

The gallery was designed by Chris Hudson, and funded by Arts CouncilEngland, celebrating this nationally important Designated Museum.

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It should be noted that the competentauthorities of the StateParty of the UnitedKingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland, as well as the AdvisoryBodies to the WorldHeritage Convention(ICOMOS, ICCROM,IUCN) and the WorldHeritage Centre are fullyinformed of the concernsraised by the citizens’campaign. The project isbeing very seriouslyconsidered by all parties

and is being monitored according to theOperational Guidelines for the Implementationof the World Heritage Convention.”

UNESCO announced:“Over the last several months, the WorldHeritage Centre has received numerousmessages from citizens and NGOs expressingtheir concern regarding the A303 tunnelproject, located within the boundaries of theWorld Heritage property “Stonehenge,Avebury and Associated Sites”, and theadverse impact it may have on the landscape,archaeological remains, and hydrogeology andecology of the site.

The project will also evaluate the impact ofany proposed scheme on archaeology fromother periods which may be unrelated to theOutstanding Universal Value of the WHSsuch as Roman, Medieval or even morerecent military archaeology.

The announcement on 1st December 2014was a financial commitment but thenecessary planning permissions still need tobe obtained through a DevelopmentConsent Order. Highways England (the newname for the Highways Agency) will have toconsult widely. Further announcements willbe made as the project progresses. It is hoped that work will start work by April2020 but in the meantime Highways Englandare committed to monitoring theperformance of the A303 and look for waysto improve its operational efficiency andsafety.

UNESCO, the organisation that bothinscribes and monitors World Heritage Sites,made an announcement on 19 May 2015regarding this scheme as many individualsand groups have contacted them.

On 1st December 2014 the Governmentannounced an intention to dual the A303from Amesbury to Berwick Down, with atwin bored tunnel of at least 1.8 miles(2.9km) within the WHS. This is part ofa number of proposed improvements tothe A303/A30/A358 corridor and one ofseveral projects in the NationalInfrastructure Programme to tackle someof the long standing bottlenecks on thestrategic road network and aid Britain’seconomic recovery.

As the project team look at various optionsthey will need to consider a number ofissues. These will include the impact on thenatural environment and the localcommunity and economy as well as thesignificance of the World Heritage Site.

The evaluation of the impact on the WHSwill look at how schemes affect theOutstanding Universal Value of the WHSwhich includes its many archaeologicalfeatures and their settings. This will includefeatures discovered by the HiddenLandscapes Project which have appeared ontelevision recently.

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The Museum was founded in 1938 byAlexander Keiller, who excavated in andaround Avebury in the 1920s and 1930s. Theoriginal building housing the Museum wasbought by the National Trust in 1943 andalmost immediately placed in the care of thestate under a Guardianship agreement(under which the National Trust retained theownership of the building). The collectionswere given to the nation in 1966 by thewidow of Alexander Keiller. Since 1994 theMuseum has been managed by the NationalTrust under a 25 year Local Management &Loan Agreement with English Heritage. Itsstaffing is provided by the National Trust.

The Alexander Keiller Museum is made upof two parts: the Stable Gallery whichhouses Alexander Keiller’s collection and theBarn Gallery which has an interactiveexhibition featuring not only moreinformation on the prehistoric history ofAvebury but more modern history andinformation on Alexander Keiller’s colourfullife including his car!

You can follow the Museum and otheraspects of the work of the National Trust atAvebury on their blog FragmeNTs or onTwitter @AveburyNT

30th Anniversary of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site 1986 – 2016

Alexander Keiller Museum, Avebury

In November 1986 the UNESCO WorldHeritage Committee inscribed the first sevensites from the UK on the World HeritageSite List. Those sites were: Castles and TownWalls of King Edward in Gwynedd; DurhamCastle and Cathedral; Giant's Causeway andCauseway Coast; Ironbridge Gorge; St Kilda;Studley Royal Park including the Ruins ofFountains Abbey and Stonehenge, Aveburyand Associated Sites.

The Convention concerning the Protectionof the World Cultural and Natural Heritage(the World Heritage Convention) wasratified in 1972. Since then 191 State Partieshave signed up to the Convention with theUK ratifying it in 1984. In 1985 nominationdocuments were prepared by the UKGovernment for submission to the WorldHeritage Committee and the first seven Sites were officially accepted in November1986. Since then a further 21 UK Sites havebeen added including three Sites in OverseasTerritories.

