Warriors at The Clump

The recent AGM of the South Wiltshire Ramblers was concluded with a fascinating description by Phil Andrews into how the science of archaeology was playing an invaluable role in the rehabilitation of military personnel who had been severely or mentally traumatised in recent conflicts. On a military range just to the of Amesbury stands a knoll concealed in a clump of trees. Although a public footpath is adjacent few walkers are aware that it is the site of an Anglo-Saxon burial ground. In recent years the site has been painstakingly excavated by professional and amateur archaeologists with the enthusiastic assistance of injured military personnel and they have made some remarkable finds . Many of these individuals have demonstrated enormous mental and physical benefits for the project and have returned to the wider civilian workforce sounder in body and spirit. Wessex Archaeology deserves enormous credit for conceiving this project and long may it continue. You can also walk in the footsteps of the Anglo-Saxon tribes who bestrode this ancient landscape a thousand years ago just by joining the Ramblers (wiltsswindonramblers.org.uk)