The Wiltshire Council Archaeology Service once again made a successful contribution to the recent national Festival of British Archaeology fortnight. The team led two guided walks and talks, this time in the south and east of the county.

At the first, in Mere, over half of the 100 participants from the two walks joined Clare King and David Vaughan, Assistant County Archaeologists, at Mere Castle and Whitesheet Down. Suggested by our friends in Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the event attracted a large contingent from readers of the AONB Newsletter, The Hart, while others had travelled from as far away as London and Dorset, indicating the continued popularity of these walks and a rapacious interest in archaeology and the historic environment.

Clare’s introduction to the history of this once-imposing edifice was well-received, prompting the usual widespread and interesting array of questions from the assembled group. The walk had started with a steep climb up the sides of Long Hill, a natural rise that was remodelled at its eastern end during the Middle Ages to form the enclosure castle. The earthworks exploited by these early castle-builders remain today as a striking presence in the local landscape and were repeatedly admired by the group as they completed the second part of their walk.

Clare talks to the group at Mere Castle

Before that, however, we stopped at the edge of the castle’s main defensive ditch, forming part of what is known locally as the ‘Bull Ring’, where we also discussed the incongruous presence of some round barrows, probable burial mounds, that share this hilltop with the castle.

Moving forward and beginning the climb up White Sheet Hill, the 2.6km walk began in earnest with the haul to the Iron Age hillfort which bears its name. Along the way, features of interest were pointed out, prompting more dialogue and opinion. This is a facet of these walks that we like to encourage and which often leads to local information being added to the Historic Environment Record, the Council’s database of Wiltshire’s 20,000 known historic sites and monuments. Of particular interest on the way to the hillfort were the medieval lynchets and prehistoric cross dykes, as well as Bronze Age funeral mounds and areas previously used by the Ministry of Defence for their training and firing practice (some of these may still be live and out of bounds to the public). David explained how the landscape, famed today for its views and natural beauty, would have been experienced in different ways throughout history. Past societies would have regarded it variously as a source for subsistence farming, as a place of safety or as a place to make statements of power with the deliberate siting of ritual mounds.

David talking to the group on White Sheet Hill with Mere Castle in the background

The audience were encouraged to see their surroundings through the eyes of those earlier people, imagining how they lived and worked the hills in the past and how they responded to their needs and the pressures of the day. What people see today is their legacy - topography may not change naturally that much over thousands of years, but human society does and a human impact on its landscape can be quite dramatic.

Meanwhile, a week later, Melanie Pomeroy-Kellinger, County Archaeologist, and Sarah MacLean, our HER Data Manager, led a second walk with a similar sized group, this time around Littlecote Roman villa near Hungerford. Always a popular event, taking place in the grounds of a private hotel, it gave people a rare chance to see and learn more about this beautiful and internationally significant gem. The jewel in the crown is undoubtedly the famous “Orpheus” mosaic, influenced by the culture of the Eastern Roman Empire, but the site also has fine examples of Roman villa architecture, all of which making this a very photogenic place.

Melanie leads the group around the Orpheus mosaic at the Littlecote Roman Villa site

The group this year included a broad range of ages and backgrounds, who all shared their appreciation of these very special heritage assets. Although they were brought to life by our colleagues, the Archaeology Service would like to thank Swindon Borough Council and Warner Leisure Hotels respectively for their support in running this event.

We draw your attention to the fact that this is a private site and not normally open to the public.

[David Vaughan 2011]

Please note: Another annual event that has now become as traditional as our walks is the autumn Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Open Day! This year, on Saturday 1^st October 2011, everyone at the Centre, including Archaeology, will dedicate themselves to members of the public who want to learn more about the vast range of services and material they can access here in Chippenham. It is a family day with lots of fun activities for children as well as for the young at heart, and shows the public what their local council are doing to preserve and interpret their heritage. It could inspire you to get more involved with the history of Wiltshire! Please see our Open Day pages for more details.

If you have enjoyed this article, the following entries may also be of interest:

Minding Our Monuments

Truckle Hill Roman Building

'Attaboy' Mere Museum