To the manor reborn

By Ben Fitzgerald - 3 October 2017

Heritage

The National Trust has opened a room in Avebury Manor, that until now has been inaccessible to visitors. The refurbishment of the Alexander Keiller drawing office is a new and exciting ongoing project, to bring another aspect of Avebury’s history to life.

Alexander Keiller is well known for his extensive archaeological work at Avebury, and was paramount in discovering and re-erecting much of the stone circle and avenue, as well as ground-breaking work at a nearby Windmill Hill.

He excavated in Avebury and the surrounding area between 1925 and 1939 and owned Avebury Manor from 1937 to 1955.

Keiller’s drawing office is where he undertook much of his post-excavation work, working on plans and sections, archaeological drawings and writing reports.

Amelia Bryan the House Manager at Avebury Manor, who is overseeing the work, says: “We’ve known for some time that this room was Keiller’s drawing office, the workroom for his archaeological work – but it has not been possible to open it to the public until now. Now it’s our task to bring this room back to life again, so that people can see another part of the history of the house.”

The room will also give the National Trust the opportunity to display copies of some of the excavation archives for people to see.

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