In its final form Bladud was sent by his father to be educated in the liberal arts in Athens. After his father’s death he returned, with four philosophers, and founded a university at Stamford in Lincolnshire, which flourished until it was suppressed by Saint Augustine of Canterbury on account of heresies which were taught there. Supposedly he ruled for twenty years from 863 BC or perhaps 500 BC, in which time he built Kaerbadum or Caervaddon (Bath), creating the hot springs there by the use of magic. He dedicated the city to the goddess Athena or Minerva, and in honour of her lit undying fires, whose flames turned to balls of stone as they grew low, with new ones springing up in their stead: an embellishment of an account from the fourth-century writer Solinus of the use of local coal on the altars of her temple
A Wiltshire town has been confirmed as the longest continuous settlement in the United Kingdom. Amesbury, including Stonehenge, has been continually occupied since 8820BC, experts have found. The news was confirmed following an archaeological dig which also unearthed evidence of frogs’ legs being eaten in Britain 8,000 years before France. Amesbury’s place in history has also now been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. David Jacques, from the University of Buckingham, said: “The site blows the lid off the Neolithic Revolution in a number of ways. Continue reading the main story
Historic Wiltshire
Stonehenge: Wiltshire’s most famous historic site built 2500BC
Avebury: Stone circle is thought to date back 4,000 years
Silbury Hill: Europe’s largest artificial prehistoric mound
“It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building, and presumably worshipping, monuments. “The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away, and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself. “The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people. For years people have been asking why is Stonehenge where it is, now at last, we have found the answers.” Mr Jacques said the River Avon, which runs through the area, would have been like an A road with people travelling along it. “They may have had the equivalent of local guides and there would have been feasting,” he added. “We have found remains of big game animals, such as aurochs and red deer, and an enormous amount of burnt flint from their feasting fires.” The dig unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period Previously, Thatcham in Berkshire, 40 miles from Amesbury, held the record for the longest continuous settlement in the country. The dig in Amesbury also uncovered 31,000 worked flints in 40 days as well as animal bones such as frogs’ legs. Mr Jacques said our ancestors were eating a “Heston Blumenthal-style menu”. Continue reading the main story
Amesbury facts
Queen Eleanor of Provence – consort to Henry III – is buried at the town’s former abbey
Amesbury residents get a free visitors’ pass to Stonehenge each year
In 1965, the Beatles stayed at the Antrobus Arms Hotel whilst filming Help!
The area’s most famous resident – Police frontman Sting – lives in nearby Wilsford cum Lake
The find was based on a report by fossil mammal specialist Simon Parfitt, of the Natural History Museum. Andy Rhind-Tutt, the founder of Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, said there was “something unique and rather special about the area” to keep people there from the end of the Ice Age, to when Stonehenge was created and until today. “The fact that the feasting of large animals and the discovery of a relatively constant temperature spring sitting alongside the River Avon, may well be it,” he said. The dig was filmed and made into a documentary by the BBC, Smithsonian, CBC and others to be screened later in the summer. The project was led by the University of Buckingham.
KING ALFRED AND THE DANES. KING ALFRED AND THE DANES. sea in long open boats, high at prow and stern, anl moved by sails and oars. When they landed, the] threw up an intrenchment to defend their boats, an! then they seized all the horses they could find, an< galloped over the country, burning and pillaging fa and wide. 5. King Egbert did his best to beat off these pira tes but he died in 839, and the kings who succeeded hin were not so strong or so skilful as he was. Con sequently the Danes grew bolder. In 855 they passem a winter in the Isle of Sheppey; and from that time forward they began to settle in the country. Thai was the first step in the Danish conquest of Englani 6. Alfred was then a child. He was born in 84| the fourth son of King Ethelwulf, who succeed! Egbert. From his childhood he showed great lov of learning, but his early life was too active for hill to learn much from books.
