Jerusalem – the play by Jez Butterworth – is set in the village of Flintock, which is based on the Wiltshire village of Pewsey. It has been described as being one of the best plays of all time. It features the story of Johnny Byron, based on the real life Pewsey character, Micky Lay.

Synopsis (from Wikipedia)

On St. Georges Day, morning of the local county fair in Wiltshire, Johnny “Rooster” Byron, local ‘waster’ and modern-day Pied Piper, is a wanted man. The council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his young son wants him to take him to the fair, Troy Whitworth wants to give him a serious kicking, and a motley crew of mates want his ample supply of drugs and alcohol.

The play is full of references to the local area, and is set in a part real, part imagined landscape in the tradition of Thomas Hardy.

At the request of a teacher from a school in the West Midlands, we ran a short session as part of a visit to the ancient landscapes so often referenced in the play. This included a short discussion on the colourful local background to the play and before discovering links in the Museum collections and displays. The visit included Avebury, Silbury Hill and Stonehenge (book a free education visit), as well as exploring the village of Pewsey and the National Landscape of the North Wessex Downs.

Some key references in the play are:-

• Wessex flag depicting a gold Wyvern on a red background. Discussion of the Saxon kingdom and Thomas Hardy’s Wessex (p.12)
• Kennet and Avon Council – in real life, the Kennet and Avon District Council, which was amalgamated into Wiltshire Council in 2009 (p.13)
• Flintock Fair – held on St George’s Day. The exuberant Pewsey Carnival is held in mid-September. (p.16)
• Moonrakers legend (p.19)
• King Arthur – probably a refernce to Arthur Pendragon (p.37)
• South Wiltshire Police – in real life the Wiltshire Police (p.48)
• Ley line running between Avebury – Silbury Hill – Stonehenge – Glastonbury via Pewsey. This is far from being a straight line on a map! (p.79)
• no man was laid in his barrow – reference to the Bronze Age burial mounds that can be seen across Wiltshire, such as Bush Barrow – Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial (p.108)

Page numbers refer to the 2021 edition published by Nick Hern Books – a copy of which is held in our collections.