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The Ancestor
The ancestor under construction in Wiltshire
19-
1st Tidworth Beaver Scouts:
We were very excited to be involved in this project. The children put a lot of thought into what they wanted to see on their flag and we chose the best bits from three prototypes.
It is an amazing statue and
will certainly draw lots of positive attention.
Right: English Heritage Press Announcement:
"The Stonehenge Druids would like to thank the local people of Amesbury and Durrington, the Stonehenge Round Table Pagan community, The Staff of English Heritage and the media for managing to keep an almost impossibly large secret until Solstice Weekend in order that we might present an honoured guest to the people and before the rising Sun at Stonehenge on the 21st June. Had this secret leaked then we might have not been able to complete this project for fear of attracting an unusually large surge of people to Stonehenge.
The surprise guest is a 25ft high steel statue and work of art created by local people Andrew Rowlings and Michelle Topps who have worked tirelessly to create him in time. 'The Ancestor' as he is known, represents the ancient people who built Stonehenge, who's primitive tools did not stop them from expressing a great respect for nature and who worked to create great wonders. He might stand to remind us all that we owe much to our ancestors and might try to be more like them in our appreciation of the natural beauty around us.
We would like to thank Andy and Michelle for accepting our invitation to present the ancestor to Stonehenge, and also the small businesses, the scouts cubs and brownies and local school children who created wonderful banners representing the stars to surround him, and the students who created a wonderful circlet for his head, and English Heritage for facilitating his presence with good grace and enthusiasm.
The Stonehenge Druids, English Heritage, The Local Community and two very Dedicated Crafts People have shown that when we all work together we can still achieve great things. We hope that all those who gather at Stonehenge for Summer Solstice this year will be inspired by the ancestor, and that the ancestors themselves would approve of the way we are honouring them"
Frank
Senior Stonehenge-
Below:
The Stonehenge Druids
Avon Valley College:
We are both honoured and privileged to have been asked to be part of this important project, and in particular with providing the first seasonal Crown for The Ancestor. The sixth form students have worked incredibly hard and are very excited that their work will be viewed by thousands of people hopefully at Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice and subsequently at Solstice Park.
The theme is ‘oak’ which represents the essence of England, and has a strong spiritual
significance. The students have designed the Crown as part of a live brief towards
their final BTEC National Certificate in Art & Design. They have used various materials
including willow to make acorns together with copper and silver mesh to make the
oak leaves. The students’ names are: Aaron Acton; Michelle Baker; Scott Bleakley;
Amber Carling; Kayleigh Cavanagh; Daniel Collins: Eloise Corbett; Laurie-
The project is particularly important in this community because of the large number of service families with a family member serving in Afghanistan. The Ancestor brings joy, light and is a symbol of spiritual enlightenment in these dark times.
1st Amesbury Cubs and Beavers Flag
We thought that this would be a wonderful opportunity to get involved in an exciting opportunity involving different groups within the community.
The brief stated that we should consider Celtic images and think about our local community. The central constellation was given to us as Sagittarius.
The Cubs were the chief designers, firstly creating their own individual images for the flag. These were put together and the final design emerged.
The Cubs wanted to somehow represent the Celtic knot and involve all Beavers and Cubs. Two Scouts helped too. The result is a border of finger prints from every Cub and Beaver and the two Scouts.
The Cubs and Beavers thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this project. Especially the messy bit of getting their hands painted!
We are all excited at seeing our flag flying with the Ancient Warrior!
The 1st Amesbury Cub and Beaver flag consists of:
* A Celtic cross with the Cubs’ interpretation of a Celtic knot design within the Cross. (There is a Celtic cross in Amesbury),
* The Cubs’ interpretation of a Celtic pig and goat as we are a rural area surrounded by farms
* The Cubs’ version of a Celtic Wolf as we are part of the Scout association originally known as Wolf Cubs.
* The Celtic knot as a border of finger prints.
Stonehenge
Summer Solstice 2010
Sunday and Monday 20th /21st June
e Key Solstice Special
Below, solstice celebrants gather in front of the Ancestor for sunrise.
Some Youtube Video:
Left, Stonehenge Druids Frank, Jim and Dean entertain people at sunset on the 20th beneath the Ancestor. Lookout for the Ancestor in the last few frames.
ITN News Clip with great shot of the Ancestor.
