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visit to the Peat Moors Centre is the perfect opportunity
to fire the imagination of both young and old. Travel
back in time to prehistoric Somerset and discover
first hand how our ancient ancestors made their
homes in the centre of an extensive wetland.
Three full
size reconstructions of Iron Age roundhouses have
been created to give an insight into living conditions
the unique Glastonbury Lake Village. Life
in the Lake Villages has been described as ‘industrious
and fairly civilised’ and you can experience this
for yourself as you soak up the domestic atmosphere
sitting by the roundhouse fire. Outside the chance
to get stuck in at wattling and daubing is an
opportunity few children will want to miss, so
be prepared for them to get dirty!
Regular craft
and living history demonstrations take place most
weekends – see our programme for details – or
why not gain a deeper insight by joining one of
our short courses to learn an ancient technology.
Throughout the year the ancient quarter days are
marked with exciting events; The ‘Beltane Gathering’
of tribal re-enactors at the beginning of May,
the ‘Lughnasa Skills Fair’, full of craft demonstrations
in early August, and the season finale of the
burning of a wicker man at the annual ‘Samhain’
event at the end of October.
For over a
hundred years archaeologists have been exploring
the peatlands for treasure revealed by peat extraction-prehistoric
wood! Preserved for centuries in the wet ground,
these discoveries have allowed us to also create
reconstructions of some of the locally unearthed
prehistoric wetland walkways, including the world
famous Sweet Track, the oldest man-made road in
Britain. An insight into the work of pioneering
archaeologists Arthur Bulleid and Harold St. George
Gray is provided by their original site hut.
Woodworking at the Peat Moors Centre.
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