Stonehenge and Avebury WHS is currentlyplanning to celebrate our 30th anniversarynext year. At Stonehenge and Avebury weplan to work with our partners to hold anumber of events including talks, tours and aconference in November 2016. More detailswill be posted on our website as they areconfirmed.

To find out more about UNESCO andWorld Heritage please seehttp://whc.unesco.org/

To find out more about World Heritage inthe UK please seehttp://worldheritageuk.org

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News from the NorthWessex Downs Areaof Outstanding NaturalBeauty

The North Wessex Downs Area ofOutstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is thethird largest AONB in the country andincludes vast dramatic chalk downlands,nationally significant chalk grassland, woodedplateau, arable lands and valleys all rich inbiodiversity and cultural heritage. The Avebury World Heritage Site is one ofthe jewels in its crown.

If you’d like to know more, the local AONBPartnership will be pleased to come and talkto local groups about what makes the areaspecial and what the designation means forthe people who live and work here. The talk covers the geology and then looksat the influence that people have had on thelandscape and the special habitats that thearea provides for wildlife.

A short film is currently being produced toshowcase all that the area has to offer andwill be available from the end of June 2015.

For more information contact [email protected].

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The World HeritageSite and theMarlborough DownsNature ImprovementAreaThe Marlborough Downs NatureImprovement Area (MDNIA) ran from April2013 until March 2015. The area involvedlargely overlaps with the eastern side of theAvebury part of the WHS. The MDNIA wasaccepted under a competitive schemeadministered by Natural England and was theonly successful applicant in the first trancheto be farmer-led. There was a bottom-upapproach with a large element of voluntarycontribution. The overarching objective wasto create strategic policies and encouragebest practice for landscape scale natureconservation. Many of the participating farmswere already in Natural England’s HigherLevel Stewardship schemes, encouraged bytheir location within the WHS which is atarget area for stewardship schemes.

The two organisations have much incommon: landscape character, publicenjoyment, access, community involvement,outreach and education. Two Swindonschools participated in curriculum-relatedprojects - the WHS Avenue to Learning and a workshop to build Tree Sparrow nestboxes within the NIA.

The WHS had a presence at the first twoOpen Farm Sundays run by the MDNIA.Visitors (some 800 at each event) wereinterested to look at the historic farmingbackground of the landscape. At the 2015Open Farm event we introduced the newManagement Plan as well as ancient cerealsand antler picks.

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Fyfield Down National Nature Reserve Update

Ben Cooke North Wiltshire ReserveManager for Natural England writes: I shouldstart by introducing myself; I have beenappointed to the post of North WiltshireReserve Manager for Natural England andam now the first point of contact for theNational Nature Reserve (NNR) at FyfieldDown. The NNR lies within the MarlboroughDowns Nature Improvement Area and hasbeen part of the World Heritage Site since2008.

My arrival coincides with the acquisition ofthe majority of Fyfield Down NNR by a localfarming family who have introduced cattlegrazing to the Down. This is great news forthe conservation of the nature reserve ascattle grazing helps to maintain a morevaried vegetation structure and in the longterm will assist in restoring the grassland toflower rich downland.

Over the coming months we plan toestablish a new volunteer group to assist inmanaging the two north Wiltshire NNR’s(Fyfield Down and Pewsey Downs). Thegroup will support Natural England staff incarrying out practical conservation worksuch as clearing scrub from around sarsenstones and restoring ponds.

Also commencing this summer is an excitingproject to develop a downloadable audiotrail for Fyfield Down. Natural England staffhope to capture some of the immenseaccumulated knowledge of archaeologistProfessor Peter Fowler, who directed theFyfield and Overton project between 1959and 1998.

If you are interested in volunteering at FyfieldDown and/or Pewsey Downs please contactBen Cooke by emailing

[email protected] or by calling 07776227068.

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Community Update fromEnglish Heritageand the StonehengeVisitor Centre

The opening of the Stonehenge VisitorCentre in 2013 has created new waysfor local communities to connect withthe extraordinary history atStonehenge. We always encouragelocal communities to come and visitthe site, but there are other ways thatyou can get involved.

Volunteering Opportunities

English Heritage is looking forvolunteers to take on a variety ofexciting volunteering roles atStonehenge and Old Sarum:

n Neolithic House Volunteern Education Volunteern Stonehenge Exhibition Volunteer

Community Box

Do you run a local community groupand would like to learn more aboutStonehenge? Then book ourCommunity Box and one of ourknowledgeable volunteers will comeand deliver an exciting talk for youwith replica objects. Or, if you wouldlike to borrow the box and deliveryour own talk, that’s fine too.

