Roman catapult to be unveiled for first time at South Downs’ event
August 28, 2015
A Roman siege engine called an onager – potentially capable of firing a 4.5kg weight more than 360 metres – will get its first public demonstration at the Secrets of the Heath event in Hampshire on 5 and 6 September. Petersfield Heath will be invaded with the sights and sounds of 3000 years’ history over the two days including mediaeval warriors, a highwaywoman, Saxons and civil war veterans.
The onager, named after a type of wild horse, would have been used towards the end of the Roman Empire to destroy town and city walls by firing large rounded boulders,. But this one, measuring 1.8m in height, will be loaded with old vegetables and fired every hour, on the hour over the two days.
Ryan Watts is an Experimental Archaeologist at Butser Ancient Farm and is the creative mind behind the Roman onager. Ryan said:
“This is the onager’s first public outing, although for safety reasons we will be conducting secret testing beforehand. There has not been much work done on this type of machine before – especially one this size, which we think is the biggest in the country. According to our calculations we think it could throw a 10lb object 400yds – although this might be underestimating the size of our machine!”
Laura Warren, event manager for the South Downs National Park Authority, said:
“This is always a popular event and we’ve had to think quite carefully about how we test the catapult because we don’t want to waste food. Ryan is asking local supermarkets if they have any old cauliflowers or cabbages which are no longer edible. Or people can bring along their own old veg on the day.”
Another new activity this year will be an archaeological roadshow where people can bring in their own archaeological finds, from flints to Roman coins. Experts from Petersfield Museum will identify them and will also be conducting a live archaeological dig of an ancient sewer over the weekend of the event.
On Saturday night there will be a a stargazing party as well as the popular bat walk.
Laura Warren continued:
“We’re very excited see these new attractions at this year’s event as well as all the great characters that people have got to know and love over the past three years we’ve been running this event.
“Come and find out how people have lived and worked the heath over thousands of years and how you can play your part today.”
Secrets of the Heath is organised by the South Downs National Park Authority with its partners; the Wildlife Trust, the National Trust, the RSPB, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Petersfield Museum and Petersfield Town Council.