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Nestling in a wooded crook of Hampshire downland, Butser Ancient Farm is an unusual place because it is neither a historic site nor a museum, it is a real working farm. But, as you immediately notice when you visit, the farm is very different to any other in the late 20th century. It is the only place in western Europe where prehistoric livestock, cereals and other plants are presented, along with fields and fences, Iron Age Houses and buildings.

However, Butser Ancient Farm is really an open air research laboratory where the ancient world of the Celts and Romans is being explored. Based on evidence from archaeological excavations of prehistoric sites in Britain and the rest of north-west Europe research work is an attempt to find out more about the agricultural and domestic life of the Celtic Iron Age. The Farm provides full scale research facilities as well as a unique experience for visitors, and an excellent teaching environment.

A visit to the farm usually begins with a short talk in the big roundhouse , a dark and atmospheric interior where the children's imaginations are immediately activated.. That's followed by a tour around the farm where visitors are shown the main enclosure, and the fields where they are introduced to the animals, whilst being given an explanation about the kind of work done at the farm. Visitors are also shown the other structures of the farm: the storage pits and huts, the goat house, the other smaller roundhouses, and the Roman Villa currently being constructed, the first of its kind built in Britain since the Romans were here.