The Magic Beast

A recent sighting of a white deer on the farm prompted one of our facebook followers to share the beautiful poem below with us. Timothy had written the poem after a similar deer sighting nearby.  We thought it would be lovely to share, particularly as it's World Poetry Day today.Thank you Timothy Concannon for sharing your work with us.

The magic beast

See a flash, unexpected, against the trees

A herd of deer is there, but something’s strange.

A white hart, unearthly, among the rest

A magic sight, the stuff of legend,

Here in the hangars of my home,

Not fairyland.

......

Diana's beast, the quarry of Alexander

And Caesar, Charlemagne, Rustvun-Shad.

The badge of Richard Lionheart,

Lofty Enlil’s earthly form.

......

I stop the car, and stare, enchanted.

How long has she been in my woods?

A living unicorn!

The clue’s in Harting, that selfsame pub.

......

The hart looks over Torberry,

Rumoured town of Rome.

Does she seek her ancient master?

Will she lure him back again,

To drown like faithful Bran?

......

She's off! I cannot follow

To find her marble halls

And dozen handmaids under the Lake

like ancient Rustvun

......

I muse, and dream of ancient times

And myth, and magic and ancient quests

I return to earth, and onward drive

But I still remember, that evening long ago

When a thing divine touched my mortal mind.

Timothy Thomas Concannon

Funding for new storytelling project

We're delighted to announce that we have received funding to support a project to creatively interpret Butser Ancient Farm through a series of specially commissioned stories.Councillor Robert Mocatta, as part of Hampshire County Council, has awarded the County Councillor Grant so that we can run training sessions for our volunteers to deliver the specially written tales.Two stories have been written by local author Dawn Nelson to enchant our younger visitors with tales of the people who may have lived in ancient homes like those at Butser; the interactive tales will transport our visitors back in time to imagine life in an ancient farm.The funding will enable Dawn to run training sessions for volunteers at Butser so more people will be able to tell the stories and help bring this special place to life.One of the stories will focus on the hunt for the Auroch, a scene painted on the wall of our Neolithic Llandygai house whilst the other will tell the tale of a missing Manx Loaghtan Sheep.Thank you very much to Hampshire County Council and Councillor Robert Mocatta for supporting this exciting project.  

Baby Goats born at Butser

This week we were delighted to welcome some more new arrivals to the farm. Twin baby goats were born overnight between Sunday 11^th and Monday 12^th March – a real Mothers’ Day surprise for their mum, English goat Bella! These were shortly followed at Lunchtime on Monday by two more twin girls born to our goat Ainee. Finally Sorrel gave birth on Thursday to a little girl bringing our Kid count up to 5!  

Life as a Roman: new virtual reality app in partnership with BBC Civilisations

We're excited to announce the launch of a new app featuring our Roman Villa in partnership with the BBC. The 'BBC Taster VR' app allows anyone to explore the villa in virtual reality from anywhere in the world!'Life as a Roman' is a collaboration between Butser Ancient Farm and the BBC as part of the landmark Civilisations series which tells the story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day, for the first time on a global scale.Butser Ancient Farm submitted the idea to use 360 video to explore the ancient Roman villa and the BBC helped us realise our idea.The Butser Roman Legion helped us populate the villa with a range of people from the villa’s master to lowly slaves. The 360 video lets you explore the villa inside and out and see how people would have lived in Roman Britain.See how the Roman soldiers used their swords, explore the Roman latrines and furnace, and spy on the Roman dining room.The app and download are available for three months, click here to find out more 

Ancient apples planted at Butser to mark a special celebration

Yesterday marked a special moment at Butser Ancient Farm as we planted five apple trees to celebrate the wedding anniversary of two wonderful members of staff. Sue and Trevor, our projects coordinators marked the occasion by planting these ancient apple varieties (aided by director Simon!) The beautiful specimens will form the start a small orchard which will be part of our exciting Roman garden development plans. Sue and Trevor picked the apple varieties, Charles Ross and James Grieve, to be of an old variety and tolerant of chalk soils. Thanks to head forester Michael Prior at Stansted Park for the advice on the best varieties to plant here.We hope they will thrive and that soon we will have tasty Butser apples to sample!thanks Sue and Trevor!  

First lambs of 2018 born at Butser!

This morning we arrived on the farm to a flurry of excitement as the first baby lambs of 2018 made their entrance to the world at the weekend. Two more were born this morning taking our total so far to 4.After the 'Beast from the East' brought plunging temperatures, snow and ice last week we're glad our Manx Loaghtan waited for the thaw before delivering the new arrivals. All mothers and lambs are healthy and well and after the recent cold snap we're delighted to be witnessing this real sign of Spring.