7. Alfred’s three elder brothers were all kings I England in turn; and with the third of them, Ethii] red, Alfred shared the government. By this time tlfe Danes had practically conquered the north and eivfl of England, and it was all that Alfred and his broth* could do to defend Wessex against them. In H7| they fought nine great battles with the Danes. 8. Next year Ethelred died, and Alfred became sol king at the age of twenty-two. He had a heavy before him, for his kingdom was reduced to the wen led half of Wessex, while fresh swarms of Danes will constantly landing in England. For seven years kept up a gallant struggle, but in 878 he was fori to take refuge in the marshes of Athelney in SomerMid and was almost driven to despair. n 1111111*m looked worst, however, Alfred i i lluil, in which he was nobly sup-,11 Wessex, and he won a decisive III.’ DiuiiHh host at Ethandun, in up I lie victory by blockading sea in long open boats, high at prow and stern, ar moved by sails and oars. When they landed, the threw up an intrenchment to defend their boats, an then they seized all the horses they could find, an galloped over the country, burning and pillaging fa and wide. 5. King Egbert did his best to beat off these pirates but he died in 839, and the kings who succeeded him were not so strong or so skilful as he was. Con sequently the Danes grew bolder. In 855 they passep a winter in the Isle of Sheppey; and from that time forward they began to settle in the country. Thai was the first step in the Danish conquest of England
6. Alfred was then a child. He was born in 849 the fourth son of King Ethelwulf, who succeeded Egbert. From his childhood he showed great lot of learning, but his early life was too active for him to learn much from books. 7. Alfred’s three elder brothers were all kings of England in turn; and with the third of them, Ethe red, Alfred shared the government. By this time the Danes had practically conquered the north and east of England, and it was all that Alfred and his brother could do to defend Wessex against them. In 870 they fought nine great battles with the Danes. 8. Next year Ethelred died, and Alfred became sole king at the age of twenty-two. He had a heavy l a before him, for his kingdom was reduced to the western half of Wessex, while fresh swarms of Danes were constantly landing in England. For seven years he kept up a gallant struggle, but in 878 he was forced to take refuge in the marshes of Athelney in Somerset and was almost driven to despair. just when looked worst, however, Alfred R mighty effort, in which he was nobly sup-ported,by the men of wessex and he won a decisive battle ,he beat the host at Ethandun, in wiltshire and followed up the victory by blockading
The remains of the old extension of Dunsdown Lane, that ran past Hinton Fort and was the route that Ceawlin took to capture and defeat the Britons at the Battle of Dyrham
Battle of Dyrham
This year Cuthwin and Ceawlin fought with the Britons, and slew three kings, Commail, and Condida, and Farinmail, on the spot called Deorham, and took from them three cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath.”
Roman (c 43–410 AD)
The occurrence of Romano-British artefacts at Stonehenge
itself shows that the monument was visited and used at that
time; recent excavations have shown that a ‘shaft’ was dug
into the monument during this period. However the pattern
of these artefacts suggests that Stonehenge was already
partly ruinous. Farmsteads and small un-enclosed towns of
the Roman period are known across Salisbury Plain. Within
the WHS itself, a small Roman building interpreted as a rural
shrine has been excavated near to the Cuckoo Stone and a
short distance to the south a Bronze Age barrow became a
focal point for Roman burials.
At Avebury a Roman ladder settlement of 2nd to 3rd century
date lay immediately south of Silbury Hill close to Swallowhead
springs and the Winterbourne and beside the Roman road
running west from Cunetio to Bath. The settlement’s size
and location, together with the presence of a series of shafts
containing what may be votive deposits, suggest something
more than a mere farming settlement. Geophysical survey
has revealed what may be either a mausoleum or a shrine of
the period. Evidence also exists of substantial buildings and at
least one burial on the western slopes of Waden Hill beside
the Winterbourne. To the east on Overton Hill rare Roman
barrows were built beside the road of the same period.
Saxon (c AD 410–1066)
There is evidence of an early Saxon settlement at Avebury
itself, on the site of the current visitor car park, together with
pagan Saxon barrows and other burials reusing the Bronze
Age cemetery on Overton Hill. From the late Saxon period
onwards there is documentary as well as archaeological
evidence of the development of the landscape. Saxon
charters provide evidence of the estates which came to form
the medieval parishes and identify various features which
the boundaries followed or crossed, including the Ridgeway
which cuts across the prehistoric and Roman field systems
on Overton Down. Green Street leading out of Avebury to
the east was probably part of an important east-west route
at this period if not before. Evidence for the Saxon origins
of Avebury church is still apparent in its fabric. In the late
Saxon period the summit of Silbury Hill was remodelled and a
wooden fortification constructed, possibly to serve as a lookout
post.
