Salisbury Miscellany – talk by Volunteer Alan Clarke

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Museum, Salisbury, Stonehenge, volunteer

About fifty Volunteers recently enjoyed Alan Clarke’s ‘Salisbury Miscellany’ – a look at some of the museum’s photographic collection, one of our regular Collections in Focus talks.

Here are some of the photos he showed us, and a few which we didn’t see:

Alan started with this one of himself – the horse is about to be decapitated! Notice Alan’s expression!!

A favourite – the earliest known photo of Salisbury

Repairs to the spire, early 1950s. Where are the hard hats, hi-viz jackets, harnesses?

!!!!!!!!

An early photo of Stonehenge, with repairs to make….

Alan pointed out that, over the centuries, pretty much every stone must have had to be re-erected at some time.

How did they move those stones in the past? Interesting reconstruction here..

There have been endless efforts to work out how it was all done. This one is from the 1970s.

Thank you Alan!

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HIGH STREET CONNECTION WITH STONEHENGE WOOLLEN INDUSTRY by Volunteer Alan Clarke

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Collections, Salisbury, Stonehenge, volunteer

Alan Clarke brings us more interesting photographs and a fascinating story of the connection between High Street, Salisbury and the Stonehenge Woollen Industry which we heard about last week.

A standing live ram held by a hoisting belt was the emblem adopted by the Duke of Burgundy when he founded the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1430.  He obtained great wealth from the wool trade in Flanders.  This emblem, the golden fleece, was adopted as the traditional sign of a woollen draper’s shop.  Hence the carved sheep above the former SPCK shop at 51 High Street, Salisbury.

Charles Scammell, an antique dealer, sold 51 High Street to Catherine Lovibond in about 1919.  Catherine was the youngest of three daughters of Joseph Lovibond (1833-1918), a former Mayor of Salisbury (1878-1890), who lived at Lake House, up the Woodford valley.  He was chairman of John Lovibond & Sons, Ltd, and of The Tintometer Ltd.

Catherine trained as a designer and took an interest in spinning and weaving. Encouraged by her father who had no sons, she started to teach the local women the processes involved, setting up looms and spinning wheels in Lake House. At first things did not go well but gradually the scheme caught on, so that by 1900 some of the products were being exhibited at the Albert Hall.  A company called the Stonehenge Woollen Industries was formed and despite a fire which almost destroyed Lake House in 1912, expansion continued, moving to Stratford sub Castle after the death of her father in 1918. Retail outlets were established in four places including 51 High Street, Salisbury.  This is when the carved sheep was placed over the High Street door to denote her trade.

51 High Street, sheep in view to the left

Catherine married Major Radcliffe James Lindsay Bashford in 1919 but he died soon afterwards on 20 August 1921.  Then in 1929 she became the third wife of Rowland George Allanson Allanson-Winn; Lord Hedley.  In his youth he had been editor of the Salisbury Journal for two years.  He died 22 June 1935.

After the death of Catherine (Lady Headley) the business carried on for some years and it was not until 1959 that the shop was sold to the SPCK who at the time occupied 56 High Street, Salisbury.  The sheep trade sign was retained and remains to the present day.

A lady who lived close by me was 99 years old when she gave me an interview.  She told me she used to work in the High Street shop as a young girl.  She still had a Stonehenge Woollen Industries’ scarf.  The shop used to supply patterns and wool for people to knit orders, often to be fulfilled in 2 or 3 days.  Catherine used to travel to London by train to sell the items and to take orders.  Another neighbour remembers her mother knitting frantically last thing at night to finish off a garment.  Catherine originally set up the industry to provide employment for those in the countryside however its greatest use was to give employment to those returning from the First World War.

A Stonehenge Woollen Industries scarf

 

 

SOUNDWAVES! TOWARDS MUSIC – BRIAN GRAHAM by Volunteer Alan Crooks

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Archaeology, Stonehenge, volunteer

When I first heard, some months ago now, that Brian Graham was going to exhibit a set which integrated archaeology, music and art, I immediately thought of Stonehenge, as I recalled reading something not too long ago of a theory concerning the acoustic properties of Stonehenge.

Coincidentally, this cropped up in my Facebook ‘Memories’ feed last week (‘Memories’ is one of my favourite features of Facebook). It was a 2012 paper by a doctoral researcher at Rock Arts Acoustics USA, one Steven Waller, who specialises in the sound properties of ancient sites, – the science of archaeoacoustics.

