Butser Ancient Farm, A brief history.

Butser Ancient Farm was established in 1972 as an open air research site to use experimental archaeology to investigate aspects of life in the British Iron Age. Butser relies on funds from students of all ages and from the general public to ensure it’s survival. It is and has always been an independant organisation. I believe the current directors are Maureen Page & Simon Jay.

The original farm was located on the slopes of Butser hill near Petersfield in Hampshire and was not generally open to the public. As the project grew a second site was opened in 1976 along the A3 at the foot of Butser hill this new site was open to the public. Later growth within the Queen Elizabeth Country Park caused pressure on the farm and in 1990 it was relocated to a single site known as Bascomb Copse where the farm resides to the present day. The current site is located at SU 719 164 which is just East of the A3 at the Clanfield junction on the road to Charlton.
The farm has two main types of structures, the first type are based on archaeological excavations from around Britain where detailed floor-plans are evident allowing accurate structures to be recreated, the second are purely speculative where post holes are discovered but the usage is unknown and can only be guessed at. These two B&W images are examples of speculative buildings showing how a Iron Age toilet might have looked like, the wind appears to have got the better of this building. The image below is another such structure and has been named as the Clunch house after the material it is made from. Clunch or Cob was an Iron Age concrete and was

For the full article and to continue reading and for more pictures click here………

Brief background to… Bosham, West Sussex, England

Bosham (pronounced /ˈbozem/) is a small coastal village in West Sussex. Bosham is situated three miles (5 km) west of Chichester on an inlet of Chichester Harbour. Bosham is actually closer to the city centre of Chichester than it is to the open sea. Thought by many to be both the birth and burial place of the last Saxon King: Harold, King of England & Earl of Wessex. Formerly in the province of the South Saxons and the Earldom of Wessex, it became Boseham in 1086, 20 years after the Norman conquest. Bosham is mentioned by name in the Bayeux Tapestry, referring to the 1064 meeting of Harold and Edward the Confessor on the way to meet William of Normandy to discuss who would succeed Edward to the throne.
The name Bosham is believed to be derived from the old English ‘Bosanhamm’ – Bosa’s water meadow as it was known in 750AD. At certain times of the year when the weather turns very warm it’s quite common for a mass of weed to suddenly appear blanketing the creek as can be seen in the adjacent image.

Pictured above, a rainbow appears ahead of the approaching storm.

For the full article and to continue reading and for more pictures click here………

January 18, 2013 1:39:17 AM