Community Ambassadors

Community Ambassadors help us tell localpeople about heritage events in Wiltshire.Ambassadors receive newsletters containinginformation about English Heritage learningprogrammes as well as events at SalisburyMuseum, Wiltshire Museum, National Trustand Wessex Archaeology. Becoming aCommunity Ambassador is a great way ofsupporting us if you have little time on yourhands. So, if you are a communicativeindividual, who is always organising outingswith family and friends, then this is for you.

For more information on these opportunitiesplease visit: www.english-heritage.org.uk/volunteering, email:[email protected] or call: 01793 445009

Hundreds of wildflowers have been plantedon four Bronze Age barrows at NormantonDown just across the A303 fromStonehenge. These flowers include the classicchalk grassland herbs; kidney and horseshoevetch, common rockrose, wild thyme,dropwort, harebell, small scabious and devil’s-bit scabious.The wildflowers werecollected as seed from nearby Salisbury Plainand grown on by Heritage Seeds. They havebeen specially chosen as they are the mainfood plants of the caterpillars of iconic chalkdownland butterflies, such as the chalkhillblue, adonis blue, brown argus and marshfritillary.

The work is part of the Save our MagnificentMeadows project, a partnership of 11organisations, led by Plantlife, who arecarrying out work across the UK to helptransform the fortunes of vanishingmeadows, grasslands and wildlife. Theproject is targeting just under 6,000 hectaresof wildflower meadows and grasslands innine strategic landscapes across the UK,including Wiltshire. The project is primarilyfunded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Leading the work at Stonehenge are theRSPB who manage the Normanton Downnature reserve on private farmland forground nesting birds and downland wildlife.RSPB Site Manager, Patrick Cashman, writes“These barrows already support fragmentsof a once more widespread flower-richdownland landscape, and we are taking thisopportunity to top them up with keybutterfly food plants, so their warm southernflanks can become new homes for butterfliesfrom nearby Salisbury Plain and help providestepping stones into the wider landscape”.

We are delighted to see the historicmonuments being treasured for their relictancient grassland, and having their profileraised as a resource to help reconnect thenatural and historic landscape.

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RSPB - New homes for butterflies at Stonehenge

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Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Bird Survey 2014

Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter JULY

2015

In 2014 as part of the development of theManagement Plan 2015 we carried out thefirst ever bird survey of the whole of theWorld Heritage Site. This survey was carriedout by Nick Adams with the support of theRSPB and funded by Historic England.

We decided to concentrate on importantspecies for the habitats within the WHS. The species selected were as follows:lapwing, corn bunting, grey partridge, treesparrow, yellow wagtail, turtle dove, linnet,yellowhammer, quail, Montagu’s harrier,kestrel, barn owl, redshank, common curlew,common snipe, stone-curlew and greatbustard. Due to the sheer number of birdspresent, species such as skylark and meadowpipit were not mapped to ensure as fullcoverage as possible in the time available. A full list of species encountered wasrecorded, including breeding behaviour bytetrad.

The priority species were surveyed twice bytetrad (2km x 2km squares) during thebreeding season once in April/May and oncein June/July. The routes chosen stick to public footpaths, permissive footpaths andland with public access, this means that thesurvey should be easily repeatable. Not every individual bird in a tetrad wasrecorded, but this method produced arepeatable survey that would show anytrends in population changes in the future ifthe surveys are completed again.

These records were then overlaid on a singlemap for each tetrad to show apparentlyoccupied territories (birds recorded in samearea on both surveys) and possibleterritories (birds recorded in one survey only,with no definite breeding behaviour). Themaps within this report show the maximumcount of individuals from a single survey visitby tetrad. By using raw count data, the mapsare more straightforward to repeat andremove any subjectivity should they berepeated in the future by a different surveyorwho may have different views on whatconstitutes a territory.

The surveys show that both Avebury andStonehenge WHS are valuable areas forfarmland birds and can be easily consideredto be of national importance. This is verygood news for future management of theWHS, as it gives more options to obtainfunding to protect both the natural andhistoric environment.

The new Countryside Stewardship schemesare offering funding for biodiversity and anumber of these options might provideprotection to archaeology as well, theobvious example would be calcareousgrassland creation options. Wiltshire holdsthe two largest areas of this rare habitat inNorthwest Europe (Salisbury Plain andPorton Down) and any schemes to link upremnant areas are likely to be looked atpositively.