Amesbury was the centre for a widespread royal estate
during the Saxon period, and the abbey was founded in AD
979. It is probable that the town itself grew up around these
establishments but little is known of the way in which the
surrounding landscape was utilised. However, the remains
of several Saxon sunken-featured buildings were revealed at
the Countess East site which may have been an early Saxon
settlement which later shifted to the town of Amesbury.
Stonehenge itself may have become an execution site during
this period; a decapitated Saxon man was buried around
AD 645 at the monument. It is even possible that the name,
Stonehenge from the Saxon stone and heng may refer to this
function, or may mean that, to Saxon eyes, the great stone
trilithons resembled a gallows. Alternatively it may simply refer
to the extraordinary hanging lintels of the Stone Circle.
Medieval to Modern (AD 1066 onwards)
In the 12th century the alien cell of a Benedictine priory was
established at Avebury, probably on, or close to the site of the
present Avebury Manor.
A documented run of bad harvests in the early 14th century,
which resulted in the desertion of the downland farmstead
on Fyfield Down, followed by the Black Death later marked
the end of early medieval expansion. Marginal arable reverted
to pasture and there is evidence of settlement contraction or
shift in most of the settlements along the Kennet, including
Avebury itself and Avebury Trusloe.
From the 14th century onwards the practice of stone burial
reduced many of the Avebury megalithic settings significantly.
This process accelerated during the post-medieval period
with Stukeley recording a period of particularly rampant stone
destruction in the 1720s; though archaeological evidence
suggests that the destruction may have started as early as the
late 15th century.
The earliest surviving parts of Avebury Manor date to the
mid-16th century. It is at about this time and during the 17th
century that parts of the common downland pasture on West
Hill, Windmill Hill and Knoll Down were enclosed. Most of
the open fields were not enclosed until the 18th century,
but a notable exception, still extant, was the enclosure of
an area just east of the West Kennet Avenue. Parts of the
meadowland along the valley floor at Avebury were enclosed
in the 17th century, and at various points along the floor of the
valley, at Avebury and around the foot of Silbury Hill. At West
Overton and Avebury there are the earthworks of managed
water meadow systems some probably originating in the
17th century and surviving in use until the 19th or early 20th
century.
Parliamentary enclosure occurred in 1795 at Avebury and in
1813 to 1814 at Winterbourne Monkton and the Overton
group of parishes, resulting in the creation of large rectangular
fields, many bounded by quickset hedges, alongside the more
limited areas of old enclosure. The Napoleonic Wars saw a
re-expansion of arable, and this became even more marked
Dust ring around Fomalhaut from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)[15] At a declination of −29.6°, Fomalhaut is located south of the celestial equator, and hence is best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. However, its southerly declination is not as great as that of stars such as Acrux, Alpha Centauri and Canopus, meaning that, unlike them, Fomalhaut is visible from a large part of the Northern Hemisphere as well. Its declination is greater than that of Sirius and similar to that of Antares. At 40°N, Fomalhaut rises above the horizon for eight hours and reaches only 20° above the horizon, while Capella which rises at approximately the same time will stay above the horizon for twenty hours. From England the star never appears much brighter than magnitude 2.2 due to it being so close to the horizon, and from southern Alaska or Scandinavia it never rises above the horizon at all.[16] Fomalhaut can be located in these northern latitudes by the fact that the western (right-hand) side of the Square of Pegasus points to it. Continue the line from Beta to Alpha Pegasi towards the southern horizon: Fomalhaut is about 45˚ south of Alpha Pegasi, with no bright stars in between.[17]
