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Butser Ancient Farm Bronze Age house built by military veterans

PA Media Bronze age roundhouse at Butser Ancient FarmPA Media
The Bronze Age roundhouse was built by a group of military veterans in Hampshire

A traditional Bronze Age roundhouse has been built by a group of military veterans in Hampshire.

It was constructed at Butser Ancient Farm near Chalton by 25 volunteers recruited by the Ministry of Defence's Operation Nightingale initiative.

The replica was based on a building excavated last year at Dunch Hill, near Tidworth, Wiltshire.

Volunteer John William Bennett said his "confidence has really grown" after taking part in the project.

TV presenter and archaeologist Professor Alice Roberts attended the site to mark the completion of the roundhouse.

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Roundhouses were circular dwellings which were a popular type of housing during the Bronze Age.

Operation Nightingale was launched 10 years ago with the aim of involving wounded, injured, and sick military personnel and veterans in archaeological investigations as part of their recovery.

Bronze age roundhouse at Butser Ancient Farm
Roundhouses were circular dwellings common during the Bronze Age
PA Media Bronze age roundhouse at Butser Ancient FarmPA Media
The project is part of the Ministry of Defence's Operation Nightingale initiative

Archaeologists worked with the veterans to experiment with building techniques that could have been used for the original construction 3,000 years ago.

Mr Bennett, a Navy veteran from Havant, said: "To start with I was both excited and apprehensive about the project - apprehensive because I was fearful of how I would react to it, as socialising was a big trigger for my functional neurological disorder affecting my mobility and motor control.

"However, I need not have worried, I haven't been triggered and my confidence has really grown.

"Working through each stage of the project has been brilliant and I still find it hard to believe how much my life has turned around because of it."

Harvey Mills Excavation at Dunch Hill, near Tidworth, WiltshireHarvey Mills
The original building was excavated last year at Dunch Hill, near Tidworth, Wiltshire

Experimental archaeologist Trevor Creighton, from Butser Ancient Farm, said: "My colleagues and the Operation Nightingale team have formed a brilliant collaborative network and we are creating a building that helps us better understand prehistoric architecture.

"In the coming years it will provide even more insights into structures that no-one has seen for 3,000 years.

"But more than that, it is a way that we can give back something to people who have served their country in often harrowing situations."

PA Media Members of the Pentacle Drummers drum in front of a burning ceremonial Viking long boat at Butser Ancient FarmPA Media
In September a ceremonial Viking long boat was burned at the farm to mark the Autumn Equinox
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