Wander freely among the stones at this World Heritage site, a stone circle so big it includes a whole village.

Avebury is megalithic design on a massive scale - at its peak it consisted of two stone circles enclosed within a much larger circle of huge standing stones. This all stood within a ditch 9m deep hewn from the chalky soil, with the spoil from the ditch raised into a 4m high bank. Two avenues of standing stones ran from the monument. One, called Beckhampton Avenue, ran eastwards, though curving to the south. This is no longer visible on the ground. The other, Kennet Avenue, runs south, then veering to the south-east. Much of this is still extant for about 500m from the circle itself , and the avenue consists of pairs of rectangular shaped stones set opposite lozenge-shaped ones.

You get a real sense of the ambitious scale at Avebury because not only does the monument cover a large area, much more than the more famous Stonehenge, but you can also walk freely among the stones, many of them much taller than the visitors. Most visitors will arrive at the National Trust car park and walk down a short path to enter the circle by the local road entering the monument from the west. As you cross the ditch and bank and look to the left you will see the most complete part fo the circle-henge with many of the stones intact. The grandness of the site is even visible on Google maps

A walk down Kennet Avenue is also evocative, particularly walking in the direction of the stone circle. The bulders have set the approach so that the circle-henge seems to appear quite suddenly, as it is hidden by the lie of the land until you are quite close.

History

The first stones were raised about 2800BC and work continued on raising the stones over the next five centuries. Over the millennia since Avebury was last used , it has suffered many depredations by local people. One of the most useful superstions were those introduced by Christianity, which saw such grandiose evidence of a different religious urge as a threat, and caused mediaeval parishioners to bury the stones by toppling them into in shallow pits dug in front of them. This preserved many stones out of sight against being plundered for building material, though a fair amount of the stones ended up in local buildings.

The first detailed study of Avebury was carried out by John Aubrey (1626-97), who was sufficiently impressed to observe:

Avebury does "as much excell Stonehenge as a Cathedral does a parish church."

The next observer, William Stukely, saw first-hand the villagers destroying the monument for easy building stone, and his detailed plan made in 1724 shows a much more complete monument that the one we see today. He also describes how the villagers used fire to try and break up the stones to a more convenient size for their barns and cottages.

In 1930 a Scottish aristocrat Alexander Keiller purchased Avebury and much of the land, and began to move some of the clutter village out of the henge, creating the nearby settlement of Avebury Trusloe. This approach to conservation would be contentious now, but fortunately for visitors his work in clearing clutter from the site makes appreciating the monument a lot easier. He undertook a lot of painstaking and carefully documented archaeological work, before raising many of the stones buried by the mediaeval zealots. The Second World War interrupted his work, but it continued after the war, and after Keiller died Avebury was left to the National Trust.

The Barber-surgeon

One of the more macabre of Keiller's finds was the skeleton one unlucky individual known as the barber-surgeon, who was buried when the stone fell on top of him (there is some speculation that he may have been dead before the stone covered him). With him were found a pair of scissors and some 14th century coins.

The National Trust Keiller museum located in the village is worth visiting, and the Henge Shop has an interesting collection of books about the site in its collection. The Red Lion pub serves food and offers accommodation, all entirely within the stone circle!

Children of the Stones TV series

Avebury featured to dramatic effect in the 1977s ITV series Children Of The Stones. Set in the fictional village of Milbury, featuring the stone circle. Much of the action was set in Avebury Manor.

Nearby Attractions

Silbury Hill - A large conical man-made hill, is nearby and worth a viewing, though you cannot now go onto the hill for fear of visitors eroding the site. However, from the viewpoint you can marvel at the grand nature of the Bronze Age planners.

West Kennett Long Barrow

Windmill Hill - several bronze-age round barrows. Good panoramic view of the Avebury region including Silbury Hill

Marlborough - nearby market town and a good place to eat

References

Prehistoric Avebury, Second Ed, Aubrey Burl, Yale UP 2002 ISBN 0300090870

Children of the Stones DVD, Second Sight, 2NDVD 3039