Image credit: A. Brookes (10.6.2023)
Images
Image credit: A. Brookes (10.6.2023)
Five minutes later I was caught by probably the heaviest downpour I’ve ever been outside in.
Image credit: A. Brookes (10.6.2023)
Stone in the NW quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (10.6.2023)
The NW quadrant, generally the part of the circle I visit the least.
Image credit: A. Brookes (10.6.2023)
Newspaper clipping regarding crop marks from barrows or similar within the outer circle at Avebury, taken from the Western Morning News, 31 January 1996, p3.
Image credit: Western Morning News
I would’ve spent the next couple of hours considerably less wet if, before rushing off up Overton Down, I’d paid more attention to the big weather front bringing sleet on the left, than to the little patch of blue on the right.
Image credit: A. Brookes (19.12.2020)
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
Looking towards Waden Hill.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
The southeast quadrant and iconic beeches.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
Pristine snow in the northeast quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.2.2019)
Sunset, 10th December 2018.
Image credit: David Cook
Star light/car light
Image credit: A R Cane
Misty, muddy Midwinter.
Image credit: A. Brookes (22.12.2017)
NW quadrant of the outer circle.
Image credit: A. Brookes (22.9.2017)
The Swindon stone.
Image credit: A. Brookes (22.9.2017)
SE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (26.3.2017)
Stone 73, next to the eastern entrance, polished smooth – by sliding?
Image credit: A. Brookes (26.3.2017)
Stone of the northeastern quadrant: northern stone circle, cove and outer ring.
Image credit: A. Brookes (26.3.2017)
One of the survivors of the northern inner circle.
Image credit: A. Brookes (26.3.2017)
Avebury from near the top of Windmill hill.
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
The quiet end of the henge
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
The Mushroom stone, from this angle anyway, one of my favourite Avebury stones.
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
Sunrise from the south east bit of the henge. 22.12.2016
Image credit: Chris Bickerton
From ‘The Beauties of Wiltshire’ volume 3, 1825.
Image credit: Britton / Havell / Martin
From ‘The Town, College and Neighbourhood of Malborough’ by F E Hulme (1881).
Image credit: .
Image credit: Detail Avebury Stone Circle-Tim Knight-Secret Landscape Photography
A possible design for Avebury: a modified Oval. From ‘Stone Circle Design and Measurement’ by G.J. Bath.
Image credit: G.J.Bath
Open Source Environment agency LIDAR
Image credit: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015.
Panorama of big stones and long shadows, late September.
Image credit: A R Cane
Early evening Autumn sunlight.
Image credit: A R Cane
In the excitement of the stones, it’s easy to forget how big and impressive the henge is.
Image credit: A. Brookes (6.9.2015)
Image credit: A. Brookes (6.9.2015)
Barber Stone.
Image credit: A. Brookes (6.9.2015)
Panorama of the South East quadrant with possibly the best bit of the ditch.
Image credit: A R Cane
22/03/2015 – The comings and goings at Avebury
Avebury Labyrinth 2014
Image credit: Chance - Nov 2014
Avebury Labyrinth 2014
Image credit: Chance - Nov 2014
Avebury Labyrinth 2014
Image credit: Chance - Nov 2014
Image credit: Chance - Nov 2014
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: A. Brookes (16.2.2014)
Image credit: A. Brookes (7.2.2014)
Flint nodule in one of the stones of the SE quadrant inner circle.
Image credit: A. Brookes (7.9.2013)
One of the remaining stones in the SE quadrant inner circle.
Image credit: A. Brookes (7.9.2013)
NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (7.9.2013)
The NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (7.9.2013)
Image credit: Chance - June 2013
Encaustic watercolor by Anne Mavor
14” x 13”
www.annemavor.com
Image credit: Avebury Stones, Red
May 2013
Image credit: Michael Mitchell
May 2013
Image credit: Michael Mitchell
May 2013
Image credit: Michael Mitchell
Image credit: texlahoma
July 2013
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: Chance - June 2009
From the bank, looking west over the SE sector.
Image credit: ruskus
Stamp issuer, Blacksmoker, Timelord, Justified Ancient and King of Low Frequency... Jimi Cauty’s lovely Athena Poster of Avebury.
Image credit: Howburn Digger's Athena Collection
This is the picture from the TV series “Children of the Stones”
Image credit: Les Matthews
Image credit: Gingertrailertrash
Image credit: Gingertrailertrash
Image credit: Gingertrailertrash
Image credit: Gingertrailertrash
Image credit: Gingertrailertrash
The Swindon Stone.
Image credit: A. Brookes (15.12.2012)
A hard rain’s gonna fall. Stones of the NE circle/horseshoe.
Image credit: A. Brookes (15.12.2012)
The recent rain has threatened to turn the NE ditch into a moat.
Image credit: A. Brookes (15.12.2012)
Winter trees, SE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (15.12.2012)
Winter bank and ditch, SE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (15.12.2012)
7th September 2012.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
Outer stone circle.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
Outer stone circle.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
The Barber Stone.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012.
Flock around the rock.
Image credit: David Cook
7th September 2012
“...the great cermonial centres of 5,000 years ago were landscape temples open to the sky... For the roofing of a temple is far more than just a psychological disservice to Humanity – it is actually closing off the heavens, the cosmic part of the human psyche which endeavours to ‘reach for the stars.’”
Julian Cope, The Modern Antiquarian
Image credit: David Cook
Image credit: James "Sunbird" Carrington
Image credit: James "Sunbird" Carrington
SW Quadrant
Image credit: tjj
SW Quadrant stones
Image credit: tjj
The bank and ditch of the SE Quadrant
Image credit: tjj
NE Quadrant stone
Image credit: tjj
The Cove in the NE Quadrant with the inner circle stone showing centre.
Image credit: tjj
7/1/12
Image credit: texlahoma
7/1/12
Image credit: texlahoma
7/1/12
Image credit: texlahoma
Image credit: Gingertrailertrash
Huge fallen slab in the NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
Small sarsen in the NE quadrant. This is likely to have been the size of many of the “missing” stones of the circles – easier to topple or carry away than their larger companions.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
Stones of the northern “circle” in the NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
Northern “circle”, NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
NW quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
In the NW quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.5.2011)
Stones of the southern inner circle.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2011)
An arc of cloud mirrors the curve of the henge.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2011)
The bank of the NE quadrant, approaching along the Herepath.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2011)
More graffiti at Avebury.
Image credit: Mike Murray
Idiots at work in Avebury again.
Image credit: Mike Murray
The SE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.12.10)
Circle, NE quandrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.12.10)
Looking westwards across the SE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (28.12.2010)
The Cove
Image credit: Photobabe
Male and Female stones West Kennet Long Barrow
The Avenue
Storm over Avebury
solstice Avebury 2010
Avebury stone circle & ring with Avebury Trusloe in the foreground... Just think, can I see your house from here?
Image credit: Photobabe
The Ring...
Image credit: Photobabe
Picket Barrow, atop Windmill Hill, as seen from the Northern entrance. The Horse Chestnut trees in the fore ground, planted by Alexander Keiller in the 1930’s. had become infected and were removed giving a clear view.
Image credit: Chance - March 21 2010
Stones 1 and 98 in the right foreground, the stones of the southwestern quadrant on the left.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
The large stones of the Southern Circle, looking south. Waden Hill rises on the right skyline.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
The Ring Stone, with the Southern Circle behind.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Stones 98 and 1, near the southern entrance.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
The Barber Stone (foreground) and other stones in the SW quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
The NW quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
The Swindon Stone.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Looking across a rain-swept NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Stone 50, the most northerly stone in the NE quadrant.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
The largely stone-free NE quadrant of the henge.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Stone in the lost northeastern circle.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Fallen stone 73, near the eastern entrance.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Gnarly stones of the Central Circle, in the NE quadrant. The gap in the background is the northern entrance, with the Swindon Stone to the left of it.
Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
Image credit: earthstone
Avebury summer solstice 2010
Image credit: earthstone
Image credit: earthstone
The Stones of Avebury
Beech Trees on the edge of Avebury
Image credit: Anna Dillon
Image credit: Arcturus
Image credit: Arcturus
A study to show the scale of the ‘male’ stone at the cove.
Image credit: Arcturus
A shot taken of the cove to illustrate the scale of these stones...
Image credit: Arcturus
A coach penetrating deep into the sacred heart of the avebury complex,never right!
Image credit: Arcturus
Mystical places II...
Image credit: Arcturus
‘Silence’,taken on the avenue.
Image credit: Arcturus
Taken from the crest of the avenue,looking towards the church in avebury village. Paganism meets christianity...
Image credit: Arcturus
An artistic photographic portrayal of ‘Spirit of the stones’ taken at the main Avebury complex.
Image credit: Arcturus
Circle with the Barber Stone in foreground
Image credit: d-rider
Avebury henge
Image credit: listerinepree
The daddy, sorry, mother of all circle-henges... that’s some ditch!
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image credit: Chance - 2009
Image credit: Chance - 2009
Stone 30 gets isolated for it’s own good
Image credit: Chance - 2009
Image credit: Photobabe
..and yes I was caught in another snowstorm!
Image credit: Photobabe
Old and new, ancient and modern side by side.
Image credit: Photobabe
From inside the ring, looking out.
Image credit: Photobabe
Image credit: Photobabe
30 Dec 08: freezing fog covering Salisbury Plain, minus 2 degrees when we arrived at 2:30, shivering and running to keep warm but pleased to be back at old Avebury after several years’ absence. Going round anticlockwise, entering the NE quadrant.
Image credit: Copyright waived UncleRob
30 Dec 08: freezing fog covering Salisbury Plain, minus 2 degrees when we arrived at 2:30, shivering and running to keep warm but pleased to be back at old Avebury after several years’ absence. Looking west across the SE quadrant.
Image credit: Copyright waived UncleRob
The frost melting in the ditch of the henge
Image credit: A.Brookes (7.12.2008)
Fair fall on thee the morning light. Avebury from the south-east quadrant.
Image credit: Littlestone
South-east quadrant in winter.
Image credit: Littlestone
An image from a much changed Avebury. The “Druid Stones” in this picture are stone number 44 and the remaining portal stone from the Northern entrance, number 46 – The Swindon Stone.
The southern side of Stone No. 4 with it’s yoni symbolism of strange tiny rings and U-shapes.
Image credit: Chance - Aug 08
A chilling photograph of one of several defaced stones in the Avenue at Avebury taken twelve years ago. The sackcloth is not part of the vandalism, it was used by conservators from Bristol University to cover the stones while the graffiti was removed.
Image credit: Littlestone
Fossilized root channel and remains in a stone in the S. Circle.
(Spaceship Mark pointed this out)
Image credit: Jimit June 08
Fossilized root remains in a stone in the S. Circle.
(Spaceship Mark pointed this out)
Image credit: Jimit June 08
Stone in S circle with fossilized root channels and remains.
(Spaceship Mark pointed this out)
Image credit: Jimit June 08
Avebury.. on that same fine spring day... when you wish upon a cloud...
Image credit: Photobabe
Avebury on the same fine spring day...
Image credit: Photobabe
The “Happy Day” Stone and the Church.
One of the polystyrene stones used on the 1976 HTV Children’s drama, The Children of the Stones.
This stone was displayed during the 70th anniversary of the Alexander Keiller Museum opening in 1938.
Apparently, a local barn contains a dozen more of these fake stones which are pressed into service around the Avebury henge when required by visiting film makers. One such being the 1998 rock movie, Still Crazy
Image credit: Chance - June 2008
The “Happy Day” Stone and the Barn.
One of the polystyrene stones used on the 1976 HTV Children’s drama, The Children of the Stones.
This stone was displayed during the 70th anniversary of the Alexander Keiller Museum opening in 1938.
Image credit: Chance - June 2008
The Northern or Moon Circle
Stone No.207, The Half-a-day Stone reclines in the forground while the Stone of Many Faces, No.206 looks on. The background shows Stone No.201, The Broken Hearted Stone and Stone No.50, The Horse’s Head Stone, of the outer circle.
Image credit: Chance - May 2008
Stone 10 – The Winter Queen’s Stone
Another aspect of the Goddess Tara is shown on the face of the Winter Queen Stone, as she looks out upon the mid-winter sunset.
Also shown are stones; number 9 – the back face of the Barber Stone, number 8 – The Unmoved Stone and number 7 – The Watcher of the South.
Image credit: Chance - May 2008
Number 34 – The Stone with a Heart
Image credit: Chance - May 2008
Plan of the southern sector of the circle showing the numbering of the stones.
The outer circle numbering starts at the begining of the West Kenett Aveune junction at the stone known as the Devil’s chair or Goddess stone No.1. The numbers then move round clockwise until they reach the final stone of No.98.
The position of the Ring Stone is shown in relation to the overall plan
Image credit: H. St. George Gray - 1935 Revised 1965
Stone No. 50 – Shergar or The Nags Head, Looking West
Stone No. 50 in foreground with Stone 46, the Swindon stone, followed by Stone 44 etc.
Image credit: Stone No. 50 - Shergar - Chance 2008
Avebury NE sector – Stone 50 – Shergar or The Nags Head
This has to be the most loneliest stone of the original bunch. It stands in it original position and has never been altered.
Image credit: Shergar or The Nags Head - Chance 2008
Image credit: texlahoma
Avebury: north-east quadrant
Image credit: Littlestone
The remains of the Ring Stone or Hand Fasting Stone looking East with the bank in the background.
Image credit: Chance - 2007
The remains of the Ring Stone or Hand Fasting Stone.
Image credit: Chance - 2007
The Ring Stone or Hand Fasting Stone showing its position in the southern or sun circle.
Image credit: Chance
Taken from ‘Our Ancient Monuments And The Land Around Them’ by Charles Philip Kains-Jackson, 1880
Image credit: W Dickes
Detail of Avebury from plan first printed in Sir R.C.Hoare’s “Ancient History of South Wiltshire.” (1812)
Image credit: Sir R.C.Hoare
Avebury sunset, August 2007
Image credit: C Minns (Pert Weed)
Avebury
Image credit: Snap
pastel sketch, NW henge, August 2007
Image credit: A. Doherty
pastel sketch, NW henge, August 2007
Image credit: A. Doherty
Avebury at night, waiting for the moon to rise, early June 2007.
Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2007
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2007
The Cove Stones
Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2007
Early morning sunrise the shadow from bank creeping down the stones. Feb.2007
Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2007
The old barns at Avesbury. This was taken in black and white I think it give you a feel of the old days.
Image credit: Jackowade
A beautiful sunrise at Avesbury 2005
Image credit: Jackowade
Fac-Similie of John Aubrey’s plan from Monumenta Britannica
Image credit: Mr Kynes?
Avebury Temples with Avenues, in the form of a serpent, as shewn by STUKELEY 1740.
---
WF: This is as close as I got to the MEGAMEET today. Why don’t other commitments go away? :-(
Image credit: Stukeley
A winter’s view of the summer shot I took and posted earlier...!
Image credit: Photobabe
Image credit: Photobabe
The ‘Three Degrees’ of Avebury...
Image credit: Photobabe
Image credit: photobabe
I wasnt early enough for the actual snowfall (lovely pik by Moss!) but... still caught the snow!
Image credit: Photobabe
Avebury under snow – a rare sight
Great Grandfather Cursuswalker, his Niece, Daughter and half a horse at the southern edge of the Southern Inner Circle at Avebury in 1906.
I believe he is standing next to Stone 103, while the other two are sitting on the yet-to-be re-erected Stone 102.