The mixed farming that these grasslandspromote (arable areas produce winter feedand bedding for livestock) is one of the mainreasons these areas are so important forfarmland birds. Wiltshire is in the area wherelargely pastoral farming to the west meetsthe largely arable areas to the east. It isimportant to retain this as much as possibleto support the wildlife as well as the farmerswho farm there.

If you are interested in finding out moreabout the bird survey please contact theStonehenge and Avebury WHSCoordination Unit.

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2014 Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Habitat Survey

At the same time as the WHS Bird Survey aPhase 1 Habitat Survey was also carried outwhich provided a baseline for future natureconservation work. The survey was carriedout by Rob Large of the Wiltshire WildlifeTrust with funding from Historic England.The surveys were carried out in April andMay 2014.

The entire site of 5150ha, was initiallymapped from rights of way and then moredetailed botanical surveys were undertakenwhere conditions indicated species-richhabitats might be present.

The Survey showed that around 75% of theWHS is under intensive agriculturalmanagement. The next most abundanthabitat was calcareous grassland with a totalof 322 hectares. The majority (242ha) of thiswas reversion grassland which has beensown under agri-environment schemesfunded by Natural England specifically aimedat improving bio-diversity. The totalpercentage of more biodiverse land use is16% or 743ha. These include broadleavedwoodland and marshy grassland.

We are tremendously grateful for Rob’swork and hope that this will provide anexcellent baseline to monitor habitatchanges and inform potential projects inthe future.

If you would like to find out more pleasecontact the WHS Coordination Unit.

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New Stonehengeexhibition to tell thestory of monument asa tourist attraction

A new exhibition at Stonehenge opened on1 May 2015 and looks at another side ofthe famous stone circle – its history as atourist attraction – with an array offascinating objects from the past fewcenturies on display.

Highlights of the exhibition include the veryfirst Stonehenge guidebook, printed in 1823,the iconic Spinal Tap shaped LP, and an arrayof memorabilia ranging from a GreatTrilithon-shaped toasting fork to postcardsthrough the decades.

Stonehenge may have been considered atourist attraction as early as the Romanperiod, and medieval people certainly visitedthe site - describing it as one of the wondersof the world. The Wish You Were Hereexhibition begins with Stonehenge inVictorian times and traces its developmentthrough war and peace and the post-waryears, both as a tourist attraction and globalicon.

Though an isolated ruin in the 19th Century,the ancient monument saw enough visitorsto warrant the production of the first guidebooks and souvenirs. The 20th Century sawan admission charge introduced in 1901 toaddress the cost of increasing amounts ofdamage and to help pay for a policeconstable.

Postcards went on sale in the early 1900sand from that point on, cards in sepia, lurid‘tints’, black and white, and full colourdocument the changing face of Stonehengeand its surroundings. From the 1970sonwards, the growing internationalrecognition of Stonehenge saw the iconicstone circle spawn an eclectic range of art,music and popular culture.

Curator and archaeologist Julian Richardswrites: “Anyone visiting Stonehenge today ispart of a long tradition. I am fascinated byhow Stonehenge has been experienced byvisitors over the years and the way in whichit has been used as an inspiration for art andmusic. I have been collecting ‘Stonehengiana’for years, and I am delighted that thecollection is now to appear at its naturalhome. There are things here that I hope willmake visitors smile. Welcome to thewonderful world of Stonehenge”

Stonehenge General Manager Kate Daviessaid: “We are very excited to launch Wish YouWere Here and tell the more recent historyof Stonehenge – as the place visitors havelong been inspired by. We want today’svisitors to take away a real sense of fun fromthis exhibition and hope that they areinspired to share their experiences –whether by traditional postcard or by socialmedia.”

Wish You Were Here at Stonehenge visitorsand exhibition centre will run until March2016. Admission is included in the entryprice for Stonehenge. Visitors are invited toshare their experiences on social media withthe hashtag #stonehengewishyouwerehere.

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Curator Julian Richards places a Victorian photo album of Stonehenge in the display case

The first guidebook to Stonehenge, printed in 1823

A ceramic plate showing Stonehengeivory envelope opener with an image of Stonehenge.

Stonehenge becomes a fashionable photographic location

A ceramic shoe with the image of Stonehenge

An Amesbury resident at the turnstile for Stonehenge, 1935

MEGALITH JULY 2015 MEGALITH - Stonehenge & Avebury · This edition of Megalith covers a wide range...

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