‘Sacred Pagan Sites’ Field Trip

11/05/2011

The MA Art History students, led by Drs Robert Wallis and Alex Seago, spent the day exploring the archaeological highlights of the counties of Wiltshire and Oxfordshire, west of London, yesterday. Avebury henge and stone circles (the largest in Europe), West Kennet long barrow (one of the longest in Europe), Silbury Hill (the largest prehistoric monument in Europe), the Sanctuary (all part of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site), the Uffington White Horse chalk-cut hill figure and Uffington Castle were visited. Dr Wallis guided the party around the sites, situating them in their chronological, landscape and 'spiritual' context, drawing on his research on archaeology and art, and the use of such sites as ‘sacred’ places by many of today’s pagans. The day ended with a brief visit to the small town of Whitchurch in Hampshire where Wallis pointed out the Silk Mill, one of the few such working mills in the country, and the party retired to the Red House pub.

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/1148.aspx