To understand this, one needs to appreciate that sound propagates through a medium (solid, liquid or gas) by means of waves. As a Science teacher, I used to demonstrate the properties of waves by means of a ripple tank. If standing water is disturbed on one side of a barrier containing a small gap, the waves are seen to fan out on the other side. This effect can be seen in real life at Lulworth Cove in Dorset (Fig.1).

Fig 1. Diffraction of waves at Lulworth Cove

When the barrier contains two gaps, the waves fanning out from each interfere with one another, causing the wave heights to be amplified in some places, and cancel out at others, creating ‘interference patterns’. This same effect occurs with sound. Thus Stephen Waller experimented by asking blindfolded volunteers to walk into a field as two pipers played. He then mapped where the volunteers said they could hear reduced or even no sound – so called ‘dead spots’.  The volunteers experienced quiet patches created by acoustic interference, leading to the ‘auditory illusion’ that massive objects stood between the listener and the instruments being played. Waller said that the volunteers “drew structures, archways and openings that are very similar to Stonehenge”. He speculated that the people who built Stonehenge may have become aware of this sound-cancelling effect during ceremonies involving musicians and would have thought it mystical – even magical, thus motivating them to build a stone circle whose design mimicked this acoustic illusion.

Interestingly, one of the legends concerning the ‘Merry Maidens’ neolithic stone circle, near St Buryan in Cornwall, says that some nineteen maidens, accompanied by two pipers, were dancing and making merry on a Sunday, and, as punishment for this sacrilege, they were all turned to stone –  petrified in a perfect circle – with the two pipers standing by themselves a little way off. This legend is reflected in the local name for the stone circle, Dans maen, meaning ‘dancing stones’.

There are also two other stones associated with the Merry Maidens, ‘The Fiddler’ to the west and the ‘Blind Fiddler’ to the north.

Such petrification legends concerning dancers and pipers (or at least, musicians) are frequently associated with stone circles throughout Britain, another example being ‘The Pipers Stones’ or Athgreany Stone Circle in County Wicklow. The Merry Maidens stone circle was depicted several times in Salisbury Museum’s 2017 exhibition, ‘British Art: Ancient Landscapes’, for example, in Ithell Colquhoun’s painting ‘Landscapes with Antiques, Lamorna’ (1955) (Fig 2).

Fig 2. ‘Landscape with Antiques, Lamorna’, showing the Merry Maidens stone circle and ‘The Pipers’ (Ithell Colquhoun, 1955).

In view of this I find myself slightly disappointed that Brian Graham’s exhibition does not explicitly feature Stonehenge.

I shall return to the subject of waves in a future blog.

 

LAST MAN STANDING

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Archaeology, Collections, Museum, Stonehenge, volunteer, Volunteering

OR    The Last of the Box Makers by Volunteer Mary Crane

Everyone who worked on the Pitt-Rivers collection (and probably anyone who has attended a coffee morning) will know that some larger museum items, eg model stone Celtic crosses, need to be packed in purpose-made boxes.

Confronted with an instruction sheet, two thicknesses of corrugated card, a metre rule, pencil, craft knife, glue gun and tape,  I think all of us had a go, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, at making boxes.

Once all the Pitt-Rivers artefacts were safely stowed away, most volunteers moved on to other areas of the museum’s collections. However, when Adrian realised he still had a few willing box-makers (and lots of unused card) he introduced four of us to the History Store (up in the ‘gods’ behind a no-entry curtain!). There we found large models of Stonehenge, of barrows, and of flint mines and the like. Sue and Alan Haddock, Roger Collins and I have slowly worked our way through, producing custom-made boxes for these, and packing objects away.

Some boxes had to have little flaps at the side so that hands would be able to reach in and extract the models. Some had to have a front flap and a movable tray so that the object inside could be pulled out. Others have flip down sides. We were constrained by the size, shape and weight of each object, the amount of storage space on shelves, and, increasingly as time went on, by the size of the pieces of cardboard we had left.

Some models, like that of the flint mine, had little model people (and a dog!) attached, and all these had to be carefully swaddled. Packing became quite an art as once in the box, the object had to be immovable and protected from inadvertent knocks. Presumably quite a lot of these objects will be moved to the new storage unit at Old Sarum and we expect them to be able to survive the journey intact.

There are just a few of the very large models left. The Haddocks have moved on to other volunteer work and Roger and I are now the only box makers left. While we await some more large sheets of card, Adrian has found us some clocks to box and pack. What else will he find, we wonder?! It is very satisfying though, to know that we are helping to protect the museum’s collections for future generations.

As for me, I enjoy making boxes. I can’t speak for Roger!

