Under the Eye of the Buttercross
Historic England is continuing support for cultural events in Swaffham between March 2023 and March 2024.
This year the Cultural Consortium is led by the Friends of Swaffham Heritage and the focus will be on the Market Place. The aims are to:
tell the story of the Market Place in ways which are entertaining and informative
provide opportunities for people to volunteer, learn new skills and make new friends
bring the whole town together through gatherings in the Market Place
make the most of the Market Place and the surrounding area for both local residents of - and visitors to - Swaffham
And why have we called this year “Under the Eye of the Buttercross”?
The iconic monument, topped with the figure of Ceres, Roman goddess of agriculture, has welcomed visitors to Swaffham for 240 years this year. What has she looked over and guarded since she was hoisted up in 1783?
Looking back at 22 and casting an eye on 23
The work of the Cultural Consortium
The Swaffham Cultural Consortium grew out of a working group put together by Swaffham Heritage to celebrate Howard Carter and the centenary of his discovery of the town of Tutankhamun in 1922.
By chance, this proposal coincided with a successful grant by Breckland for Swaffham as part of the Historic England’s High Street/Heritage Action Zone Initiative. From this Swaffham received a grant from Historic England for events in the Marketplace during 2022 and 2023 which would bring people together, enhance the knowledge of the history of the town and boost the use of the space.
The little working group was strengthened and converted into the Consortium with organisations and individuals from the Town Council, town organisations and interested individuals coming together to provide a programme of events around the Carter theme.
The town came together to create over 300 mosaic tiles to form a pyramid which is now installed in front of the Methodist Church.
We held a hugely supported dig on Campingland of over 100 people in blistering sun and scorched earth to find sherds of pottery going back to the Bronze Age and bits and pieces from the eras thereafter. The finds will shortly arrive back in the town after being verified by experts.
Three’s Company and Friends delighted a capacity audience with an irreverent look at Tut, Howard and donkey. It was so popular they did a repeat performance and raised a large amount for local charities.
There was a writers’ workshop and a Tentmakers of Cairo talk and exhibition.
Talks on Howard and the Carter connection with Swaffham and the nearby villages were taken county wide.
The one sadness was the death of the Queen which meant that we cancelled the Sunday Funday and the Teddy pharaoh zipwire. It will be back!
In 2023 the Consortium, now under the leadership of The Friends of Swaffham Heritage, is focusing on events which dwell on the iconic historic Marketplace itself.
Details of the events, photos and videos as well as bits of history can all be found on this website.