Image credit: Rev. Sydney Smith
This engraving accompanied the December 1830 issue of the Youth’s Instructor and Guardian , the article by J Mason, being entitled ‘Druidical Temple, Avebury (With an Engraving)’.
Image credit: M. Gahey
Image credit: Rebecca van der Putt
Image credit: Rebecca van der Putt
Image credit: Rebecca van der Putt
Image credit: Rebecca van der Putt
The sarsen under the north-west buttress of the Church of St James, Avebury.
Image credit: Littlestone
Possible carved stone head looking east, in the NE quadrant.
Image credit: chris bickerton
In the megalithic melee i noticed this near alignment
Image credit: chris bickerton
There are some BIG stones at this place...
Image credit: Derfel
Late afternoon sun, Avebury
Image credit: John Daly www.malmesbury-pics.co.uk
Avebury, late afternoon 28/12/05
Image credit: John Daly www.malmesbury-pics.co.uk
Venus 26.11.05
Image credit: Jimit Nov 05
Mars 26.11.05
Image credit: Jimit Nov 05
Sun over the S. entrance the morning after Samhein.
Image credit: Jimit Nov05
The northern ditch and bank with sheep for scale.
Image credit: Jimit Nov05
Avebury SW quadrant, under a dark sky.
Image credit: The Eternal
Avebury NW quadrant, showing male and female stone forms.
Image credit: The Eternal
The Devil’s Chair being demonstrated. 28/08/2005 CE
Avebury ring & Stone Circle partially visible in the distance from the Barrows of Avebury Down... (the bald one & the tree-covered one visible from the ring), with the Lansdown Monument even further away in the heat haze...
Image credit: Photobabe
...The Ring...
Image credit: Photobabe
The over-looking Crop Circle from Avebury ring!
Image credit: Photobabe
Avebury ring from the over-looking crop circle...
Image credit: Photobabe
..and now for something completely different! a lone stone at sunset.
Image credit: Photobabe
Image credit: Photobabe
...with absolutely NO photoshop jiggery pockery whatsoever, this scene at the Solstice revelry at Avebury could really have been taken thousands of years ago... If only they had cameras!
Image credit: Photobabe
Stones of Mist-ery
Image credit: Photobabe
Theraputic Avebury
Image credit: Photobabe
Image credit: Photobabe
Photoshop works its magic (with a bit of help from me) with several photos rolled into one...
Image credit: Photobabe
Image credit: Photobabe
Old and new under one rainbow...
Image credit: Photobabe
What a beautiful spot for a picnic!
Image credit: David Raven
Image credit: Doug
Image credit: Doug
‘Big five’ watercolour painting (c) Jane Tomlinson, 2004
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
‘Fragile‘
watercolour painting (c) Jane Tomlinson, 2004
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Image credit: IH
Image credit: IH
Image credit: IH
Image credit: IH
Avebury roughly from south – can just make out some Kennett Avenue stones in left foreground
Image credit: Tim Clark
Eastern bank in spring
‘September sunset, Avebury’ watercolour by (c) Jane Tomlinson, 2004
Following on from this painting, themodernantiquarian.com/post/21576, I wanted to have another crack at this view, to increase the sense of ‘something else’, something unknown going on to do with the land itself, related to the stones, but not actually the stones themselves.
So I have raised the horizon and emphasised the foreground shadows; the stones which cast them are unseen.
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
‘Lengthening shadows, Avebury‘
Watercolour, (c) JCTomlinson, 2003
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Avebury from Waden Hill
Image credit: Tim Clark
Photo taken from same place at same time as Jane’s painting at themodernantiquarian.com/post/19682
Image credit: Tim Clark
Inner circle south
Image credit: Tim Clark
South east quadrant stones
Image credit: Tim Clark
Inner circle south
Image credit: Tim Clark
Inner circle, south
Image credit: Tim Clark
South east quadrant stone
Image credit: Tim Clark
South east quadrant stones
Image credit: Tim Clark
Inner circle south
Image credit: Tim Clark
Amazing stone in northern inner segment
Image credit: Tim Clark
Inner stones at south
Image credit: Tim Clark
How the stones managed to glow blue in the apricot sunset light, I simply don’t know!
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Avebury Morning – Pastel
a quick watercolour sketch done on site as the sun sank down in the west and the shadows lengthened...
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Here’s Avebury with Silbury looming close by...
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
The whole village!
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Image credit: Jane Tomlinson
Private collection, USA
Image credit: Watercolour painting by Jane Tomlinson
Image credit: Watercolour painting by Jane Tomlinson
From the south
Image credit: Tim Clark
Image credit: (c) Rebecca van der Putt
I love the fabulous beech trees behind this magnificent stone.
Image credit: (c) Rebecca van der Putt 1991
Taken on a beautiful autumn day.
Image credit: (c) Rebecca van der Putt 1991
The avenue at Avebury. Oil Painting.
Image credit: by the artist anna dillon
Taken 10th May 2003: The Barber Stone, viewed from the north east, where the body of a man was found dating back to the fourteen century CE. As I understand it, the predominant theory is that his death was caused by the weight of the stone itself falling on him during it’s felling. In case you’re trying to locate this stone, it’s in the south west quarter of the henge.
Flotsky asked me to take this shot because he liked the stone, so I dutifully did. I don’t think either of us realised at the time that it had an extra significance. I only identified it by chance, some time later.
Image credit: Simon Marshall
After they had finished the excavations and restoration. The supporting structures remained until the concrete set.
Image credit: Jimit 2.6.03
Image credit: Big Al
31/05/03
Image credit: Big Al
Image credit: Big Al
People feel the power of the stones.
Image credit: Big Al
31/05/03 again.
Image credit: Big Al
An aerial view showing the Avenue.
This image was taken from my friend Jim’s light aircraft.
Image credit: Sarah
Imbolc Feb 2nd 2003. Two persons finding another use for a stone! The rain was horizontal and cold, yet I couldn’t help sneaking this pic, it’s kind of heartwarming. Apologies/congratulations to the candid couple :-)
The Swindon Stone. May 2000.
Image credit: Cursuswalker
Taken 6-7-02.
Image credit: Pebblethief
Taken 6-7-02.
Image credit: Pebblethief
Taken 29th December 2002: I’m not sure what the numerical identity of this stone is, but it’s about half way around the south west quarter of the circle. In the background (to the right of the stone) is the famous Red Lion Inn.
Image credit: Simon Marshall
Taken 29th December 2002: This is the first stone you come to (in the south west quarter of the circle) if you approach from the big National Trust car park. I’ve been trying to find out what number it is, but no joy. Obviously it’s been pieced together after some pretty serious damage was done to it.
Image credit: Simon Marshall
View up the ditch looking north from the east side
How did THAT one get here????? Avebury, 1996.
Image credit: Craig Gurney 1 September 2002
Image credit: Craig Gurney 1 September 2002
Image credit: Craig Gurney 1 September 2002
10/02 sunset
Captured on a late autumn day, the lichens on this fella put me in mind of rock art
The Swindon Stone?
Strange lighting effect (flash and rain!)
Muddy@Avebury.
Avebury, New Years Eve, 2001
Avebury, July 2000
Avebury, 9 am, mid october
An utterly erotic ‘female’ tree within the Avebury henge. Truly a sacred place – I’ll leave the discovery of it to you!
Image credit: gyrus
Articles
Paul Nash at Avebury
Taken from the website of Robjn Cantus – Inexpensive Progress. If you like/love Paul Nash’s artistic work it is fascinating. But also as a historical footnote. Enjoy.
Between the Monuments
Josh Pollard talks about new National Trust research at Avebury.
It will come as no surprise – car parks, Red Lion and all facilities will be closed and over the Solstice. For anyone wanting a solitary walk, the 49 bus from Swindon and Devizes is still running a 2 hourly service (face masks and hand sanitizer not supplied).
heritageaction.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/avebury-closed-for-summer-solstice/
Also applies to Stonehenge.