SALOG VISIT by Volunteer Alan Crooks

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Archaeology, English Heritage, News, Old Sarum, SALOG, Stonehenge, volunteer, Volunteering, Volunteers, Wiltshire

SALOG Volunteers’ Visit to Old Sarum and Stonehenge Visitor Centre

Just before the museum closed for the day one evening in mid-October, I was intrigued to see Professor Mike Parker-Pearson of the Stonehenge Riverside Project deep in conversation with somebody in the café. My curiosity was satiated the following day when watching BBC TV ‘South Today’ during which it was reported that he was due to open a new exhibition at the Stonehenge Visitors Centre,  ‘Feast! Food at Stonehenge’, which invites visitors to explore the diet and lifestyle of the people that built Stonehenge; and the culture, rituals and identity of food in prehistory (see photos of reconstructed buildings at Stonehenge, below).

 

This was the subject of the second part of a SALOG Volunteers social afternoon on Monday 30^th October.

On arrival at the Stonehenge Visitors Centre, Volunteers from Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire Museum, English Heritage, the National Trust and Wessex Archaeology were given time to mingle and to enjoy coffee and biscuits before being given a ten minute introduction to the exhibition by the Interpretation Officer, Hannah Brown. We were then allowed to explore the exhibition at leisure.

By way of background, the objective of the Stonehenge Riverside Project was to examine the relationship between the Stonehenge stones and surrounding monuments and features, including the River Avon, Durrington Walls, the Cursus, the Avenue, Woodhenge, and various burial mounds, and nearby standing stones. The main aim of the project was to test the hypothesis that Stonehenge was a monument dedicated to the dead, whilst Woodhenge & Durrington Walls, two miles away, were monuments to the living and more recently deceased.

It is believed that the builders of Stonehenge settled in nearby Durrington Walls in the 25^th century B.C. and excavations of this site have revealed an abundance of food waste, stone tools and pottery, which are thus available for analysis.

From these artifacts, scientists have been able to show that our ancestors were bringing animals from as far away as Scotland, some 500 miles away, suggesting that Stonehenge was an important site known right across Britain at this time, and that people were travelling these sorts of distances in order to participate both in the building of the monument, which occurred in several phases, and in midwinter feasts. Some discussion ensued as to the logistics of driving animals these distances, and the time it would take.

As a chemist, I was particularly interested in the techniques used to establish these facts. For example, animal bones can be identified by inspection and it is clear that our Neolithic ancestors at Stonehenge were deriving meat from a variety of sources: cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. The distances travelled were established by analysing the ratios of strontium isotopes in their teeth by the technique of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy. Strontium compounds, which mimic calcium compounds and therefore enter animals’ teeth, are present in the soil and enter the animals through the food chain. The particular ratios of strontium isotopes identified reflect the underlying geology where the animal once lived. As a chemist and, latterly a chemistry teacher, I was impressed by the clarity of the diagrams used to illustrate these points, and would have been delighted to have had this example and diagram illustrate this analytical technique (Fig 1).

Figure 1. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy of strontium compounds in animals’ teeth

Another point of interest for me was the fact that Neolithic people were lactose-intolerant, and had to turn milk into products such as cheese and yoghurt before consumption (Fig 2 below):

This reminded me of a particularly popular experiment I devised for Key Stage 3 Science students, where we used rennet to curdle milk to make junket. We flavoured the product with strawberries and were able to consume it afterwards, having taken appropriate H&S precautions during the preparation. Again, this would have been a useful illustration to have used at the time.

Preparation of yogourt

Earlier there  was a visit to the inner bailey at Old Sarum.

 

Being only a mile from my home I am very familiar with this site. Nevertheless, some new things were brought to my attention, for example a ‘mason’s mark’ on a stone block in the east range of the courtyard house (Fig 3).

A question was asked and some discussion ensued about the little-known tunnel which once existed through the northern rampart, the site of which is still visible (Fig 4).

The English Heritage ‘Old Sarum’ guidebook tells us that this tunnel was first discovered in 1795. This discovery was recorded in the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ of February 2^nd, 1795. Following this, the tunnel was much visited by members of the public for several years before being re-sealed in 1822.

The tunnel was re-excavated in 1957 by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works (now Department of the Environment)  assisted by members of the archaeology section of the Salisbury and District Field Club, including Davids Algar, Sanders and Truckle, during which, among other things, examples of dated 18^th Century obscene Anglo-Saxon graffiti were found.

