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Stonehenge discovery could rewrite British pre-history
The most important discovery at Stonehenge for a generation could be destroyed by David Cameron’s plan to build a tunnel at the World Heritage Site
David Cameron announced plans to route the A303 into a tunnel to take traffic away from the world heritage site of Stonehenge Photo: AP
Archaeologists have discovered the earliest settlement at Stonehenge – but the Mesolithic camp could be destroyed if government plans for a new tunnel go ahead.
Charcoal dug up from the ‘Blick Mead’ encampment, a mile and a half from Stonehenge, dates from around 4,000BC. It is thought the site was originally occupied by hunter gatherers returning to Britain after the Ice Age, when the country was still connected to the continent.
Experts say the discovery could re-write history in prehistoric Britain.
There is also evidence of feasting – burnt flints and remains of giant bulls – aurochs – as well…
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Current Archaeology Awards: and the nominations are as follows…
It’s that time of year again. With just 3 months to go before the Current Archaeology Live! conference in London, the nominations for the Current Archaeology Awards have been released.
The awards are designed to celebrate some of the stories and people featured in the magazine throughout the course of the year. There is no panel of judges, the only votes that count are those from the readership in the public vote via the website, so it really is just down to you (collectively) as to who the winners are.
As in previous years, there are four main categories to vote for:
- Research Project of the Year
- Archaeologist of the Year
- Rescue Dig of the Year
- Book of the Year
The nominees in each category are as follows:
Research Project of the Year
- How to build a dolmen: exploring Neolithic construction at Garn Turne
- Maryport’s mystery monuments: investigating gigantic timber…
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Salisbury a top city for 2015, Lonely Planet Guide Book.
Lonely Planet has named the southern English city of Salisbury to its Best in Travel 2015 list, according to VisitWiltshire.
The city, established as New Sarum in the 13th century, is a common jumping off point for visitors to Stonehenge. It is also famous for its original copy of the Magna Carta; the historic document is one of four original copies in existence.
“We are delighted Lonely Planet has recognised Salisbury as one of the Top 10 Cities in the World to visit,” VisitWiltshire’s CEO David Andrews said in a statement. “We are extremely proud of Salisbury’s history and heritage such as Salisbury Cathedral and Magna Carta, as well as our arts and culture, shopping, food and drink and nightlife. Salisbury is also a great base for visitors to experience popular attractions further afield such as Stonehenge, Avebury and our White Horses.”
Salisbury ranked No. 7 on the list, while Washington, D.C. took the top spot. Milan, Italy, and Vienna, Austria, also ranked on Lonely Planet’s top 10 list.
Full article: Todd DeFeo – Atlanta Headlines Examiner
Visit Salisbury
Salisbury, Stonehenge and South Wiltshire is a truly unique destination. Set among some of the most beautiful countryside and with a 5,000 year old history the area is steeped in history but with its eye firmly fixed on the future.
The Stonehenge Travel Company provide expert guided tours of Salisbury, Stonehenge, Avebury and Wiltshire, these depart from Salisbury or Bath. Coach tours of Salisbury departing from London are also available
Stonehenge experiment to be repeated with ‘lost’ stones
Another attempt is to be made to solve the mystery of how the largest stones used to build Stonehenge were moved.
The experiment was first carried out in a BBC documentary in 1996
In 1996, a BBC TV programme aimed to find out how the stones for the largest trilithon were put into place, and how the lintel was placed on top.
Since then the concrete replicas have remained untouched and forgotten about at an army base on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
They have now been rediscovered and the experiment will be repeated.
Archaeologist Julian Richards is teaming up with farmer Tim Daw see if modern techniques are any more efficient.
Mr Daw, who farms at All Cannings, near Devizes, and who created the first “Neolithic” long barrow to be built in the UK for 5,500 years, also works part-time at Stonehenge.
He said one of the most popular…
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Turner’s Wessex: News of the upcoming exhibition at Salisbury Museum, opening in May 2015.
Salisbury Museum is extremely proud to announce a new exhibition of national importance, throwing new light on the earliest work of the young artist J.M.W. Turner in and around Salisbury and its magnificent cathedral.