The debris disk around the star Fomalhaut is a young star, for many years thought to be only 100 to 300 million years old, with a potential lifespan of a billion years.[18][19] A 2012 study gave a slightly higher age of 440±40 million years.[6] The surface temperature of the star is around 8,590 K (8,320 °C). Fomalhaut’s mass is about 1.92 times that of the Sun, its luminosity is about 16.6 times greater, and its diameter is roughly 1.84 times as large.[6] Fomalhaut is slightly metal-deficient as compared to the Sun, which means it is composed of a smaller percentage of elements other than hydrogen and helium.[7] The metallicity is typically determined by measuring the abundance of iron in the photosphere relative to the abundance of hydrogen. A 1997 spectroscopic study measured a value equal to 93% of the Sun’s abundance of iron.[8][nb 1] A second 1997 study deduced a value of 78% by assuming Fomalhaut has the same metallicity as the neighboring star TW Piscis Austrini, which has since been argued to be a physical companion.[6][20] In 2004, a stellar evolutionary model of Fomalhaut yielded a metallicity of 79%.[7] Finally, in 2008, a spectroscopic measurement gave a significantly lower value of 46%.[9] Fomalhaut has been claimed to be one of approximately 16 stars belonging to the Castor Moving Group. This is an association of stars that share a common motion through space and have been claimed to be physically associated. Other members of this group include Castor and Vega. The moving group has an estimated age of 200±100 million years and originated from the same location.[18] Unfortunately more recent work that has found that purported members of the Castor Moving Group appear to not only have a wide range of ages, but their velocities are too different to have been possibly associated with one another in the distant past.[13] Hence, “membership” to this dynamical group has no bearing on the age of the Fomalhaut system.[13]
Like
Royal stars
western england
Amesbury in Wiltshire confirmed as oldest UK settlement
Amesbury – including Stonehenge – is the UK’s longest continually-occupied settlement
A Wiltshire town has been confirmed as the longest continuous settlement in the United Kingdom. Amesbury, including Stonehenge, has been continually occupied since 8820BC, experts have found. The news was confirmed following an archaeological dig which also unearthed evidence of frogs’ legs being eaten in Britain 8,000 years before France. Amesbury’s place in history has also now been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. David Jacques, from the University of Buckingham, said: “The site blows the lid off the Neolithic Revolution in a number of ways.
Historic Wiltshire
Stonehenge: Wiltshire’s most famous historic site built 2500BC
Avebury: Stone circle is thought to date back 4,000 years
Silbury Hill: Europe’s largest artificial prehistoric mound
“It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building, and presumably worshipping, monuments. “The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away, and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself. “The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people. For years people have been asking why is Stonehenge where it is, now at last, we have found the answers.” Mr Jacques said the River Avon, which runs through the area, would have been like an A road with people travelling along it. “They may have had the equivalent of local guides and there would have been feasting,” he added. “We have found remains of big game animals, such as aurochs and red deer, and an enormous amount of burnt flint from their feasting fires.” The dig unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period Previously, Thatcham in Berkshire, 40 miles from Amesbury, held the record for the longest continuous settlement in the country. The dig in Amesbury also uncovered 31,000 worked flints in 40 days as well as animal bones such as frogs’ legs. Mr Jacques said our ancestors were eating a “Heston Blumenthal-style menu”.
Amesbury facts
Queen Eleanor of Provence – consort to Henry III – is buried at the town’s former abbey
Amesbury residents get a free visitors’ pass to Stonehenge each year
In 1965, the Beatles stayed at the Antrobus Arms Hotel whilst filming Help!
The area’s most famous resident – Police frontman Sting – lives in nearby Wilsford cum Lake
The find was based on a report by fossil mammal specialist Simon Parfitt, of the Natural History Museum. Andy Rhind-Tutt, the founder of Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, said there was “something unique and rather special about the area” to keep people there from the end of the Ice Age, to when Stonehenge was created and until today. “The fact that the feasting of large animals and the discovery of a relatively constant temperature spring sitting alongside the River Avon, may well be it,” he said. The dig was filmed and made into a documentary by the BBC, Smithsonian, CBC and others to be screened later in the summer. The project was led by the University of Buckingham.