Nobody is quite sure who built this tunnel, or for what reason. Its construction was apparently beyond the skills of Iron Age Man, but various people have speculated that it was built by the Romans or the Normans. One theory, which was also that espoused by our EH Guide during this visit, is that it was a ‘sally-port’ to enable an enemy force to be attacked from the rear or, if the city were besieged, to provide a means of escape from it.

A fuller description of this tunnel and the 1957 excavation can be found in The [Salisbury] Journal of 13^th October, 1988, ‘’Old Sarum’s Secret Tunnel’ .

 By Volunteer Alan Crooks Monday 30^th October 2017

Thank you

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Stonehenge, volunteer, Volunteering, Volunteers

It is always nice to receive thanks, and to have some feedback….

Thank you for a super afternoon on Monday.  The information gained added to what we already knew, and Stonehenge Visitors’ Centre displays were particularly interesting.  I know from talking to others that our “work” as Engagement Officers has already been enhanced by Monday’s experiences, and additional information given to visitors at Salisbury Museum has been appreciated.  These days out also enable us to meet up with other volunteers, which is great!

From a Salisbury Museum Volunteer

Volunteer Visit to Old Sarum and Stonehenge

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Archaeology, English Heritage, News, Stonehenge, Wessex

On a beautiful autumn day, Volunteers joined a SALOG visit to Old Sarum and then a tour of the new exhibition at Stonehenge.

 

Francis Pryor at ArchFest – They Were Farmers Like Me…

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Archaeology, Stonehenge

Francis Pryor’s talk at ArchFest, ‘Stonehenge: The Story of a Sacred Landscape’ was a surprise, and all the more interesting for that of course.

He began by saying that we would never fully understand the ancient monuments that surround us (particularly in Wiltshire it seems!) but he suggested that we don’t anyway fully understand our own sacred monuments. In saying this, he gestured towards our own magnificent Salisbury Cathedral. That got me thinking.  And he hadn’t even mentioned Stonehenge as yet!

I have included here a piece from his own blog which tells us a little about his background and begins to explain his own theory about Stonehenge and places like it.

I’ve been an archaeologist for over forty years and have excavated several major sites, mostly in the Fens of eastern England. I’ve also tried to bring archaeology to a wider audience, with a number of books, radio and television programmes, of which Time Team is the best known. When not writing or digging, I’m also a sheep farmer and keen gardener. But like most people, I get bees in my bonnet – obsessions, call them what you like. Most of my worries are about the general disregard for the achievements of people in the past and the failure of politicians, both local and national, to learn the lessons of history.

Francis shared most of this with us in his talk. He explained that because the people who built and used Stonehenge were farmers, like himself, he tried to see the monument through their eyes. A view surely not unlike his own. It is a mistake, he said, to see the great henges as places that were each the creation of some megalomaniac figure. Rather they are the product of people, not unlike himself, as a farmer, and not unlike any of us, really. Just as we have our churches, graves, and memorials, so they wanted to record, celebrate and remember, loved ones.

The great megaliths are almost certainly he suggested, as we would suspect, representing Gods or great figures from within their society, and the smaller bluestones almost certainly representing local people. He also suggested that the numerous carvings of axes on some of the uprights are each representing a person.

It is important to remember that Stonehenge was built, added to, abandoned and re-used over centuries, anyway and so there would be subtle changes all the time in how it was used.

I kept remembering his opening remarks about Salisbury Cathedral.  He is quite right, that in thousands of years’ time, no one will be able to precisely imagine, measure or record the feeling that the building gives us as we, Christians or not, walk into the Close. No one will be able to measure the awe we feel, its importance in our lives, the feeling it gives us for our own history. The magic.

Stonehenge was, and had, all of that for the peoples of the times in which it was the centre of their lives. And to a degree that magic lives on, even though we are no longer sure why it was built in the first place.

Does Size Matter?

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Archaeology, English Heritage, Museum, Stonehenge, Wiltshire

It does when it comes to henges, apparently.  At another of the museum’s excellent talks last week, Dr Jim Leary spoke about his work over the last few years at Marden, in the Vale of Pewsey, and about the amazing discoveries there, with Reading University and Historic England (formerly English Heritage). Marden is described as Europe’s largest Neolithic henge, enclosing over 15.7 hectares, and an even larger one is probably waiting to be excavated at nearby Cat’s Brain (yes, really!), both beating Avebury for size.