The museum is situated a few meters from Salisbury Cathedral in the historic town of Salisbury, where the 800 year-old Magna Carta will be displayed in 2015. Salisbury Museum is also less than 20 minutes by car from the ancient monument of Stonehenge, and houses a fabulous new gallery where the archaeology of Stonehenge can be explored.
Building on recent successes, particularly the 2011 exhibition exploring Constable’s links with the area, Salisbury Museum will showcase Turner’s meteoric rise as he worked for two very rich patrons in the Salisbury region.
Turner first visited Salisbury in 1795 when he was 20 years old. As his career developed, he returned to paint an area that captivated him as an artist. Set in the vast plains of the Wessex landscape, his depictions of Stonehenge in particular proved to be among his most hauntingly atmospheric works.
In the late 1790s, Sir Richard Colt Hoare commissioned Turner, then barely into his twenties, to produce a series of watercolours of Salisbury, the most impressive of which depict the newly restored great cathedral. Hoare was a wealthy gentleman-antiquarian who inherited the nearby Stourhead estate in 1784. His involvement in the first archaeological surveys of the ancient landscapes around Salisbury led him to publish volumes documenting the history of Ancient and Modern Wiltshire.
Another local patron, who gave the young Turner invaluable work, was William Beckford, described by Byron as ‘England’s wealthiest son’. Turner turned down a commission to work with Lord Elgin in Greece for a year, in favour of Beckford’s much more lucrative commission to paint the famous folly that Beckford was building at Fonthill.
The third part of this exhibition will chart Turner’s fascination with the wider Wessex region – spanning the area of Wiltshire around Salisbury, as well as the Dorset coast, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It culminates in Turner’s record of the historic visit made by the French King, the first such visit to England since the fourteenth century, to Queen Victoria in 1844
The exhibition has been selected by Turner scholar Ian Warrell to build a picture of a brilliant young artist, driven by self-belief and limitless ambition, grafting his way in the world.
The inventive and dizzying watercolours at the heart of the exhibition, reassembled for the first time since 1883, will show how commissions from Wiltshire’s great patrons provided the crucial springboard for the career of one of England’s best-loved artists.
The Salisbury Museum
The Kings House
65 The Close
Salisbury
www.salisburymuseum.org.uk
@SalisburyMuseum
Another great reason to visit Salisbury in 2015!
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Guided Tours of Salisbury and Stonehenge
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Salisbury is the only UK city in Lonely Planet top 10 must-see places in the world
The Wiltshire city is home to the iconic Magna Carta, and is listed among places such as Vienna, Chennai, and Toronto
PAHotspot: Salisbury has made it into a top 10 world cities’ list
Historic Salisbury – home to the iconic Magna Carta – is the only UK city to make it into a top ten “must-see” places in the world.
It joins a dream list that includes US capital Washington DC, stylish Milan in Italy and skiing paradise Zermatt, Switzerland.
A short hop from awe-inspiring Stonehenge, Salisbury was put on the world map by travel guide Lonely Planet as one of the key destinations for tourists next year.
It was rated above sight-seeing in Vienna, Austria, Chennai, India and Toronto, Canada by experts.
The Wiltshire backwater with a population of just over 40,000 was tipped as one of the world’s travel hotspots as it gets ready to celebrate 800 years as the nation’s keeper of the original 1215 Magna Carta.
Only four copies have survived and historians say the one kept at Salisbury Cathedral is the finest of them all.
Signed at Runnymede near Windsor Castle, Berks by King John the life-changing document which limited the once absolute powers of the monarch became the cornerstone of law, civil rights, and democracy and was used as a model for the US Constitution.
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2015 guide said: “For too long travellers have considered Salisbury a short stop on the way to Stonehenge.
“But 2015 is set to be the year visitors linger in this quintessentially English city as Salisbury uncorks the champagne for the 800th anniversary of its greatest treasure, the Magna Carta.
“The lightning rod for the celebrations will be Salisbury Cathedral, the neck-straining medieval masterpiece whose Chapter House holds the Magna Carta.
“The cathedral itself boasts a clutch of superlatives, with the tallest spire in Britain, the world’s oldest working clock and Britain’s largest cloister.”
Best in Travel 2015 spokesman Tom Hall added: “We included Salisbury because it deserves to be recognised as one of the UK’s most important destinations for travellers next year.
