We’ve had a few problems updating the web site recently, but hopefully things are back on track and the site is now up to date again (fingers crossed!!).
This years Avebury Society lecture is entitled “The Ridgeway, From Myth to Management” and will be given by Ian Ritchie, Chairman of Friends of the Ridgeway. It will be held at the Kennet Valley Hall, Lockeridge and the tickets cost £5.00, date is 23rd March, 19:30 for 20:00. Contact the Avebury Society Sec, Sue Rogers on 01672 861374 for tickets.
March Field Trip.
Although we always try to include several fresh sites each season when drawing up the list of field trips, it is always good to re-dowse the old favourites. Ancient sacred [and other] sites change in energies for a number of reasons so there is always something fresh to find. Avebury area is rich in interesting dowsing potential so a few of the local sites are due for a re-visit.
The Avebury Circle itself is the venue for March 25th. Meet at the main N.T. car-park, not the small one in the village, at 10.45 for a start at 11am.
After a pub lunch Windmill Hill is next on the list.
Please wear stout footwear as Windmill Hill barrows are steep and the site is normally breezy so bring something warm as well. Anyone who is unfamiliar with this site should find it a fascinating place to dowse, with extremely strong energetic fields, along with spirals, power spots and, if it is a clear day, the most wonderful view.
On a purely personal note, the panoramic view at this spot always gives me a very strong feeling that I understand just why the Avebury landscape was so special for our ancestors. S.C.
Windmill Hill plan after Keiller's excavations (1925-9)
Long Weekend 2007
This year’s dowsing weekend is to be held in and around the “Golden Valley” which is one of the loveliest parts of Herefordshire. It is quite easy to get to from the Swindon area and detailed information will soon be available from Shaun. The campsite is at Peterchurch and we have a number of B&B addresses in Peterchurch and close by.
There are plenty of fascinating dowsing sites in this region including the renowned Kilpeck Church, set in an oval churchyard along with a motte and bailey castle beside it .The Norman carvings on the church are in excellent condition and are reckoned to be among the finest of their type in the country
Not far away from Kilpeck lies the Arthur Stone. This ancient monument [actually several stones], was originally a chambered tomb and is a great place to dowse and a good place to sit inside.
Just down the road from Peterchurch is Dore Abbey – well worth a visit for the wall paintings. These sites are among those that we hope to include during the weekend.
Please let Shaun know as soon as you can, if you plan to come along, so that we can get some idea of how many camping pitches to book. He is preparing a list of reasonably priced bed and breakfast places for the less adventurous.
If you can only come for part of the weekend, we should soon have a rough agenda so that meeting points can be arranged.
Fingers crossed for decent weather! S.C.
February Talk.
Local archaeologist Jim Gunter was the speaker for the February meeting – the subject of the talk was “Recent Archaeological Investigations in the Avebury Area.”
It was an interesting and informative talk as Jim not only discussed the more major work being done in the area most of us locals love so well, but he also touched upon some of the less well researched and documented parts of the wider Avebury landscape.
One of his areas of research is into diagrams and pictures of some of these sites drawn up by antiquarian scholars such as Aubrey and Stuckely. For many years their drawings were often dismissed as romantic interpretations at best and total inventions at worst.
Many of the theories put forward by the researchers of old are now being seen in a more sympathetic light as modern research and surveying techniques show up many of the stones and ditches that they wrote about.
Jim would be the first to admit that he is not a particularly experienced dowser, but he is interested in it and its potential use as an investigative tool that could be used on archaeological sites.
He showed a plan of a site that he had got Shaun to dowse for him, saying that at first he could see no resemblance to the “official” findings. However, on closer inspection he found clear correlation between the two versions.
Jim is involved in a number of archaeological groups in the area and brought along information leaflets for anyone who might be interested in becoming involved. Shaun also has the information if anyone didn’t manage to get leaflets.
Archaeological Dowsing, a Guide
Jim Gunter’s talk at our February meeting was an excellent prompt for me to write my thoughts about undertaking ’Archaeological Dowsing’.
The first thing is to feel confident (but not over-confident) about finding hard physical targets. Start with pipe work, cables and the like, that you can prove. If you know of the site of a demolished building with nothing now visible [but can be provable], even the line of old hedges, ditches or tracks are all worth exploring.
Everyone has their own ideas about what sort of historical site they might wish to try their dowsing skills on first. My choice would be something like a deserted medieval village. Try looking for maybe one or two houses and any features that may be findable, inside and outside the structures. Don’t go too mad as I find this type of surveying to be hard work.
Sites that are deemed to be sacred are potentially the most difficult as earth energies can proliferate. Plus many people put their own thoughts into, and draw their own plans, on paper and in their minds. Just think about Stonehenge and Avebury. How many ley lines and sacred alignments have been proposed and then drawn on maps and plans. If you cannot filter these out - as they are all findable - (and potentially more easily than some of the archaeology), things could get very confusing and bear little resemblance to what could be found by excavation.
