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England
The Longstone CoveStanding Stones
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Another road crossing and I'm heading for the Longstones Cove. My previous December visit found them in a glittering frost-scape, now they sit in yellow summer flowers under an ominous sky (it's getting closer). I don't go up to the stones, which are fenced off and I'm not sure how welcome visitors are, so instead I head off to Longstones long barrow. This is a huge mound, the trees that used to crown it now gone. Another impressive (round) barrow is visible at nearby Penning Barn, but today is about the stones and I can't get particularly excited about either of these barrows. Back to Adam and Eve via the muddy byway that heads up Windmill Hill and back into Avebury, pausing to note the intriguing sarsen wall around the front garden of Swan Cottage. I wonder where those stones came from, eh? This post appears as part of the weblog entry On the buses (and trains) – Pt 2 Avebury
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Posted by thesweetcheat12th August 2010ce |
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Visited 15.7.10. Hoorah! after driving past on many occasions, I actually got to have a proper visit at last. Easy to access (first left after the A4361/A361/A4 roundabout) and you can park very close to the stones. There is a wire fence to climb through but it is easy and 30 seconds later you are at the stones. Although they look big from a distance, they are HUGE when you get up close - much bigger than I expected. Definitely one to visit. |
Posted by CARL 20th July 2010ce |
| I just thought I'd add, in relation to the posts below, that having visited the Cove in May 2009, there is now no wire or fence, and the field has open access from Nash Road. The area around the stones is uncultivated, and the large dog that loiters nearby is very friendly! |
Posted by NightGirl12th May 2009ce |
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There are some strange patches of lichen, that made me think that someone has been painting the stones with yoghurt. These are massive, Adam especially is on par with the Swindon stone and the Devil's Chair. As Moth says, the access is decent, we asked at the farm, no probs they said, we got an oversized 3wheeler buggy over the wire easily, no gate though so wheelchairs would be a bit more problematical. Got buzzed by an attack 'copter, the airspace around here is full of contraptions. |
Posted by Hob30th August 2004ce |
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Access visible from the road and on reasonably even flat ground. Very short walk. May be in crop at some times. Monday 15 September 2003 To find the stones follow Julian's instructions in the big papery TMA. If you don't have the book and are not too ashamed, Kammer has reproduced the directions here. When we visited there were 2 active excavation pits. But by the time we arrived the excavations had finished for the day and there were just a few people stood around chatting and a very 'professional-looking' (for want of better words) dowser...well, dowsing...! The excavations and the resulting piles of rubble gave the place a bit of a bizarre feel, making it feel almost like we were in the middle of a quarry rather than a very well cultivated field! But, oh what stones these are!! This was another site I had been looking forward to visiting for some time, ever since I discovered that it wasn't the same 'Cove' as I'd visited at Avebury itself 8 or more years before. (Yes, I'd got the wrong end of the stick at some point!!! Just call me ThickyMoth.) I wasn't disappointed!!! With the sun getting pretty low, the light on the heavily textured and pitted stones (especially the larger, squarer 'Adam') was stunning and beautiful. And it's just so easy to imagine the Beckhampton Avenue stretching off back towards Avebury. If only we didn't have to imagine.... This post appears as part of the weblog entry Moth flies south - part 1
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Posted by Moth30th September 2003ce Edited 1st October 2003ce |
| Surprised to see only a few entries to the old cove here. My first visit here in 99 was magical. As we approached the stones a December storm was brewing-the sky a boiling of black whilst the sun shone apon the stoney pair making them shine white against the apocalyptic backdrop. It looked very dramatic and made the stones seem even more lonely and special- glad to still be there and undaunted by the attention their avebury cousins get. I stayed until the rain really hammered( A double memory for me too as this was when my old para boots finally expired) The many miles took their toll- At Longstone Cove I lost my sole (sorry,sorry...) |
Posted by thebaz 26th August 2003ce |
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Visited 29th December 2002: We cleverly ignored the directions to the site in the Modern Antiquarian, and for a short while I thought we wouldn't be able to get anywhere near the stones. Then I remembered the book, and it turned out to be easy. There were winter crops in the field surrounding the stones, and there's no public footpath, so we couldn't get very close. I'm dying to take a better look, so we'll be back in 2003 for another try. |
Posted by Kammer14th January 2003ce Edited 10th November 2003ce |
| Well would you Adam and Eve it (v. poor), we're in spitting distance of Avebury and we've got the stones all to our selves. Easy access and and well worth stopping off post Avebury. |
Posted by dickie5th September 2000ce Edited 31st December 2002ce |
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'Adam' fell on December 2nd, 1911. "The Wiltshire Archaeological Society decided to re-erect the stone, with the object of averting from it, as far as may be, a fate similar to that which befell the third member of the group*, on the principle that a stone standing is more likely to be respected than one fallen." Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Cunnington with their two labourers found various sarsen packing stones in the hole, with a herringbone-patterned beaker and the remains of a skeleton close by. 108. The Discovery of a Skeleton and "Drinking Cup" at Avebury M. E. Cunnington Man > Vol. 12 (1912), pp. 200-203 |
Posted by Rhiannon16th October 2006ce |
I can't really improve on Julian's directions to Adam and Eve (the ones he gives in the Modern Antiquarian book), so here they are:At Beckhampton roundabout, take the A361 to Avebury and Swindon. After 200 yards , turn immediately left at '60s farm cottages and take the road straight on. Adam & Eve are in the field ahead.As far as I can see there is no public access to the stones, but if there aren't any crops in the field you could chance it and take a closer look. |
Posted by Kammer 20th January 2003ce Edited 7th October 2004ce |
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Stonehenge-Avebury NetThis page shows Stukeley's imagined reconstruction of the cove on the Beckhampton avenue. He believed 'Adam' was the remaining stone of the cove - in his day there was another stone nearby that was fallen, and he knew a third was 'already defroyed by Richd. Fowler'. Eve is not part of the cove, but a remaining stone of the avenue. |
Posted by Rhiannon 12th November 2004ce Edited 12th November 2004ce |
The H.M.J. Underhill ArchiveA magic lantern slide from the H.M.J. Underhill Archive showing Adam and Eve in the late 19th Century. |
Posted by Kammer 7th October 2004ce |
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