“Bursting with history, top class restaurants, atmospheric nightlife and a host of festivals planned for 2015, we believe Salisbury is a must-see for domestic and international travellers alike.”
Lonely Planet’s top ten cities to visit in 2015:
1. Washington DC
2. El Chalten, Argentina
3. Milan, Italy
4. Zermatt, Switzerland
5. Valletta, Malta
6. Plovdiv, Bulgaria
7. Salisbury, Wiltshire
8. Vienna, Austria
9. Chennai, India
10.Toronto, Canada
Article source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/salisbury-only-uk-city-lonely-4472062
More good news for Salisury tourism
The Stonehenge Travel and Tour Company
Guided Tours of Salisbury and Stonehenge
Soldiers at Stonehenge
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Magna Carta tourist trail unveiled by Visit Wiltshire.
A NEW two-day tourist trail has been announced by VisitWiltshire and Salisbury Cathedral to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015.
The new Salisbury and Wiltshire trail includes Salisbury Cathedral and Magna Carta on day one and the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and the Baron Town of Trowbridge on day two.
The Wiltshire trail is one of six special trails, each covering different aspects of the Magna Carta story.
Salisbury Cathedral is home to the best preserved of only four remaining copies of the original 1215 Magna Carta which will be re-displayed in an interactive exhibition for 2015.
Robert Key, chairman of Salisbury Cathedral’s Magna Carta Celebrations Committee, said: “This trail is great news and will bring many visitors to Wiltshire and to Salisbury Cathedral to see the finest preserved original Magna Carta in its anniversary year.
“We are looking forward to making those visitors a part of 2015’s 800th anniversary celebrations with a great programme of events and a wonderful new exhibition around Salisbury Cathedral’s Magna Carta.”
On June 15 it will be exactly 800 years after King John added his seal to Magna Carta, as presented to him by the barons at Runnymede on the Thames near Windsor.
The trails were commissioned by the 800th Commemoration Committee of the Magna Carta Trust to encourage visitors to the Magna Carta towns as history, heritage and anniversary tourism become increasingly popular themes for travellers.
Sir Robert Worcester, chairman of the Magna Carta Trust’s 800th anniversary committee said: “They will be colourful guides for the thousands of visitors who will converge on England from around the world next summer, wishing to explore the areas which are part of the Magna Carta story. Doing all six trails will take visitors just over a fortnight, and immerse them in 800 years of history.” Article by: by Alex Rennie, Salilsbury Journal Reporter
Magna Carta 2015
Salisbury Cathedral is extremely proud to be home to the finest of the four surviving original 1215 Magna Carta. It plans to take a leading role in the 2015 celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of the historic and iconic document.
Download a copy of the Magna Carta 800 trails leaflet
For more information about the trails go to www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/magnacarta.
More News on this story:
Salisbury Cathedral has been awarded £415,800 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015. Click here
The Stonehenge Travel Company are operating guided tours of Stonehenge and Salisbury throughout 2015 featuring the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.
www.StonehengeTravel.co.uk
All Cannings: Wiltshire’s ‘Neolithic’ long barrow burial chamber opens
Would you fancy spending eternity inside a burial chamber in the corner of a field in Wiltshire? I do!
Tim Daw and Arch Druid of Avebury blessing the Long Barrow
The first “Neolithic” long barrow to be built in the UK for 5,500 years has been completed and already the first urn of human ashes has been placed inside.
The structure at All Cannings near Devizes, took almost nine months to build, using traditional materials and stone working techniques.
The tomb, designed by farmer Tim Daw, has been positioned to let the midwinter sunrise shine right down the length of the chamber where people’s ashes will be placed in urns set into the walls.
What is a long barrow?
- Barrows are artificial hills of earth and stones built over the remains of the dead
- They were usually reserved for members of the social elite or Anglo-Saxon royalty
- Ordinary people were usually cremated or buried in more humble graves
- They were first constructed in about 4,000 BC up to the late pre-Christian era
- England’s most famous barrow is at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk
News link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-29225327
Visit the Long Barrow website here: http://www.thelongbarrow.com/
We intend to include the Long Barrow on future tours and I have already booked a niche.
The Stonehenge Travel Company, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Stonehenge and Salisbury Guided Tours
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Stonehenge and Salisbury Guided Tours 