When considering surveying a scheduled or any other site, you will do no harm to enquire of the owner or keeper for permission. Be considerate about when you go and what to use as markers (if you do). In some places the use of push in markers such as bamboo may be severely frowned upon or even illegal as is digging, metal detecting or taking away anything from a scheduled ancient monument!
If you do wish to research on paper whether any plans are known of your site, you will need at least a six digit map reference to take with you if you go to the Wiltshire Records Office (WRO) at Trowbridge or the Monuments Record Centre (MRC) in Swindon. If you are lucky there will be something in print or on record available.
Now I’m not sure if Jim (in his recent talk) was being kind to me by saying he had reconsidered if two of the features I highlighted in my dowsing survey could potentially be seen on the resistivity printout or not, but this was my intention only to find things that would show up, my excuse is that he also had a magnetometer which refused to play ball!! On a serious note I know I have made big mistakes in the past, it can be so easy to be led astray.
When surveying prior to excavation likewise highlight the bits you think may be findable when dug. For example, on a ploughed site only features that lie below the disturbed soil will survive in recognisable form, despite the fact that you may be able to dowse and find the whole of it.
Jim owned up to dowsing for buried stones at Avebury, but in general most archaeologists’ acceptance of dowsing varies considerably from being taught as part of a geophysical training course and being willing to test results on a known site, to ignoring or refusing to believe dowsing could work, which is why if you do present your results they need to be as accurate as you can get. Explain things clearly and preferably in archaeological terms. As much as it would be wonderful to be able to explain how the placement of a structure was affected by the knowledge of Earth Energies present before construction, this may well cause a glazing of the eyes as outside dowsing circles, the idea of Earth Energies struggles to even be considered let alone accepted.
But if you find it interesting and enjoyable, get out there and get your hands dirty.
Shaun Ogbourne
February Field Trip.
Not many members were sufficiently intrepid to take part in the February trip to Oxford. Probably they had heard the weather forecast which was not brilliant. However it really wasn’t too bad at all – just a couple of brief showers which meant that most of the pre-lunch session was spent in the warmth of the heated glass-houses at the Botanical Gardens – just a quick foray outside to show willing!
The Botanic Gardens are quite a good place to dowse as they are a teaching resource of the university and are stuffed full of interesting plants used for medicines, dyes, textiles, among other things, and it is a good dowsing exercise to dowse for their uses and then see if you are right, by checking the written information on the labels.
We went outside to say hello to the lovely Weeping Yew tree then after a pub lunch came the visit to the wondrous Pitt Rivers Museum, I was especially thrilled to discover that there was a temporary exhibition of indigenous textiles [one of my interests],from around the world. Never mind the dowsing – this was great - I spent quite a long time at this section.
A number of exhibits had been brought out of storage since the previous visit and there was now a case with a good display of old divination equipment, including some Y Rods made of twigs, from the 1920’s. The names of the water-finders who had used them and where they were based were on the labels. At least one of the rods was in very poor condition - it was nice to see that the powers-that-be at the museum still thought it worthy of inclusion.
I was interested to see that some of the twigs used by the dowsers of the 1920’s were comparatively small and flimsy compared to some of the ones that I have seen used in recent times.
We had expected the new part of the museum to be opened but there have been various delays. I asked when they planned to re-open it and was told that it should be some time in April, provided they don’t have any further problems. S.C.
Dowsing the Lunar Eclipse.
Who was brave enough to face the cold night wind to dowse the earth energies during the recent lunar eclipse? I must admit that I didn’t but watched it for a while from the window.
However, Shaun went out and dowsed an underground flow of water and found it changed considerably while the eclipse was taking place.
The underground stream is one he has dowsed before and he is very familiar with its normal behaviour. He dowsed the stream several times as the eclipse progressed and found that it had become progressively narrower each time he checked it.
At the actual eclipse it had become so narrow that if he crossed it too quickly there was barely any discernable reaction from his rods. The stream all but disappeared.
Presumably the width of the stream is now back to normal, but I forgot to ask if it had fully recovered by the time that the moon was fully visible again. S.C.
Leylines.
When the society has a stall at outdoor events, the public ask all sorts of questions, but one of the subjects we are asked about most frequently is Ley-lines.
Anybody who has an interest in this might find the current issue of “Fortean Times” worth a look, as there is an interesting article by veteran Ley-researcher, Paul Devereux. Sometimes controversial, Paul’s articles are always well researched and often examine aspects of his topics that some other writers disregard, making them worth reading even if you do not always agree with his views!
He has given the society a talk on the old corpse roads and fairy paths a couple of years ago and he ties in leys, and phenomena associated with the corpse roads, in a way that indicates that there was an awareness of them much longer ago than many people realise.