Cerne Abbas

Tom Perrett returns next month with November's wildlife walk suggestion for things to look out for here on Alfred.

Why was one of Dorset's most famous figures carved into a hillside? And why does he look the way he does? Those are questions archaeologist Martin Papworth would still like answered, despite helping establish when the Cern Abbas giant was created.

Martin retired from the National Trust in 2024.

After a career that began with what was supposed to be just four weeks of work at Corfe Castle, the career lasted 38 years.

the environment that it was built in and the types of plants that were growing there from the silt disturbed by this water pipe.

So that's probably the closest one.

And one of the most, I suppose, distinctive local sites that you've worked on is the Cern Abbas Giants.

If you could go back in time to any point in time, what would you like to observe in relation to that? What would you like to find out?

The surviving accounts describe his worsening asthma, but they do not state his exact cause of death, so I'm not going to give him one.

His remains were cremated, and his name was added to the gravestone of the Kerr family at Cerne Abbas in Dorset.

Daisy was buried in Chiang Mai.

Arthur was remembered on a family stone in England.

Why does it, why do these things happen when somebody's got a camera on you?

An exclusive tour of season two of an excavation to uncover Cerne Abbas Abbey at the foot of the famous chalk giant.

And the Bayeux Tapestry goes on display at the British Museum.

[dramatic music]

I've enjoyed it.

[upbeat music]

Now, you might remember a few months ago we brought you a Time Team film about the search for a forgotten abbey at the foot of the iconic Cerne Abbas chalk giant in Dorset.

Yes, Matt Williams followed fellow archeologists Helen Gittos and Hugh Willmott on an incredibly successful excavation which revealed the location and extent of Cerne Abbey, a building which dates back to the 10th century.