Blog by Jessie Swinburne

Today was the last day of the project, and winter solstice celebrations sent us out on a high! It started with a bit of anticipation, as we all arrived a little earlier than normal, in the dark, some wrapped in as many layers as they owned, to fend off the cold. We got to the bus clutching our blankets, instruments, song lyrics and cameras and arrived at the stones for sunrise…

Chartwell set up and began playing his mesmerising music, accompanied by drums and percussion. Everyone emerged themselves in the experience and wandered around the stones. We had time alone and then came together to to sing as a group:

Open your heart, lift up your voice
Let us sing together for a while
When we part, tears may flow
But we leave our shadow on the stones

The experience was surreal, it felt completely natural and restorative. Perhaps we were connecting to something beyond us. The stones towering over you remind you of your smallness in this big world, and yet bring you together as part of a wider history with our ancestors. We decided to run around the henge, an unexpected twist, that freed us from the rules imposed on us in the henge and added to the fun, celebratory aspect of our day.

We returned to a feast of bacon and sausage sandwiches and reflected on the sessions. We all had a hot cuppa and defrosted too. To end the day we sat in the huts and watched the fire, we got to taste a bit of bread cooked in the fire…. and there our journey ended…

Photos by Jessie Swinburne and Yvette Staelens

Blog and photos by Jessie Swinburne

Blog by Jessie Swinburne

Today started in good spirits as everyone claimed their pottery and saw how they turned out…  We set off on our walk with the pottery in hand, poised and ready to leave the pottery work, wherever fancied in the landscape… after a quick song, many smiles were raised, we set off on the minibus ready to explore…

We arrived at the New Kings Barrow. It’s always interesting to stop and reflect on the meaning of the what we are seeing, the ancestors’ landscape, and just breathing in the fresh air from the trees, and embracing the colours around. We sang together again and then everyone wandered around. A group of drummers and percussionist formed sitting on a fallen tree. All enjoying making sound, and just being in the landscape.

We began walking around the landscape once more, and headed towards the main stone circle. A few people located the avenue for us, we all walked up it. It was breathtaking and beautiful to see the stones from this angle. It also really helped to put the rest of the landscape into context, as we were able to orientate ourselves by seeing and tracing where we have been the previous weeks. People placed their pots in individual locations around the landscape.

We walked back for our tea and lunch end stop, we walked quite far this week and were ready to go back. Excitement is building for the winter solstice, plans were discussed for that and people are looking forward to it!

Photos by Yvette Staelens

Photos by Yvette Staelens

Photos by Jessica Swinburne

Photos by Yvette Staelens

Everyone gathered at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, and the session was about domestic life, what it meant to be living, cooking, eating, sleeping, making, dying in the historic landscape.

We met at Woodhenge at 7pm on a chill night, with the night sky partly clouded but stars still visible. Danny had planispheres which you rotate so they show what the night sky will look like at any time of the year, so we looked at them in the bus headlights.  Back in the Richmond Fellowship bus to Larkhill, and then in the dark we walked to the east end of the Cursus. Tim explained the mystery of the sun rising and setting, then rising again back in the east, and how it was explained by the idea that the sun travelled beneath the disc of the earth in the waters beneath. We looked at an image of the Nebra Sky Disc, discovered in Switzerland in 2002, a bronze age description of the night sky. It was found with twin daggers, and there are stories of twins which reflect star twins in the sky and twins accompanying the sun on its underwater journey.

Danny used a laser pointer to show the Pleiades, visible as a loose cluster of stars, and we were a loose cluster of people, wondering how they would have looked more than five thousand years ago. Tim’s ipad was loaded with a astronomical map of the sky as it would have been in 3500 BC, when the Cursus was in use. We couldnt use the big telescope Danny had brought as it was too cloudy.

On one horizon the A303 was a ribbon of white and red light. Someone said it looked like the movement of blood around the body, and you could hear it well. Tim pointed out the distant cleft in the wood, which was 3km away and marked the end of the Cursus. People didn’t stop here and there is little archaeology, they moved from one end of the Cursus to the other, processing.

Then we walked, in the darkness, as the cloud cover grew denser and the stars were less evident. We could not see the milky way, and the air was colder. We gathered at a point before returning, back up the Cursus and then into the bus, back to Woodhenge – and off.

Blog and photos by Jessie Swinburne

This week we connected with the ancestors, through furthering our knowledge from the expertise of Professor Tim Darvill, and through embracing the beautiful, enchanting singing and music of Chartwell. This week was a time to listen, reflect and connect. We walked up to the Cuckoo Stone, and were surprised by Chartwell, in full traditional dress, playing music and singing.

We sat and listened to Chartwell and Tim. It felt a bit like a dream at times, as we thought about our pasts and the ancestry that links us all. Staring at the beautiful bright blue skies, as cliched as that is, made me smile and like the ancestors were some how trying to connect with us.

At 11 am we were silent and reflected on the sacrifices of the men who fought wars that have protected us and allow us to be here and live though our own journeys, whatever they might be…. it was especially memorable for me, being from a military background, as we are sat on the land that is shared with the military, who train hard and still sacrifice themselves for the protection of the country.  This was a nice link to hearing about Zimbabwe and the traditions and beliefs of Chartwell…, who as it turns out is named after a building that Winston Churchill is linked to.. .an odd connection again maybe…

We discussed the rocks and I hope a few people felt they had their questions answered, or perhaps more questions were formed that will fuel their energy and engagement with the project. Thanks to everyone, I think the group were at ease this week, and focus for the creative output was generated and I look forward to getting involved in the next week…… as well as wondering about the exciting night walk!!!

