A birthplace of modern England
2023: A rural capital of culture in four seasons
Art | Drama | Music | Poetry | Storytelling | Literature | Festival | Archive
Our Mission
We are dedicated to celebrating our local communities’ artistic and cultural capital, along with the physical landscape of the Sinodun Hills, through education, outreach and festivals.
We aim to do this through:
Education and Outreach. We will run inspirational workshops, training, guest lectures, performances, school projects and exhibitions that will empower our communities to create their own cultural capital. We will provide festival opportunities to celebrate our culture throughout the year.
Excellence. We will provide opportunities for our communities to access international artists of every discipline, and to workshop with local practitioners who have also benefitted from this experience, creating opportunities for the highest quality cultural work to exist and be supported throughout the year.
Celebration. We will run exhibitions, festivals, community gatherings, crowd-sourced sharing that will showcase Sinodun creativity in all its breadth and diversity. We will promote this both within and outside of our communities to the widest possible audience, enabling a platform of genuine impact for local communities.
Archive. We will create a web-based archive that captures our communities’ memories through photos, audio, video, and text. Our archive will display exhibitions that can be curated by the user – a searchable database of Sinodun’s history designed to display our heritage whether the memories are from winter tobogganing, Remembrance Day, or the day Didcot cooling towers were demolished!
Why here?
The Sinodun hills are an area of extraordinary importance through several eras of English history. The hills can convincingly claim to be an epicentre of modern England. The great hall of Wessex was located at Long Wittenham, and the strategic power of the Gewisse king Cynegils, and influence of Bishop Birinus, created a power centre around Sinodun that resonated for centuries. In palaeolithic times, the area was home to a settled inhabitancy and was an important centre for European pilgrimage. The evidence of a vast double-ringed henge, circus route and numerous burial chambers speak of a period of history where the Sinodun hills were a place of international importance. Roman occupation saw Dorchester rise to national importance, and the establishment of its abbey in the 11th century ensured Dorchester’s influence and reach for further centuries. In Crowmarsh Gifford, Jethro Tull’s invention of the horse drawn seed drill gave birth to the agricultural revolution of the 18th century and set a wider context for the industrial revolution to follow. As well, Sinodun is a place of artistic and literary excellence, and the work of Paul Nash, Patrick Keiller, and Peter Adamson are just snapshots of the inspiration that Sinodun invokes. Our mission is to ensure that this cultural celebration continues, and that our shared cultural heritage makes our communities richer and more deeply imbedded into England’s history and landscape.
Who we are
Jason Debney
Jason leads the Rewilding Arcadia project for the Royal Parks and is a dedicated local advocate for and resident of Brightwell cum Sotwell. He has authored the last two parish neighbourhood plans and sits on the parish council. With his wife Alison, he has three children who attend the village school and is a committed community enabler of cultural activity, not least as the founder of England’s largest practising Wassail. Born and raised in the village, Jason grew up with Sinodun as his first universe.
Jill Battson
Jill is a published and Juno Award-nominated poet of international importance and has contributed notable projects such as Dark Star Requiem and Hard Candy. She currently works as a senior fundraiser and is integral to the Henge 22 festival (link) as well as being a key trustee for Sinodun.
Link
Adrian Brooks
Please fill this in
Link to Adrian’s stuff
Dionne Freeman
With over 18 years’ experience working as an arts educator across a broad range of educational and community settings. Dionne’s practice focuses on working with others, sharing skills and enabling projects for people to express themselves and communicate through the arts. Dionne likes to use her expressive approaches to explore, experiment, inspire, engage and enthuse others. Dionne is the visual arts coordinator for HENGE and her passion for sharing the beauty and access to local cultural landscapes continue through her commitment to Sinodun.
Link to Dionne’s stuff
Jane McDonald
JAne
Stephen Eyre
Stephen is a composer and is the CEO of Sinodun Hills Community Group. His work forms the soundscape for the Henge 22 Festival, and he will be composing for Sinodun 23. Stephen has been a teacher for the University of Oxford and a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and has a keen interest in the community archive aspect of Sinodun. Born and raised in south Oxfordshire, Stephen grew up with Wittenham clumps and Sinodun as part of his childhood identity.
Janet Haylett
Janet bio – please fill in
Links
Chris Baines
Chris is a photographer and filmmaker and was involved with Henge 19. He runs a website about the artist Paul Nash and his connection with the Wittenham Clumps and recently published a book, Pyramids in England: Paul Nash and the Wittenham Clumps. He lives in Brightwell cum Sotwell.
Ed Metcalfe
Ed Metcalfe, please fill in
Links
Henge Festival 