Marden Henge, Vale of Pewsey

The Vale of Pewsey lies between Stonehenge and Avebury but is not part of the World Heritage Site. Nevertheless, it is as full of archaeological ‘goodies’ as anywhere else in Wiltshire.  Perhaps even more so.  Dr Leary explained that the relative lack of interest in the area is because, unlike the higher ground where Stonehenge and Avebury stand, the Vale has been ploughed continuously for thousands of years and any remains are less obvious.

As with Avebury , the ditch around the henge at Marden is on the inside, with a bank outside of that.  The assumption is that this was to protect the people/audience/congregation from what was inside.  Whatever that was! Like Avebury, and, indeed, Durrington, there is evidence of Neolithic buildings on the site before the banks and ditches were built.  In this case, there is a rectangular building with a chalk floor where the archaeologists are even investigating the layer of dirt and dust which had accumulated on the floor when it was in everyday use. A PhD student is doing a thesis on what this dirt can tell us!  There is evidence of burning in the area, the same signs of  ceremonial feasting as at Durrington, and a midden.

The artifactual finds are of astonishing beauty (exquisite arrowheads) and possibly unique (pottery with a white ‘slip’ made from crushed bone, possibly human).

Thanks to Wiltshire Museum in Devizes and English Heritage for this photo. Wilts Museum has an on-going display of information and artifacts from this excavation

Inside the henge was a large conical mound known as the Hatfield Barrow (now levelled) and an inner henge. Hatfield barrow stood tall in the eighteenth century when it was mapped but was later ploughed out.  It was likely to have been similar to Silbury.  This had Dr Leary on a mission.  How many other mounds in the area, in the country even, might have been built in Neolithic times?  More on this next week.

The smaller henge has been excavated and shows evidence of huge holes which must have held timber, or possibly stone, at some early time, now completely gone.  There is evidence of similar such holes at Stonehenge, marked in the carpark there.

What a time to be in archaeology. Scientific advances will allow that PhD student to do her research on a layer of dirt just a few millimetres thick. DNA and isotope analysis allow us to pinpoint dates and origins to a very exact degree. Dr Leary said that things were changing so fast he was never able to recycle his lectures to students anymore!

The excavations continue this year, having begun in 2015.  After that will come the analysis of what has been found and the publications.  If we want to visit the Marden site we are more than welcome.  The team are there every day this summer except Fridays and the students of Reading University conduct guided tour for visitors. Go in the coming weeks or miss the chance! Click here for further details.

WITCHES AND ALCHEMISTS, SNAKES AND SWALLOWS by Volunteer Alan Crooks

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Archaeology, Stonehenge, volunteer, Volunteers, Wessex, Wiltshire

To my shame, this was my first visit to Avebury since 1983, when I attended a Royal Society of Chemistry Mid-Southern Counties Local Section Summer Excursion to Avebury, Silbury Hill, and the West Kennet Long Barrow.  I attended the SALOG visit as part of a self-imposed mission to visit all the sites depicted in the current exhibition, ‘British Art: Ancient Landscapes’. To this end, following a week’s holiday in Seaton last week, I made a detour to visit the Cerne Abbas Giant (and the village of Cerne Abbas itself) on my way home. Then, following the SALOG visit to Avebury, being such a lovely day, and following lunch at the on-site café, I embarked on the two mile walk along a bridleway to visit West Kennet Long Barrow, taking in Silbury Hill en route. At West Kennet Long Barrow, I was entranced to watch a swallow feeding her brood of chicks which were on a ledge in one of the burial chambers.

At Avebury, it was a delight to have the opportunity to chat with fellow volunteers from the other organisations involved. (I had a fruitful conversation about witches and alchemists, concerning some research I’m doing on a matter unrelated to Ancient Landscapes).

I was interested to hear from our Guide about the two types of stone, ‘pillar’ stones and ‘diamond’ stones, which represent male and female, and these face each other in the Avenue as sexual pairs.

The Guide for my party told us that the heaviest stone weighs an estimated 100 tons. On its outfacing side, she pointed out the head and neck of a ‘dragon’ – a result of natural erosion. (One of my fellow Volunteers pointed out that this is the same stone on which, in the exhibition, the artist has shown the face of William Morris, and indicated that this is to the left hand side of the dragon).

To me, the ‘dragon’ looked more like a snake, and this led me to put two and two together to perhaps make five, in wondering whether this is what inspired William Stukeley to depict Avebury as a serpent whose head rested at the Sanctuary on Overton Hill and whose body was formed by West Kennet and Beckhampton.

Avenues:

This was a very interesting, enjoyable and worthwhile visit. Many thanks to all concerned with its conception and organisation.

Alan Crooks (Engagement Volunteer)