"One hundred years after the Master"

A report on the meeting held at Salisbury and on Cranborne Chase, 29th April 2000.

Lt. General A. H. Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, the 'father' of modern archaeology died in May 1900, and to mark the centenary of his death, the Council held its spring meeting at Salisbury.

The meeting assembled began at the Salisbury Museum, one of the most happily situated of all museums, in the Close, facing onto the cathedral, and the proud possessor of many of the General's greatest relics.

Here we heard a talk on the General by Mark Bowden, his latest biographer, who described his life, the milieu in which he lived, and how he came to inherit the estate on Cranborne Chase where he carried out his epoch-making excavations.

After Lunch , we embarked on a coach to visit Cranborne Chase itself, under the guidance of our member Martin Green, who is a farmer who lives and farms on the chase, and who has carried out a number of excavations in the area. He has also set up one of the most remarkable independent museums in the country, in an old hen house (seen left).

Martin Green in his museum.

The main section is devoted to his archaeological finds, but behind it there is a section devoted to an old blacksmiths shop, and finally there is a fine collection of fossils.

Martin has been busy excavating many of the sites on his land. The most recent has been this big pit; at first he thought it was going to be a flint mine, but eventually it turned out to be perfectly natural, but it had clearly been regarded as sacred in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, as there were 'offerings' at intervals throughout its depth.

The green viewing platform enables visitors to look down into the pit.

"I'll visit this one in my mind's eye!"

Barry Horne, the editor of the CIA Newsletter, decides to read up about the site from the comfort of his wheelchair.

"Have some more cream!"

Tea was taken in the Larmer Gardens, the pleasure park laid out by the General for the benefit of his staff and a good example of his interest in museums and public amenities.

Here Kevan Fadden offers some more cream to accompany the teacakes and strawberry jam.

The day ended with members of the society strolling in the gardens. Here Steve Clarke, of the Monmouth Archaeological Society, and Peter Alexander Fitzgerald, return from visiting the Chinese pavilion in the background.

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