An ancient “square stone circle” has been discovered under the Neolithic stones at Avebury in Wiltshire.
Predictably perhaps, the National Trust has purchased the historic URC Chapel which stands within the Avebury Stone Circle. They are inviting people to come along in the afternoon and early evening (up to 7.00pm) on 5th July to share their views about its future use.
As helpfully pointed out by thesweetcheat on TMA Forum, there have been some seemingly sudden changes to the 49 bus service from Swindon Bus Station to Avebury.
Anyone planning a bus trip to Avebury from Sunday 2nd April 2017, they now only run every two hours. Here are the times:
From Swindon Bus Station: 08.15, 10.15, 12.15, 14.15, 16.15, 18.15
Return from Avebury: 09.34, 11.34, 13.34, 15.34, 17.34, 19.34 (leaving Devizes at 11 minutes past the hour – every two hours).
Archaeologists believe they may have found the remains of a house where people who built Avebury stone circle may have lived.
The three-week Between the Monuments project is researching the daily lives of Neolithic and Bronze Age residents at the Wiltshire site.
The dig is being led by The National Trust and Southampton and Leicester University archaeologists.
The National Trust said if it is a house they will have “hit the jackpot”.
Spokesman Dr Nick Snashall said: “I could count the number of middle Neolithic houses that have been found on the fingers of one hand.
“This site dates from a time when people are just starting to build the earliest parts of Avebury’s earthworks, so we could be looking at the home and workplace of the people who saw that happening.”
Continued.....
Step into the world of the henge builders for the day and explore later Neolithic Avebury with archaeologist Dr Nick Snashall and Museum Curator Dr. Ros Cleal. The day includes a field visit to Avebury Henge and stone circles and draws on finds from the museum collections.
Periods: Prehistory
Old news I know.
A road near Avebury stones in Wiltshire could be permanently closed to protect the World Heritage Site (WHS).
Evidence has emerged that one of Avebury’s Neolithic stone circles originally had one more stone than previously thought.
Read more @
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-29505170
:)
Steve Marshall will be giving a talk on springs, rivers & the Avebury monuments in Swindon!
Friday 26th Sept, 7.30pm, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, Bath Road.
Museum Friends £3.50, Non-members £4.50
The lovely 17th century thresher barn, at the heart of Avebury, is also a museum housing a selection of Alexander Keiller’s finds, along with interactive displays and activities which bring the history and landscape of the area to life. The Barn Gallery roof however now needs re-thatching and this has been made possible thanks to a grant of £75,000 to the National Trust.
Was over at WK long barrow today when I bumped into a rather large but very well behaved group of people (inside the barrow). Dr Nick Snashall was leading a ‘walking through the landscape’ guided walk on behalf of the National Trust. The little bit of the talk I caught about WKLB sounded informative and, yes, I did learn something in a few short minutes.
Dr Snashall told me there is another such walk on 8th May (see her blog).
Avebury is number two and the only stone circle to make it into Which? Magazine’s Top Ten Heritage destinations.
which.co.uk/news/2013/01/worlds-best-heritage-sites-revealed-by-which-304494/
Nigel Kerton writing in the The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald today reports that -
“People who live in Avebury or who visit the village and would like to have a say about the way the village famous for its stone circles and Silbury Hill is managed, will be given an opportunity when the World Heritage Site Management Plan is updated. World Heritage Site officer Sarah Simmons said it was vitally important that those with an interest in the village were involved in revising the last management plan created in 2005.
“There will be two opportunities for the public to put forward their ideas and suggestions, at the Avebury Social centre next Tuesday. Ms Simmonds will be available to answer questions and listen to ideas at drop in sessions in the Social Centre on Avebury High Street next Tuesday between 2 -7 pm and in Marlborough Library on Monday, August 13, between 2 -7pm.”
More here – gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/9846872.Share_your_views_on_future_management_of_Avebury_World_Heritage_site/
The National Trust has announced that -
“The summer Solstice observance at Avebury is expected to be very busy and there will be limited car parking as a result. From Wednesday 20 June until mid-afternoon on Friday 22 June there will be a temporary campsite alongside the car park opening at 9am on Wednesday 20 June and closing at 2pm on Friday 22 June.
“There’ll be less than one hundred tent spaces, allocated on a first come first served basis. They are expected to be in high demand. There’ll be no camping available on the weekends either side of the Solstice.”
More here – nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/page-1/
“The summer solstice observance at Avebury is expected to be very busy and there will be limited car parking as a result.
From Monday 20 June until mid afternoon on Wednesday 22 June there will be a temporary campsite alongside the car park, opening at 9am on Monday 20 June and closing at 2pm on Wednesday 22 June. There will only be 93 tent spaces, allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. They are expected to be in high demand.
There will be no camping available on the weekend before the Solstice.
We would advise anybody planning to come to celebrate the solstice at Avebury to consider both finding accommodation in official campsites nearby and to visiting by public transport. The main celebrations will take place on the evening of 20 June and at Sunrise on 21 June.
The National Trust is part of the Avebury Solstice Planning Group and works closely with police, the local councils, residents, the fire brigade and other safety groups to ensure that this is a peaceful and safe event for those who wish to celebrate the solstice here.”
Full information: nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-avebury/w-avebury-parking.htm
As part of the Festival of British Archaeology (thanks to Blossom for flagging it on TMA forum).
festival.britarch.ac.uk/whatson
Meet the Experts
Sun 17 July 13.00–14.30 & 15.00–16.30
Join Museum Curator Dr Ros Cleal for a tour of the henge and stone circles followed by handling real finds from the Museum collections. Free (donations welcome).
Location: Meet outside the Barn Gallery, Old Farmyard, High Street, Avebury SN8 1RF.
Org: National Trust
Tel: 01672 539250
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury
I was at Avebury this morning for my Beltane visit and saw these chalkings on the Stones, can’t see any good purpose in it.
Discover the secrets of the first farmers with Archaeologist Dr Nick Snashall and Museum Curator Dr Ros Cleal as they investigate Earlier Neolithic Avebury. The day includes a field visit to West Kennet Long Barrow and draws on finds from Windmill Hill. Tickets include lunch, refreshments and parking for non-members of the National Trust or English Heritage.
Date: Sunday, 03 April 2011
Time: 10am – 4pm
Price: All Tickets £35 (£30 if booking 3+ Time Travellers’ Workshops)
More Information: The visitor services team, 01672 539250, [email protected]
nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-events-find_event.htm?propertyID=316&Period=Three+months
The National Trust will be holding an Avebury Landscape Photography Workshop on Saturday, 26 March 2011.
“Professional photographer Mark Philpott will help you look at landscapes in an exciting new way. Learn how to get the best from your camera and be inspired by the Avebury landscape, its stone circle, cosy cottages, fine church and ancient trees.”
More here – nationaltrust.org.uk/event-search-2/events/show?id=2108046427&direct=1
1) “Discover Stone Tools Workshop” with Avebury archaeologist Dr Nick Stanshall
The day includes a chance to handle real stone tools from the Alexander Keiller Museum.
Sunday 24th October 10am – 4.00pm, Cost £30
2) Guided Walks through the Avebury Landscape.
Last Sunday of the month starting 31st October,
10.30am – 1.30pm Tickets: £5.00 in advance or pay on the day. Meet at Silbury Hill car park.
3) Wyrd Avebury Ghost Walks
Selected evenings in October, cost £4.75 includes a glass of mulled wine
Call 01672 539250 for details or visit
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/Avebury
The Alexander Keiller Museum will be open to the public free of charge on Saturday 11th September, from midday to 5.00pm.
National Trust experts will, “…lead you on a half-day journey of discovery through this very special landscape.”
Meet outside the Barn Gallery on Tuesday, 20 July and Thursday, 22 July 2010 at 10:00.
National Trust Press Release
Issued 8 June 2010
Avebury Summer Solstice
Campers planning to visit Avebury for the summer solstice are being warned that there will be less space for tents than last year, following the loss of a field for camping.