Upper Palaeolithic deposits, including bones of Homo sapiens, have been found in local caves,[2] and artefacts dating from the Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age have been found at Mount Batten showing that it was one of the main trading ports of the country at that time.[3] An unidentified settlement named ‘TAMARI OSTIA’ (mouth/estuaries of the Tamar) is listed in Ptolemy’s Geographia and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city.[4]
The British nobles in an attempt to prevent the total dissolution of the state and to end the civil war. gathered in an assembly and agreed on a compromise whereby Godrich. the Earl (Duke/King) of Cornwall, would reign as regent and hold the Kingdom of Britain in trust for the English heiress. Goldborough. the daughter of the late Anglican heir, Cymen. and his wife. Adela. the Saxon heiress, only child and daughter of England’s first Bretwalda. Aella of Sussex Thus, preserving the fiction of centralized rule which was accepted only because the alternative was unthinkable
. Prince-Regent. Earl (Duke/King) of Cornwall, reigned as regent of Britain in the absence of a national-kmg during the interregnum that followed the murder of the boy-king, Huai, and his mother. Queen Lonle (Lenore, Lunette] There were civil wars throughout Britain dunng his regency The episode of Havelock “The Dane* takes place dunng the regency of Earl Godrich X. CADROD (CATRAUT), the Arthunan heir, established his headquarters at a castle (site unsure] called “CALCHVYNYDD” (‘hill of chalk or lime”], which name came to be his epithet, somewhere in the Bntish midlands between the Thames and the Trent rivers. He fights the Cerdicite heir Cynnc “of Wessex” X. CYNRIC (CUNORIX). the Cerdicite heir, the other claimant to the Bntish throne, held sway south of the Thames in Wessex with his headquarters at Winchester One of the surviving ex-tnumvirs. Riwal of Dumnoma (Devonshire), meanwhile, was expelled from Bntam by Caradoc ‘Strong-Arm”. Count of the Saxon Shore, in another regional-war. and fled to Armohca (Bnttany] where he established himself at St. Bneoc. circa 552 Riwal was killed fighting Cynvawr II of Cornwall, circa 555. and his widow married King Cynvawr Prmce ludwal of Domnonee (son of Riwal. the ex-thumvir] fled his murderous step-father (Cynvawr II of ComwaH-Brittany] and found refuge at the court of King Childebert I of France (534-558), in 558. Prince ludwal of Domnonee retook his throne Cynvawr II withdrew back to Cornwall, area 558, and. circa 560. was murdered along with his wife (name] and son (St. Tremeur] St Brieoc is attacked by King Childebert of France, and King Canao II leads the resistance Meantime, the civil war between the House of Arthur and the House of Cerdic continued to rage Cynnc repulsed Cadrod’s offensive at Old Sarum (Salisbury] in 552. and slew him in battle at Bart>ury Castle, near Swindon. Wiltshire, in 556 King Erp (Urban) of Gwent was killed in the battle (fighting for the Arthurian heir]; and his kingdom was divided in halves, called Gwent and Ergyng Cadrod ‘Calchvynydd” was survived by seven sons and three daughters His eldest son. Cyndywyn. was murdered following his fathers death in battle Another son. Cyndeym “Wledic*. rallied his father s old supporters and earned on the struggle He slew Cynrtc in battle in 560 and set himself up as an anti-king although technically the throne was vacant while the country was governed by Godhch. the Earl of Cornwall, who officially reigned as regent of Bntain in the absence of a legitimate ‘national” king Cynric was survived by three sons Coelm (Ceawim). Cutha. and Cwichelm. of whom the eldest Ceawlin (Coelin) succeeded to the Wessex kingdom The name Ceawlin (Coelin) is Celtic, but the names of his brothers, possibly half-brothers, have a Saxon favor to them Their mother may have been a Saxon princess; or perhaps by this time the influence of Saxon culture was beginning to show itself in the Wessex royal house 560-565 9. HAVELOK ‘THE DANE”, barbarian-king. not usually numbered in the regnal-lists. however, remembered in tradition, legend, and folklore, reigned for three years as King of Bntain. or England. 560-562 The legend of Havelock “The Dane’ begins when he was a boy and tells us that a fisherman was ordered by Denmark’s usurper-kmg to murder the true heir to the Danish throne. Havelock, then a youth about age eleven, but instead the fisherman allowed the young pnnce to escape to England Later, when Havelock had come of age. he found employment with an English ealdorman He soon became famous for his prowess at sports, and
A the sea which lies towards the North Wind, group of leading scientists from around the world said on Monday that the leaders of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had left themselves open to the accusation that they had “gone beyond IPCC’s remit”.In March the Amsterdam-based InterAcademy Council (IAC) was called in after a number of errors were found in the IPCC’s landmark 2007 Fourth Assessment Report into man-made climate change
Amesbury – including Stonehenge – is the UK’s longest continually-occupied settlement
The dig unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period
