The forecast did not bode well with heavy rain and strong winds forecast for Saturday 4^th October however, all turned out really well with just a few drops of rain when we explored the sarsen train at Lockeridge. Following a brief explanation of sarsen formation and use the group enjoyed a good look at these iconic stones looking for root holes and trapped iron wedges left behind when the masons tried to split them.

The evidence of sarsens was throughout the village of Lockeridge where they had been broken up for construction of buildings and walls. We saw random shaped sarsens in the older cottages built before the cutting technology arrived on the Marlborough Downs, brought by masons from the Chilterns further east.

In 1847 several families moved to the Marlborough area to take advantage of the many sarsens available on the Downs. Henry Free and others brought the technology for cutting the very hard sarsens into dressed cubes in 1847 so some buildings may be dated by this feature. Lockeridge would have had lots of masons working locally, with their pub, The Masons Arms, now a private cottage.

Following a pleasant walk through the village to the local pub, ‘The Who’d a thought it’, we held our AGM before enjoying a very pleasant lunch there.