The National Trust has arranged for a field which can accommodate a little under 100 tents. Last year they had negotiated permission to use a field of twice the size, but its use this year was withdrawn and the Trust has been working with village residents and Pagan groups to find a solution, but no additional land could be found
Hilary Makins, the National Trust Avebury Head Warden, said the solstice celebration was expected to be busy.
“We have looked at many options for camping during the solstice but since Avebury is a World Heritage Site land options are very limited. We want people to come and enjoy a peaceful solstice but also to consider using some of the other official campsites nearby, or perhaps just making a short trip for the main celebrations to save having to camp overnight.”
The campsite, at the far end of the main public car park in Avebury, will open at 9am on Saturday 19th June. Celebrations will take place in the Avebury Henge over the weekend, culminating with the sunrise on Monday 21st. The campsite closes and must be cleared by 2pm on Monday.
The National Trust is part of the Avebury Solstice Planning Group which has, over many years, developed a plan to ensure the solstice at Avebury is a peaceful celebration.
“We work closely with police, the local councils, residents, the fire brigade and other safety groups to ensure that this is a pleasant event for those who wish to celebrate the solstice here,” added Hilary.
“With this year’s event on the weekend, we know it will be busy but we hope people will be aware of the restrictions on camping and make arrangements either to use official campsites nearby or to book other local accommodation.”
Ends
For further press information contact:
Allan King, 01985 843592 or 07771 837988, [email protected]
I have been asked to point out that the Red Lion no longer offers any bed and breakfast accommodation.
The pub is owned by the Green King group and since 2008, when Kirsty Ayre became the current landlady, bed and breakfast accommodation has ceased.
There was always a problem of access to and from the upstairs bedrooms outside normal opening hours. This resulted in the guests being “locked in” once the bars had closed at night and made walking around the stone circle at night impossible. Numerous attempts were made to exit the building at night via the rear fire escape, resulting in the fire alarms being triggered and the building being evacuated.
An alternative access and refurbishment survey of the accommodation was carried out by the brewery but was found to be prohibitively expensive and also reduced the landlord/landlady’s accommodation by a half. As this problem is unlikely to be resolved in the near future, it would be safe to assume that any bed and breakfast accommodation can be ruled out completely.
Kirsty regrets this but is only the tenant of the establishment and any comments should be directed at Green King who own the property.
All the other eating and drinking facilities are unaffected and the pub continues to be open daily from 11am till 11pm
Chance
“The continued destruction of prehistoric monuments is a fact which I am sure we all deeply regret, and which reflects little credit on us as a nation. This year a portion of “Abury”, the grandest monument of its kind in this country (perhaps in the world), was actually sold for building purposes in cottage allotments.”
Sir John Lubbock speaking to the Anthropological Institute on 15th of January 1872.
“Recently the current statutory guardians of Avebury, English Heritage, expressed their opposition to the development of the site of the adjacent Bonds Garage for housing yet then failed to exercise their available powers towards it, thus allowing building to go ahead – which it will shortly – thus blighting the northern approach to Sir John’s ‘grandest monument of its kind in this country (perhaps in the world)’ forever.”
More here – heritageaction.wordpress.com/
Just a reminder that we’re now one day away from Heritage Action’s fourth annual Avebury Megameet on the 1st of August. If you haven’t ventured forth for one of these before please give it a try. Put faces to names and meet up with some of the folks you may have only ever cyber-chatted to before. The Avebury Megameets are an informal gathering of people from all walks of life (artists, archaeologists, conservators, historians, pagans and others) but all with an interest in the Avebury Henge and our megalithic heritage in general.
The Megameet will be in the south-east quadrant, either by the Obelisk marker stone or close to the stone here and will kick off from around noon. It’s a good idea to bring something to sit on and something to eat and drink too if you fancy it. If the weather’s bad we’ll be in one of the rooms at the Red Lion (the front largest room if it’s available). Look out for this T-shirt – designed by BuckyE for the 2007 Avebury Megameet!
heritageaction.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/heritage-actions-4th-avebury-megameet/
National Trust press release:
The National Trust is advising people wishing to come to Avebury for Summer Solstice this year to arrive by public transport. In order to comply with an Enforcement Notice served on the Trust by Kennet District Council, the Trust regrets that it will be unable to open its Avebury visitor car park for Summer Solstice this year as an overnight site for campervans, motorhomes or caravans.
The Enforcement Notice, which came into force on 1 January this year, obliges the Trust to stop tolerating the occupation of the car park for overnight stays at pagan observances. In order to comply with the enforcement notice the Trust has had no choice but to apply for planning permission to install a height barrier at the car park, which will prevent the entrance of caravans and motorhomes, which are specifically cited in the Enforcement Notice.
The height barrier will prevent all high-sided vehicles from entering the car park, irrespective of their use, as the Trust cannot and would not discriminate against one group of people at one particular time of year.
Brendan McCarthy, Regional Director for the National Trust commented: “While we deeply regret having to take this decision, it is the only way that we can comply with the terms of the notice. Unfortunately, there is no suitable alternative site for overnight camping this year, so we are advising people not to travel to Avebury with camper vans, motorhomes or caravans for this solstice and, due to the limited nature of car parking, to consider coming on public transport.”
“We are committed to ensuring access to Avebury for those who wish to worship at Solstice and other important times of year. We are endeavouring to remedy the camping and parking facilities for future years.”
There will be a very limited number of car parking spaces available at a charge (for vehicles under 2.1 m high) on the evening of Solstice itself, Wednesday 20 June. There will be no additional car parking for people arriving in the days before and after Solstice evening itself.
For the past ten years, until January 2007, the Trust, with the knowledge of the local planning authority, has allowed the pagan community to park their motorhomes and vans in the car park at pagan observances to alleviate the potential knock on effect of camping elsewhere in the village or within the World Heritage Site.
The National Trust is still working towards a medium-term solution to parking and camping at Avebury. The National Trust has presented its options appraisal, which includes nine potential sites identified by the Trust, to Kennet District Council with regard to the future of car parking and overnight stays during pagan observances at Avebury. The appraisal will form the basis of an ongoing consultation process with stakeholders on how best to work towards a consensual and sustainable solution to these twin issues.
Any solution needs to balance the interests of Avebury’s disparate groups as well as protect the archaeology of the World Heritage Site, minimise disruption to the village, ensure access for worship for the pagan community and conform with police concerns over traffic flows.
In the long term, the National Trust remains committed to removing vehicles from within the World Heritage Site.
Update from the Western Daily Press:
‘WARLIKE PAGANS’ UP IN ARMS AT CAR CRACKDOWN
The National Trust has called on solstice-goers to stay away from the West’s biggest stone circle this summer because of an ongoing row with council chiefs.But the new stance at Avebury in Wiltshire has sparked anger among “radical” pagan groups, and some have warned trouble could be in store for this June’s event.
National Trust chiefs say they have to abide by tough new planning regulations from council chiefs which effectively end the free-for-all in the village at solstice time.
For years local residents have complained of disruption, all-night parties, noise, anti-social behaviour, traffic and parking problems in the days either side of the important midsummer festival.
And, even though Stonehenge has been opened for the solstice night for more than five years, the popularity of Avebury has mushroomed in recent years.
Village opposition and council action has focused on the National Trust-owned car park on the edge of the village, which becomes an unofficial campsite and traveller camp for a week around the solstice. The trust has been forced to ban campervans and will probably have to ban tents too. Those new rules, and tough police action over parking, mean that it will be difficult for people to park anywhere in Avebury. So yesterday, they sent out a stark message for the first time – go by bus or do not go at all.
Trust regional director Brendan McCarthy said: “We know we can’t put a fence around Avebury or restrict access to it, but clearly the current situation can’t continue.
He said: “There are bound to be people who will come regardless, but we want the message to go out there that this car park fills up quickly, they won’t be able to stay here or park anywhere else.
