FOAM stands for ‘Friends of Ancient Monuments’ and is an informal group started in Wessex and now part of CBA (the Council for British Archaeology) Wessex.
The simple idea is that there are lot of ancient monuments that need some care and attention (and by and large aren’t getting it) and lots of people who want to get out and get involved with archaeology but find it difficult to get on to excavations. So, put the two together and you have people going out at weekends and carrying out simple conservation tasks like tree and scrub clearance and removing derelict fencing. The end result, some healthy outdoor exercise, an understanding of the sites we work on and better looking monuments that everyone is far more likely to take care of in the future.

We started in spectacular style in the Spring of 2005 – really just to see if it would work and if people would turn up. The first trial run of the idea took place on the Normanton Barrows just to the south of Stonehenge. This group, including the famous Bush Barrow had become heavily overgrown with thorn bushes and the fences that surrounded them were derelict and also no longer needed as the surrounding land was being returned to RSPB managed grassland. Over a weekend about 15 of us cleared all the fences and bushes, leaving only one bush, a big thorn that was left on Bush Barrow itself –it somehow seemed appropriate.

In 2006 we concentrated on some of the Lake Barrows just a bit further south where we have had to tackle not just bushes but proper trees. In three days we cleared three very large and very overgrown barrows and made a start on a huge, 50m long barrow which, when we started, could not be seen for a dense forest of saplings. This will be the first one to finish when we reconvene next winter.

The hope is that this concept will grow and that FOAM will expand throughout Wessex and beyond (expanding FOAM…….). Watch the website for details (it will be in My Diary) or e mail for ideas about how you could go about this in your area.