About the Gathering Place choreography and archaeology project - what has happened so far
In 2023, with support from a Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant for Katie Green, we started developing a new strand of work focusing specifically on the ways we could respond to archaeological sites, artefacts and stories through dance, movement and story-telling.
You can see some of our previous filmed responses to archaeological sites in Surrey and Dorset here, as well as a 'behind the scenes' mini-documentary giving an insight into the archaeological process to which we were responding in 2023, with a focus on the 'Big Dig' Field School/Durotriges Project led by Bournemouth University.
As a result of our DYCP research we were also fortunate to receive a commission from the Chase and Chalke Landscape Partnership Scheme earlier this year to create a new Gathering Place film responding to the Dorset Cursus, the longest Neolithic cursus monument in Britain.
Gathering Place 360
Earlier this year we received a commission from Arts Partnership Surrey to start to develop a VR360 version of the Gathering Place project.
Working with experts from Surrey County Archaeological Unit, and responding to previous research data and existing interpretation about 4 initial sites in Surrey, we are using VR360 technology to pilot an approach to making the kinds of heritage responses that we create as a company more accessible to more people. This is especially important where it isn't easy for people to get to the kinds of sites where we are working, where they are places that people wouldn't think to visit independently, or where the significance of those sites is invisible, and/or not well-known locally.
Working with filmmaker Matt Bartram (Cave & Sky), we have started to create a VR360 ‘inspiration film’ that will provide children, young people and local residents in Surrey with an introduction to the layered history of the county told through 4 archaeological sites. We will also be trialling a programme of linked participation activity in 2025 with local primary schools and community groups to develop participants’ engagement with and understanding of the heritage being explored.
Why is this important?
As a result of the project we hope that we will have honed a new creative approach to engaging people with their local history that we can then go on to apply to other sites in Surrey and across the UK. This approach will support people, particularly children and young people, to engage with their past in an immersive, more personal, memorable way that celebrates and foregrounds their ideas and perspectives, and in so doing, develops their longer-term curiosity about, and feeling of connection, with the world around them.
The research so far
Over the past week we have been filming in 4 sites, using information from community archaeologist Hannah Potter (some of which Hannah has summarised for us below) and characters imagined by writer Anna Selby for each of the locations:
At Runnymede Pleasure Grounds and along the Thames Path, we have met Brena, a Bronze Age woman, played by Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra.
This site is close to the location of a Bronze Age settlement at Egham, which is one of the most thoroughly excavated sites from this period in Surrey. Petters Sports Field was excavated in the 1970s before redevelopment, revealing an 8th/early 7th century BCE hoard of 78 bronze pieces. This hoard, now housed in the British Museum, includes weapons, vessels, and tools, many unfinished or worn out, suggesting they were buried by a bronze smith. Nearby, excavation of another wealthy site at Runnymede Bridge yielded evidence of metalworking and trade using the Thames.
We enjoyed the documentaries from Egham Museum here which provide more information about what it might have been like in this part of Surrey in the Bronze Age.
You can also find out more about some of the locations we visited along the Thames by listening to the audio guide here.
Through the character of Brena, we have explored the ways in which people in the Bronze Age responded to the natural landscape - including the significance of water and also the story of Bronze, so fundamental at this point in history.
St Mary's Priory at Ankerwycke, founded in 1160 and transformed into a Tudor mansion after its dissolution in 1536, is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was excavated in 2022/23 by volunteers guided by professional archaeologists, resulting in new interpretation, reconstruction drawings, and 3D models of the trenches. Documentary research has also shed light on the lives of the nuns who lived there, offering rare insights into medieval women's experiences. Records from 1197 mention a nun running away, claiming she was forced to join the priory so her family could claim her inheritance. Another from 1441 reports the nuns complaining about the blocking up of dormitory windows, with the abbess claiming this was to prevent conversations with men along the riverside. A Bishop visiting in 1519 learnt that a nun named Alice Hubbart had run away to get married. These records, despite their disapproving tone, highlight unique and often overlooked stories of women from this period, making St Mary's Priory an exceptional site for understanding medieval monastic life.
You can watch a video about the National Trust excavation at Ankerwycke here, and this is also integrated into this episode of the BBC's Digging for Britain programme, from about 24.50.
In our response to St Mary's Priory, dancer Megan Griffiths plays Agnes, one of the young nuns who tells the viewer a bit about her life at the priory, and thinks about how different that life is to the kinds of activities that happened across the river from Ankerwycke, where the great Magna Carta was sealed by King John in 1215.
Woking Palace
Woking Palace, excavated by over 1,800 volunteers and local school children from 2013-2015, was recorded as a manor house in 1272. It passed through several owners until Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, lived there (1466-1471). Frequently visited by Henry VII and expanded by Henry VIII 1515-1543, the palace became a royal hunting lodge with a great hall and extensive buildings within a double moat. The palace was abandoned by Sir Edward Zouch in 1620 and further deteriorated by Charles II's reign, with only a small vaulted building remaining today, but is still a site of significant historical interest.
In our response to Woking Palace, Alice Shepperson plays Eelyn, a servant working at the palace during the Royal family's 'Summer Progress' out of London. She describes some of the activities that would have happened there, why it was much-loved by Henry VII and VIII and imagines what it would be like to be Lady Margaret Beaufort, which gives us an opportunity to tell just a fraction of Lady Margaret's extensive story.
We enjoyed the audio guide for Woking Palace here and you can find more information about the excavation of the site by visiting a small exhibition about the Palace at The Lightbox, Woking.
Witley and Milford Commons
Our inspiration film will conclude with World War I soldier Albert, played by Matthew Winston, performing at Witley and Milford Commons.
Located south of Godalming, this was a bustling military site during both World Wars but is now largely obscured by woodland and bracken. Recent landscape surveys and excavations by archaeologists and local volunteers revealed remnants of the camp, leading to the creation of a free audio guide to share the findings. Discoveries such as a spoon stamped with a service number, traced back to Canadian soldier John Baxter, highlight the personal histories embedded in the site. Renowned poet Wilfred Owen also trained at Witley Camp in 1916, where he began drafting "Anthem for Doomed Youth." Although popular with walkers today, many are unaware of its rich military history and the thousands of soldiers who once passed through its grounds.
In our response to this final site, soldier Albert talks about what would have happened at the camps just over 100 years ago, and we see him struggle with knowing what will happen when he is deployed and the conflict between his sense of duty and uneasy anticipation.
There is more information about Witley and Milford Commons here.
We look forward to sharing more about the Gathering Place 360 project. Although much of our participation work for this project will take place in primary schools in Surrey, there will be opportunities to watch the Inspiration Film for the general public at community events early in 2025.
The Gathering Place 360 project has been commissioned by Arts Partnership Surrey and is being supported by Surrey County Archaeological Unit and Surrey County Council IoT and Emerging Technologies team. We are also grateful to have been granted filming permission for our 4 sites from Runnymede Borough Council, Woking Borough Council and from the relevant Rangers/Site Managers from the National Trust, and to those who provided space for rehearsal during our filming days including the Parish of St Peter Woking, Edge Venue, Chichester Hall and Staines Library.
Project credits
Director: Katie Green
Filmmaker: Matt Bartram
Choreographed and performed by: Megan Griffiths, Alice Shepperson, Amarnah Ufuoma Cleopatra, Matthew Winston
Project Archaeologist: Hannah Potter
Writer: Anna Selby
Composer: Max Perryment
Design by Chloe Mead
Project Management Support: Charlotte Mackie
Company Producer: Vicky Thornton