Look out for the slide of the Ancestor taken from within Stonehenge Circle.
Article by Archaeologist Alex:
One instinctively knows when something is right.
I still remember that old TV ad for – incongruously – sherry. But it had never seemed more appropriate than when I caught my first sight of the Ancestor.
Thanks to Dennis’s posts, everyone knows the story now. The sculptors, Andy and Michelle, have created a truly iconic figure, 6m high, of a kneeling man, arms stretched back, greeting the first rays of the rising sun in awe and reverence. For me, that pose perfectly captures the intense relationship between early man and his gods. And to display it at Stonehenge during the solstice celebrations was a stroke of genius on the part of all concerned.
I was able to visit Michelle and Andy’s workshop several times while the Ancestor was being constructed, so I’ve seen it evolve, and it’s given me a chance to ponder its elemental appeal. The workshop is a huge agricultural shed in splendid isolation, only a mile or so from Stonehenge itself. The Ancestor is built in modules, so that it can be more easily moved and worked on. My first sight was of Michelle welding leaves of steel into the upper half of the body, with sparks flying from its massive muscles. This sight alone was enough for me to visualize the dramatic effect of the finished sculpture. The effect is heightened by the colouring and the texture of the meshed leaves of steel – it seems instinctively right for someone from our distant past.
The sculpture is the result of true collaboration. The inspiration, vision and artistry is Michelle’s, while the practical realization is Andy’s. Such a massive construction – six meters high and seven tonnes – requires a keen appreciation of engineering principles, for all sorts of reasons. Andy has created internal frames that allows arms, legs, torso and head to be worked on separately and be bolted together to integrate the parts into the finished structure. It’s easy to overlook the magnitude of the task – normally the design of the internal framing would have required extensive CAD work on powerful computers. Andy’s natural insight into what was needed delivered a perfect construction first time, that passed its Health and Safety checks without a quibble. This sinewy skeleton alone seemed to me to be a work of art in its own right.
And the result is stunning. Michelle’s concept seems to reach deep inside us to some part that identifies with our distant forebears. We followers of Eternal Idol already feel that link more keenly than most, simply because we want nothing more than to understand the motives, dreams and hopes of the builders of Stonehenge. But I’d guess that the concept works for almost everyone, because it touches something primal that’s common to us all.
We’ll all have our own ideas about what that might be. But, for what it’s worth, my belief is that Michelle’s vision meshes perfectly with a Jungian archetype. Jargon, I know, but a useful idea, for the archetypes are, according to Wikipedia, “universal psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic themes of human life emerge.” While the archetypes are unconscious, they give rise to innumerable conscious images, symbols and patterns of behaviour in which we model the world. It seems to me that the Ancestor crystallizes the yearning to bridge the natural and supernatural worlds, part of the human condition since the earliest peoples first learned to express themselves. And that must indeed have been what the Stonehenge builders intended when they constructed their incredible monument – a place where the natural and supernatural worlds come together.
Psychology aside, the importance of the Ancestor must have been instantly sensed by all who saw it. Importantly, Frank Somers, respected contributor to Eternal Idol, was able to effect a meeting with English Heritage who, to their credit, immediately saw the solstice potential, and arranged for the Ancestor to be part of the celebrations. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to be there during the solstice party, but I understand that the Ancestor exerted a magnetic draw on all who attended. And then it was promptly whipped away again before the normal public opening hours.
You can still see it if you travel west on the A303. The Ancestor is greeting visitors to Wessex and the Salisbury Plain area in the Solstice Park area outside Amesbury, where it sits in the grounds of the Holiday Inn.
Our thanks to Alex for his article which appeared recently on eternalidol, and also his photo’s which as ever are lovely.
The last image shows the Ancestor in his new temporary (???) residence beside the A303 westbound and the Holiday Inn.
Which brings his story to the Launch of our special projects inspired by him:
The launch: Monday 19th July 2010
Opened by Richard Crook The Mayor of Amesbury Town, hosted by the Holiday Inn, we put on a display of our art and gathered with all those involved in bringing the ancestor to this point, the children and young people, the chamber of commerce, friends and dignitaries including Frank Somers (Stonehenge Druids), Peter Carson (Director, English Heritage), Richard Crook (Mayor of Amesbury) but everyone of those gathered are very special. Together we have shown that ordinary people can do inspirational things.