“Our hands are tied by the council’s actions but we recognise the knock-on effect the solstice has on the residents here. The simple message is we’d rather thousands of people didn’t come but if they do they should come by bus,” he added.
Druid Terry Dobney, Avebury’s keeper of the stones, said radical pagans were far from happy with the move.
He said: “People decide to come for the solstice often at the last minute and I feel sorry for the spontaneous people who will find it very difficult.”
Resident and district councillor Gretchen Rawlings said: “Everyone is very concerned about what will happen at solstice time and I don’t know what the solution is. Nothing will stop people coming and it has to be properly managed.”
All sides in the dispute are now working on setting up a park-and-ride scheme for the event, and investigating a long-term solution for the years to come.
An enforcement notice has been served on the National Trust by a local council because of ongoing problems with travellers and pagans.
Kennet District Council issued the planning enforcement notice on the trust after overnight problems at Avebury Stone circle in Wiltshire.
A spokesman said complaints had been received about bad behaviour caused by the influx of New Age visitors.
The trust has until 6 November to lodge an appeal.
A council spokesman said: “The council has warned the National Trust that it should not allow overnight camping and caravanning in its car parks because it is a breach of planning control.
“The trust has responded by saying that it is trying to find an alternative site.”
Regional director Brendan McCarthy said the trust had been working hard to find a solution that balanced a large number of factors and interest groups.
He said: “We are all aware of the unsuitability of the current car park for the larger pagan celebrations and the trust is committed to finding an alternative which will be acceptable to all parties.”
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6044972.stm
From the Salisbury Journal and Wiltshire Advertiser, 24 March 2004.
Decisions taken about the Stonehenge tunnel could have a knock-on effect at Avebury, the inquiry heard last week.
Following on from archaeologists’ concerns, expressed to the inquiry last week, that the proposed 2.1km tunnel, costing £200m, would be inadequate, representatives of the Avebury Society believe the existing scheme also overlooks a significant portion of the World Heritage site.
Ewart Holmes, representing the group, which formed in 1994, said: “Our interest in Stonehenge stems from the fact that it is the other half of a World Heritage site, and decisions taken in one half, at Stonehenge, can have a knock-on effect in Avebury.
“We note that the A303 scheme, which is part of the Stonehenge project, was announced in advance of the Stonehenge Management Plan, and fails to acknowledge the overriding primary emphasis of the latter on conservation, and management of the whole site and its archaeology as a cultural landscape.
Mr Holmes said the primary emphasis of the Stonehenge Management Plan included “improving the interpretation and understanding of the whole of the World Heritage site as a cultural landscape to visitors”.
He said: “This is going to be difficult to achieve if the present scheme is to go ahead, as much of the site is divided by the width of the dual carriageways.”
The society also believes the proposals for the visitor centre should be considered now, along with the road project.
Mr Holmes said: “I feel that, by just sticking with the road, as it were, a lot of what we have learned over the past 50 years about good planning, as accepted throughout the world, has really just been put to one side. continues...
From an article on Ananova:
Archaeologists have discovered an arc of buried megaliths that once formed part of the great stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire.
The National Trust says the existence of these enormous stones, originally constructed more than 4,500 years ago, has remained a puzzle for the last 300 years.
Visitors to Avebury will see most of the standing megaliths in the western half of the stone circle.
The famous map of Avebury drawn up by William Stukely in the 1720s showed that many of the stones in the south east and north east quadrants of the circle were missing.
Now, the first ever geophysics survey of these areas of Avebury, carried out by the National Trust, has revealed that at least 15 of the megaliths lie buried in the circle itself.
More from Ananova...
The same story in the Independent...
The same story on the BBC News site...
from This is Devizes Gazette and Herald
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/devizes/news/DEVIZES_NEWS_KENNET7.html
PARISH councillors in Avebury have criticised the National Trust for the “disgraceful” condition of their village, a World Heritage Site.
They agreed to write to the National Trust’s director general Fiona Reynolds to seek her help in getting the village spruced up for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit annually.
Much of Avebury and its world famous stone circles comes under the control of the National Trust, which parish councillors say is not doing enough to keep the place tidy.
Clerk Gretchen Rawlins, who is the village’s Kennet district councillor, went as far as to say: “Avebury is looking disgraceful from end to end.”
Chairman Jenny Baldrey said: “On the bulges at the top of the High Street the grass is as high as an elephant’s eye.
“When you live is a World Heritage Site this is quite appalling.”
Coun Baldrey said one resident could hardly see out of her cottage windows because of the long grass.
Coun Peter Latimer-Kerr said there was a lot of National Trust ground in the village where grass had not been cut.
He said: “The trouble is long grass encourages people to throw their rubbish into it.”
Coun Bruce Hinder said that as talks with local National Trust managers achieved little, the council should write to the trust’s “top brass.”
The council agreed to write to the director general to seek her help in getting the village spruced up.
Excavations at Avebury have revealed one megalithic stone which could be among Britain’s largest, weighing around 100 tons and rivalling Stonehenge.
Archaeologists made the surprise find during preparations to straighten the stones, which have been leaning for at least 300 years.
The project was undertaken at the 3,500-year-old stone circle in Wiltshire, because engineers feared the megaliths might collapse.
The team from the universities of Wales, Leicester and Southampton found the stone, which is about 14 ft (4.4m) high above ground, goes down at least seven ft (2.2m) below the ground surface and may go down to 10 ft (3m).
Amanda Chadburn, of English Heritage, said: “We were amazed when we discovered that the stone went so much deeper than we expected.
“Ground penetrating radar and probing had suggested it existed to only about one-and-a-half to three feet below the surface.
“It is absolutely enormous and could weigh as much as the trilithon at Stonehenge.”
Text from BBCi
Issued 17 April 2003
10th December 2018
The promised journey to return to Avebury occurred as with the best of things, a spontaneous gesture. This time, to visit on the cusp of winter rather than summer, just to mix things up and see how the other season lives.
My last visit to this marvellous hub of positivity during the summer was slightly marred by a 20 strong group, who insisted on taking up the quarter behind The Red Lion to film a very theatrical worship of the stones. My own preference is for quiet reflection and interaction with fellow wanderers, with my most recent trip being conducive to this ideal.
After lunch at the Red Lion and a brief period of enjoying a game of ‘pretend to be a friendly local,’ while supping a pint outside the pub entrance, I set to exploring the area which time had previously denied.
My focus was on the southern area of the site, stretching outwards away from the village. It’s probably here that greater insight is earned, seeing more of the trench and scale of the site. It’s quite something to behold.
My visit was rewarded with interactions with fellow travellers. The elderly woman who photobombed my attempt to photograph the southern entrance stones, told me of her son’s visit to Callanish, one of those sites to make anyone’s bucket list.
“Did he see it from the air, by helicopter?” I asked. “No,” she replied, but gave her son’s account from ground level which was just as compelling. Her own reason for visiting was to see the West Kennet Longbarrow, with an interest in finding similar barrow sites in the area. I showed her my pictures of Wayland’s Smithy near Uffington, noting it as my favourite. She asked if I was an expert, to which I replied, “No, but a keen enthusiast.”
As dusk set in, the underestimatedly busy road that runs through the village gained more traffic, with the passenger of a passing white van deciding that making cow noises at me might be of amusement. The episode prompted a woman, sitting by a tree and enjoying a yoghurt, to note that by and large, ‘today was quiet with not many people about.’ She spoke of what the site meant to her, especially in terms of the ley lines. My recognition of the significance of these ensured our conversation, which of course was a delight from the norm of town living, where talk might gear towards the management of traffic and local affairs. Again, as with previous visits, my thoughts turned to what might yet be a retirement in such a place.