Here are some more of Jessie’s beautiful photos

Words and photos by Jessica Swinburne

Today we ventured out into the gloomy, soggy not so inspiring weather, but still determined to see, explore and learn about the landscape, ancestors and perhaps about ourselves too….

Lots of rainy looking trees, still their vitality really shone through, rain glistening lusciously, off their leafs..  as a group we stood under the trees and took the luscious beauty in.

We sang and came together in spirit as well as landscape, just as the leafs were falling all around us we sang too “Leafs are falling… autumn winds are calling…”

It felt like the weather didn’t really matter at that point, what was important was that we embraced the moment, we came together and sang together, and shared the fresh air the trees so givingly share with us….Speaking with people it was great to hear that they had shared this moment, that they may have felt bleak this morning but that the walking, the woodland and the singing had raised their mood.

We went on a wood scavenge and shared knowledge about wood, it’s properties, and things that our ancestors might have used wood for. It’s fascinating to think how we have progressed, yet how clever and resourceful our ancestors may have been.

We used the willow we had stripped from the woodland, to hypothesise its uses in previous times, while playing with it making circles, or trying to make musical instruments even! It was energising to be playful with the willow, and embrace silliness, bending it, and sword fighting….

A factual and playful week embracing the rain, and coming together through singing, learning and curiosity about our ancestors. It felt great to be out whatever the weather, connecting with one another.

Rebecca Williams tells the story in words, Jessica Swinburne does it in pictures.

This week we explored more of the landscape around Stonehenge by looking at barrows. Barrows are burial mounds where the body was placed underneath with grave goods. To start with we handled replicas of some of the objects that have been found inside barrows; these included a bronze axe head, a bronze dagger, gold hair clips and beaker pottery. This led the group to really think about who these people were that were being buried in the barrows. What did these grave goods mean to them? Where had they travelled from? And why was this landscape such a spiritually important place?

We were then given maps and headed out to do some barrow hunting. Our task was to figure out which barrow is which and where they are located. We stood on top of the largest barrow named the Monarch of the Plain. Standing on this barrow with its higher vantage point gave a new perspective to the countryside and the elements we were in. The wind was blowing quite fiercely and although there were breaks in the cloud where the sun shone, it was a cold autumn day. We celebrated this connection to the weather and the changing of the season in a way that maybe our ancestors would have done by singing. The groups’ singing must be improving as this week we did a three part round.

After this we moved towards more barrows and here we caught a glimpse of Stonehenge in the distance. After standing on top of the Monarch of the Plain we began to discuss the barrows as a spiritual place for the dead and should we have stood on one. Questions were discussed such as is doing this disrespectful or are we bringing modern day perceptions of death and burial to ancient monuments? We decided that this time we would not walk on the barrow but sit beside it. Here we took part in a guided meditation session where we had to imagine ourselves walking and meeting somebody. From feedback afterwards it was clear that the barrows inspired many different ideas and feelings in the group with everyone having their own unique experience

This week the session was a lot quieter and more reflective. Everyone was chatting, open and willing to share but it felt more of an individual experience. It was about connecting on a personal level with the landscape by listening to the birds and the wind, feeling the cold, sitting in the grass and being surrounded by these amazing burial monuments.

Human Henge started with a group of people who came together for different motives. Some were hoping Human Henge would inspire their creativity, others wanted to connect with the archaeology and history of the landscape, some people wanted to be outside in the countryside and others just wanted to be out. There were strangers, colleagues, acquaintances and friends but one thing we all had in common was uncertainty. This is a project doing new things with new partnerships and finding its way as it goes. No one knew what to expect and yet within an hour we had all found out our names, where we were born and what our creative passions were. We even tried, with reluctance from some, a bit of singing together!

When bundled into the mini bus to take us to a mystery location everyone was laughing, joking and sharing stories – it felt more like a reunion than a first meeting. Our location was Wood Henge and Durrington Walls. We were left to explore contemplating the unanswerable question, why did these ancient people build monuments like Woodhenge and Stonehenge? We also spent a lot of time trying to decipher maps of the old and modern landscape. For most of the visit I was convinced Stonehenge was the opposite side to where it was.

We walked up and around the site of the former settlement Durrington Walls. This felt a spiritual and contemplative place that led to many discussions about what it must have been like to live at that time. We will never know exactly but for me being at Durrington Walls was quite a physical experience. We came together to walk in the footsteps of these ancestors, to feel the wind as they had and to stand in a landscape that meant something special to them.

The most memorable part of the day for me was touching the Cuckoo stone, a small part of a Sarsen stone that stands near Woodhenge. One theory is that this part fell off of a Sarsen as it was being brought to Stonehenge but my favourite suggestion was that maybe it was a way marking showing those who came to Durrington Walls and on pilgrimage to Stonehenge that they were nearly there. After months of volunteering at Stonehenge and not being able to touch the Stones I finally got in a way to do just that. The Sarsen stone felt smooth and polished but also solid and unyielding.

The main thing that stood out for me from the first day of the Human Henge project was the openness and warmth with which all the participants, organisers and volunteers treated each other and the project. Listening to each other’s personal stories, experiences and ideas and really coming together. It was a day of connections, connecting to new people, a new landscape and maybe in some small way our ancestors. I can’t wait to see what happens at the end of the ten weeks and the creative outcome of these new connections.

Rebecca Williams