Major conference will celebrate 30 years of Avebury’s World Heritage Site status

A major conference this autumn will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Avebury becoming a World Heritage Site.

Stonehenge and Avebury became one of the first seven sites across the globe to be awarded World Heritage Site status by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1986.

The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.

During 2016, English Heritage, the National Trust, the Wiltshire Museum, CBA Wessex and the RSPB and others are all helping to celebrate this anniversary with events taking place throughout the year.

The highlight will be a conference taking place in Devizes on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November.

Speakers will include Dr Alison Sheridan (National Museums of Scotland), Dr Serge Cassen (University of Nantes), Professor Tim Darvill (University of Bournemouth), Professor Vince Gaffney (University of Bradford), Dr Josh Pollard (University of Southampton), and archaeologist and TV presenter Julian Richards.

The Conference will aim to celebrate the achievements of the past 30 years and look forward to what further discoveries may be found in the future.

The conference will also celebrate the significant achievements of the past 30 years, including:

• The preservation of 750 hectares of land as pasture to protect fragile archaeological remains and enhance biodiversity.
• The stabilisation and conservation of Silbury Hill in 2007, making good the work undertaken by antiquarians of the 18th and 19th centuries and archaeologists of the mid 20th century.
• The publication of the first joint Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Management Plan in May last year.

For more information about the conference, or to book a place, log on to www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org/30th-anniversary-conference