Soonafter, the reluctance to leave set in with the onset of dusk, but safe in the knowledge that any visit to this place is but an hour away. The visit was more about the experience of sharing thoughts and tales with fellow travellers, as authentic and in the style of Chaucer, welcoming to all, from both near and far. Surely something more attuned to the initial premise of Avebury, where the spirit of community and gathering still resides in this pocket of the world.
Visited 14.6.14
As we were booked in on baby-sitting duties on Father’s Day itself, Karen suggested we go out for the day on Saturday instead. Sounded good to me.
‘What about a trip to Avebury for Father’s Day?’ suggested Karen
My reply was somewhat predictable!
I was amazed/horrified to discover that the National Trust now wanted £7.00 to park – yikes! Fortunately, as CADW members, it was free for us. The strange thing is it was free for coaches to park. How does that work?
After not paying this extortionate fee we walked along the path and headed straight for the National Trust café next to the museum. The weather was warm and fine and myself and Karen sat on the grass while the children played with the outside toys provided. Dafydd got into a debate with a woman over the rules of Connect 4 whilst Sophie ignored them both and put the discs in any order!
After finishing our drinks and ice creams we went into both museums to have a look around. There is a lot of interesting things to see and, again thanks to our CADW membership, saved even more money on entrance fees.
After this we decided to walk the full circuit of Avebury.
We soon came across a group (should that be a coven?) of ‘White Witches’. Two of the witches were hugging a stone whilst the others looked on. The head witch had a wooden pole with bells and ribbons on it. A bit further on we came across a family who were looking intently at a stone. Mum had her hands stretched out in front of the stone and was explaining to the others how she could ‘feel’ its power. Her teenage daughter looked on less than impressed!
We then came to the clootie tree; its lower branches festooned with ribbons and cloth and messages and trinkets. You certainly see some sights at Avebury! I guess that is one of the reasons it is such a special place?
After completing our circuit we went to the Red Lion for a meal. As the weather was so nice we sat outside. It was nice to be able to sit and drink and chat whilst looking over at some of the mighty standing stones.
A quick visit to the Henge Shop and it was then time to walk the Avenue.
Yes, Avebury is indeed a special place.
By the time I reach the eastern entrance of the henge I’m tired and the sky has turned much darker. As always though, meeting the huge stones of the circle boosts my flagging energy in a way that Red Bull will never be able to replicate.
I don’t take the full tour today. Today’s efforts have been focused on getting here through the landscape, the journey being the reward for once. Instead I have a mooch to the Cove (still my favourite setting in the whole complex) and the southern quadrants. I finally take up residence on the sloping bank above the ditch of the southwestern quadrant, not quite at the bottom but on a level with the stones. Arriving at such a busy place after the quiet of the Downs would usually irk me, but today I enjoy watching the different interactions people have with the stones. Some stand in awe, some touch, some just have their picture taken. From where I sit, the voices are muted and the words don’t carry, except one who is expounding something about the electrical properties of the stones.
Ah, Avebury in the summertime. Long may it be a focal point, the builders would surely approve.
7th September 2012.
Today marks a return to Avebury after a lengthy absence of 30 years or so. I’ve been assured that I visited as a child, but the experience must’ve been lost on so young a mind, unable to appreciate the cultural and historical significance of the stones.
Today is different. And what a day to attend – without a cloud in the sky and a host of visitors equally keen to experience the stones. Where such large numbers might prove to be a hinderance at tourist hotspots such as Stonehenge, here things are different. All have gathered for quiet and happy contemplation, giving space to others and a smile to those whose paths they cross. Here, you can walk among the stones and touch them, an experience not lost to those who do so.
The overall mood is one of welcome, the stones offering shade to sheep tired of the midday sun. Despite the cruelties suffered by generations intent on destroying the stones for religious propaganda or to build homes, Avebury stands proud, her toothless grin possibly as charming as her once full smile, one which the mind can only imagine.
In comparison to the energy and freedom offered by a stroll among the stones, the nearby National Trust centre is a stifling experience – with overpriced stale scones and attendants barking at visitors to show their passes, or touting membership of the organisation. For those looking for an untainted experience, the centre is best avoided in favour of researching Avebury before or after your visit – and of course, by strolling among the stones.
My next visit will be so much sooner than 30 years, perhaps even in the next few days while the weather holds. For a fleeting visit offers only a fraction of the mystery held by Avebury and I look forward to exploring it in greater detail.
The rain is getting heavier (possibly becoming a theme for this week’s visits?) and the long grass is now very wet. I tramp through it to see the remaining stones of the largely vanished central circle/horseshoe, which seem rather lost and unsure of themselves. Still, the larger stones retain a gnarly grandeur in the misty drizzle. To the NE of the Cove, in the middle of the NE quadrant a single hefty stone is the northernmost survivor of this largely lost setting. From here I head to the eastern entrance of the henge itself. Near the entrance, there is a semi-fallen slab (Stone 73) – presumably this square-ish stone marked the entrance in the same way that the Swindon Stone marks the north. It has some interesting weathering, circular depressions eroded by the rainfall of centuries suggesting that it has been fallen for a good long time.
To the north a solitary stone remains of the eastern arc of the great outer circle here. It occurs to me that, Cove excepted, this quadrant is rather less ‘busy’ than the other three, with by far the fewest remaining stones. This makes for a great feeling of space and peace that is perhaps not so evident elsewhere inside the henge. I climb the enormous bank itself to take me round to the northern entrance of the henge. The comparative lack of stones draws the eye easily to the earthwork. Despite being more than two thirds filled in, the ditch is still an incredible testament to the man-hours involved in its construction.
A plump pigeon sits on top of the final, northernmost stone of the NE quadrant and a dog walker crosses the open space below me. Between them these are the only living creatures I’ve seen in the circle since arriving. But the northern entrance heralds a return to the 21st century, as the traffic roars freely into the henge with scant regard for wayward stoneheads out in the rain. I stop again at the Cove, in awe of these wonderful stones, before crossing the road and then I’m up to the enormous diamond of the Swindon Stone. The NW quadrant is an odd mixture of “normal” sarsens, concrete pillars and Picasso-esque sculpture in the form of smashed stones that have been reconstituted. The rain turns much heavier and attempts at photos become futile, so I scurry off to the church porch for shelter (lovely Romanesque door by the way).
Rain reducing, I head to the SW quadrant, and after another weird piece of sarsen sculpture I’m into a much more complete section of the outer circle, including the notorious “Barber Stone”. Across the road the SE quadrant boasts a complex arrangement of stones, making it difficult at first to work out what I’m looking at. The huge stones 1 and 98 mark the southern entrance (and another risky road-crossing). Inside the quadrant, some impressive stones remain of the southern circle and then there are Z Stones, the ring stone and a whole lot more concrete pillars. The slightly dryer spell is marked by the emergence of a Spanish family under a vast brolly, braving the weather for some photos amongst the sheep.
There are many aspects to Avebury, most of them have been covered here by previous posts. Last night I had a ‘first’, went out to Avebury with a group of friends to see Rory Motion* perform in the village hall (Rory is a Yorkshireman, comedian, poet, singer and tree impressionist).
Before the performance we sat for a bit outside the Red Lion and watched the peace of evening settle over this wonderful place – the unripe barley crop on Waden Hill looked like a green sea as it rippled in the breeze.
Rory’s performance was brilliant (catch him if you can). The ‘bonus’ highlight of the evening was the Avebury night sky; as we came out of the village hall at the end of the evening a bright star, which I believe to be Venus, was setting in the west against the silhouette of Avebury church. It was about 11.00pm and as we walked towards the cars the stone circle seemed to be bathed in ethereal light. Then I saw it, the full moon was rising ... what an amazing sight Avebury is by the light of a full moon. After recently feeling a little jaded with the often busy, very public face of Avebury, last night I fell back in love with the mysterious and mystical Avebury.
