4 October 2025 – 24 January 2026

The beguiling landscape and ancient history of Wiltshire has inspired a new exhibition curated by the renowned artist, archaeologist and broadcaster, Dr Rose Ferraby.

Featuring brand new work by Ferraby, alongside pieces by celebrated artists including Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Norman Ackroyd and Julian Trevelyan, Downland: Art and the Archaeological Imagination in Wiltshire traces the relationship between the ancient past and our creative imaginations.

Uffington by Rose Ferraby. Painted collage. (c) Rose Ferraby. Photographed by Nidd Imaging.

The rolling chalk downs and mysterious ancient monuments – from colossal standing stones to Iron Age hillforts – have for centuries fascinated, challenged and, beguiled archaeologists, tourists and artists.

The geological heft of Wiltshire and its sculptural chalk hillsides, allow particular ways of seeing the varied and plentiful archaeology in the landscape; from prehistory to the present day. Evidence of past lives can be seen etched into the chalk via aerial photographs, whilst other remains are harder to see. Downland explores these visible and hidden narratives, celebrating the archaeologist’s eye.

Not least, the renowned artist and archaeologist, Dr Rose Ferraby, who has curated and created artworks for Wiltshire Museum’s new exhibition that asks how art and archaeology inspire one another, allowing us to see and understand the landscape in new ways.

Rose Ferraby drawing at Stonehenge. Photograph by Jennifer Wexler. (c) Jennifer Wexler.

Downland: Art and the Archaeological Imagination in Wiltshire features new works by Ferraby – including screenprints, paintings and relief prints, juxtaposed with books, lithographs, prints, paintings, drawings and maps drawn from Wiltshire Museum’s own collection. Exploring themes around chalk earthworks, stone monuments, ancient artefacts and Wiltshire’s natural history, the exhibition flows between the work of other artists and archaeologists who have inspired Ferraby’s own work. Highlights include lithographs by Henry Moore (1898-1986), two prints of Stonehenge by Julian Trevelyan (1910-1988), including one that is little known, a dummy book designed by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942), a print and stained-glass window by John Piper (1903-1992), a print by Paul Nash (1889-1946), and etchings by Norman Ackroyd (1938-2024), to whom the exhibition is dedicated.

“There’s something about the way these artists approach the archaeology of Wiltshire that captures material heft and the wonder we feel for them; a spirit of place that continues to draw us to this landscape and its monuments” says Ferraby.

Downland also features a painting by Thomas Guest (1754–1818), who emerged from almost complete obscurity nearly a century after his death when four of his paintings of grave goods unearthed at Winterslow, Wiltshire, were reproduced in an article published in the Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in 1938.

Landscape of the Megaliths, 1937, by Paul Nash. Image supplied courtesy of Wiltshire Museum.

“For archaeologists, Wiltshire is very important,” says Ferraby. “It’s a county whose sites inspired the thinking that helped create archaeology as a discipline. It is full of stories, not just of the deep past, but also of the archaeologists who have gone before us. The exhibition is a chance to dig into these narratives, and create work that celebrates archaeologists as well as the archaeology itself.”

With interest in history arguably at an all-time high, aided by hit TV shows ranging from the comedy Detectorists, the long-running archaeology series Digging for Britain and Ferraby’s own popular BBC Radio 3 series Earthworks, Downland will give visitors a fresh opportunity to reconnect with the Wiltshire landscape.

“My ambition is that the exhibition inspires people to go and explore the sites that feature in the exhibition, and revisit the collections in the museum. There is so much archaeology to enjoy and explore in Wiltshire, and it’s more important than ever that we understand and care for our archaeology and landscapes.”

Ferraby is interested in how the process of making art echoes archaeology too. She notes: “In a way, printmaking is like archaeology in reverse. Where in an excavation I’m peeling layers away, in a print I’m laying them back down onto the paper. Each tells a story of time, each relies on our ability to understand colour, texture and meaning in the earth.”

 Desire Lines by Rose Ferraby 2025. Painted collage. (c) Rose Ferraby. Photographed by Nidd Imaging. 

“Working with Rose has been exciting,” says David Dawson, Director of Wiltshire Museum. “She has brought a whole new perspective to our amazing collections, uncovering previously unseen artworks, many of which were created to record archaeological excavations and fieldwork.

“The exhibition was sparked by Tim Schadla-Hall, who sadly died in 2023. His immense passion was teaching public archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology in London and he inspired us to uncover the art hidden in the archaeological archives of our nationally important collections.”

A catalogue to accompany the exhibition, published by St Jude’s, will be available in the museum shop and via the museum’s website. For more information about Downland: Art and the Archaeological Imagination in Wiltshire please visit www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk