Mendip Hills Festival of Archaeology
The Mendip Hills Festival of Archaeology will be running for the second year in 2011. After the success of last year’s events, we are confident that this year’s will be even bigger and better.
The Mendip festival has been supported by the Mendip Hills AONB Sustainable Development Fund in collaboration with Wells & Mendip Museum and the Somerset Wildlife Trust.
Lots of individuals, community groups and museums will be taking part and there is something for all ages to enjoy.
The Mendip Hills are rich in archaeological sites of all periods including caves with Mesolithic finds, Bronze Age barrows, numerous Iron Age hillforts and the remains of Roman lead mines. There are also fascinating medieval churches to explore and the remains of Somerset’s industrial past can also be seen in the landscape.
The fortnight will kick off with ‘Two mysteries of Wells – King’s Castle & the Hokerstone’. This will be a guided walk on Saturday 16 July from 2–4pm, with archaeologist Ian Powlesland and Reserve Manager Dave Cottle to explore the earthworks in the wood and observe the wildlife of the site which is owned by the Somerset Wildlife Trust and managed for the conservation of both its wildlife and archaeological interest.
The adventurous can go on caving expeditions in Burrington Coombe to discover prehistoric ritual markings. Families can enjoy paper mosaic making at Weston-super-Mare museum and Stone Age activities at Cheddar Caves. For those who prefer the outdoors there will guided walks around Cadbury-Congresbury hillfort, East Harptree village, Blackdown and Charterhouse. Budding archaeologists can have a go at geophysical surveying in the Winscombe area.
There will also be talks on a variety of subjects such as ‘The History of Chewton Mendip Through Old Maps’, organised by Community Archaeology on the Mendip Plateau, plus a seminar entitled ‘The Excitement of Discovery’ hosted by Weston-super-Mare Archaeological & Natural History Society, to be held at the Blakehay theatre, Weston-super-Mare which will include a talk on vernacular architecture.
We hope that you will join us and help celebrate the diversity of archaeology in our beautiful area. If you are interested in finding out more, and to see details of these and other events taking place during the Mendip Hills Festival of Archaeology, see the Festival events listings and search ‘Mendip’.
Download Mendip Festival of Archaeology Leaflet
Jane Hill
- Project Officer, Wells & Mendip Museum & Somerset Wildlife Trust