There is not much that can be added to what is already posted. All I would say is if you have never been here – visit. This is an incredible place to visit – the circle is massive – the stones huge. I have been to many famous prehistoric sites on mainland Britain but for me, Avebury is the best. Not just the circle but Silbury Hill, WKLB, Windmill Hill etc. Visit as often as you can – stay as long as you can. You will not be dissapointed.
Avebury somehow seems diminished these days. I suppose the world heritage status and higher public profile which have put it on the tourist map have had some positive effects but it’s difficult somehow not to think that like at Stonehenge, they have simultaneously taken something away.
Anyway, we were struck again last weekend by the fact that in a way what is really important here is the Henge. It is apparent that at its original full height it would have created an artificial and perfect horizon – in other words, it would have engendered an idealised world view from within its circumference. As well as facilitating astronomical observances this would have created a psychological sense of ‘interiorness’ – a major step on the human journey from the purely instinctual through the communal to the individual and then to the personal. We felt this time more than at any other that Avebury’s function is in the promotion of the ‘artificial’ -in the sense of artifice or artefact – an aesthetic appreciation of the world as embodying conciousness and human potential rather than merely survival and the randomness of action.
After a while the urge to stroll round the complex became very strong, so I set off in a clockwise direction, beginning at the lattice work of gnarled beech roots crowning the eastern dip in the henge. It was then the sheer magnitude of the Avebury complex hit me again, somehow through older, wiser eyes. The size of the embankment and ditch struck home, and I recalled telling one of our neighbourhood children that it had been dug out using antler picks and shovels, the spoil carried away in baskets. Standing still, I looked at the chalk beneath my feet. It was densely packed, hard and dusty. Friends have deer antlers hanging by their back door; they’re not especially large, and I tried to imagine what it would feel like to begin scrabbling at the chalk face with a similarly shaped smooth-handled bone pick. Can’t imagine it would have made much impact. What a feat of engineering Avebury is – henges built 5,000 years ago, yet still supporting the footfall of millions of visitors a year.
Gazing across the rooftops of houses within the circle, and watching people playing with a frisbee in the north-eastern quarter, they appeared diminutive, tiny against the vast circle and sky. What would it have been like to stand on the henge when there was no village, when presumably it was built for the populace to bear witness to whatever form of rite and ceremony, under open skies and the theatre of the circle? How could you see what was taking place? Was the henge a form of seating, or was it to provide a barrier to arcane and esoteric practices? Could you lie on it in comfort to star-gaze all night?
Strolling round the henge and through the stones, memories of previous visits filled my mind, individual stones calling up reminders of who did this, how this happened, where particular photos were taken, what conversations took place. I smiled inside, at a tapestry of life, friends, lovers, experiences and growth woven over the years amidst the stones – stones that never change, yet can change your life in subtle degrees from the moment you enter their world.
The first time I visited Avebury was incredible. We had been down from the northlands, visiting friends in Bath. One day they drove us to Avebury. After passing Devizes the landscape changed into beautiful, gentle, rolling downland, with barrows pimpling the skylines. Antiquarian heaven. Every turn in the road disclosed more evidence of prehistory.
North Down and Bishop’s Canning Down closed in over the road, and a special atmosphere was all-pervading.
The only jarring note was the buildings inside Avebury, but we knew about these. We spent hours wandering the banks and the internal site, trying to piece together what it must have looked like.
In the distance we saw a crop circle – the perfect ending. We left, and I felt we left sadly, knowing it would be quite some time before we could return.
A special site with a special atmosphere. Oh yes, and great archaeology.......but first impressions count in fieldnotes.
My first ever visit to Avebury two days ago and I`m still smiling. The first thing that hit me was the size and I felt a bit daft to think that it could be any different! Arrived around tea time and there was still loads of people there but despite that I felt so peaceful and so lucky to actually be there.
Lots there that I wasn`t expecting, like the NT shop, cafe and museum – not too sure about some of these but understand why.
I feel privileged to have witnessed this wonderful and beautiful place.
I came to Avebury through backroads and, by taking intuitive turns, came into the village from the north west. There was another avenue here, and I think that each avenue had its own purpose, complimentary, but individual. Go up some dead end roads and count the interesting stones used as features in the gardens. The sense of layered events is palpable. Joining the crowds streaming from the official car park, I drifted, looking around. The path is a joy in itself, and the complex remains out of comprehension for most of the walk. The first impression I got, when the view finally opened out, was that the village had crashlanded, hard, on the northwestern side of the henge, a long time ago, and then life had carried on as if nothing had happened! The flow of people turned right inside the henge and I was a few stones into the ring before I registered that something felt wrong. Widdershins didn’t seem right, a concept which I resisted for a few more steps. I stepped outside the circle and sat down to eat some cherries and watched the people go by. Was it my fancy, or did they all seem to be walking uphill, into the wind? I pulled out my copy of The Modern Antiquarian, and started to read. Immediately, another couple of Canadians came up and asked what the kind the stones were. Thank you, Julian! I headed for the centre, then north to the outer henge, passing between two enormous stones, recently vacated by some dowsers. Polarity was there to see. At the outer henge, I began to make my way, deosil, round the top. A road cuts through from the east, so I had to climb down, back into the very earth, or so it felt, before climbing back up the other side. Four Watchers stood quietly here, and I spent a while listening to what they had to say. They have been here for a long time, and have not always held this form, which they chose to continue in peace, in these busy days of tour buses, digicams and celebrity. As I sat at their feet, people strolled or strode by within 5 yards, yet none cast an eye in our direction, even when I stared directly at them. People walked towards, then round where I sat, seemingly oblivious to the detour. As I walked round the outer henge, I wondered is its purpose. It would make a Grand Gallery from which to watch events taking place within, and an artificial horizon for the stargazer looking out upon the heavens. Both, and more, would seem the most likely answer to me. On the Avenue( the more famous one), I found it more difficult to walk out than to return. A grand, local gentleman told me to stand outwith the western side of the Avenue and look between the opposing stones towards the Ridgeway, on the horizon. Some alignments with barrows and other landmarks can be seen. Unfortunately, some of the stones are missing, replaced by stumps of concrete, and many of the stones are not in their original positions, being dislodged or re-erected by well meaning people, so I found it difficult to get over enthusiastic about any success I had. The next day, I returned and parked my father’s car outside the Post Office, feeling a delicious sense that some of those who had obeyed all the tourist parking signs were looking on me as a ‘local’, part of the experience of Avebury! This was my first visit, but Avebury has been in my conscious thoughts for as long as I care to remember. One last reflection; If Glastonbury is the Heart Chakra, then Avebury is the Womb. I don’t think I have encountered a place with such latent female energy. Enjoy....
See previous fieldnotes for Access comments.
Wednesday 17 September 2003
If you get the chance, you have to do this. Take one sunny day in and around Avebury, preferably in good company. End the day sitting around and wandering about the stones as the sun slowly descends, giving a constantly changing lightshow on the stones.
It certainly works brilliantly in the area near the southern inner circle, as the sun sinks towards the henge bank to the west. I’d like to try it up in the north west quadrant next time!!!
And it’s great for easily-done but impressive-looking photographs full of light and shade!!!
Before the sun got too low I also took a walk up onto Waden Hill while Jane painted and John finished his investigations of the stones. Worth the walk for a nice overview of Avebury itself, a surprisingly clear and detailed view of Windmill Hill and my favourite views so far of Silbury!
Access the main car park is on the edge of the village itself but as the village is small, this isn’t much of a problem. Don’t think there are any problems with gates from the car park, though some of the others scattered around the different segments of the circle may be a bit narrow and ‘unforgiving’.
Much of the ground inside the henge is easily pretty easily negotiable, being reasonably even and grassed. Guess busy parts might be muddy in sustained wet weather. Don’t think there’s a very convenient alternative to the steps near the National Trust shop when rejoining the circle itself.
Monday 15 September 2003
It was great to finally get an excuse and the chance to revisit Avebury – only my second visit, and my first as an obsessive megarak.
Such was the thrill of walking along the West Kennett Avenue for the first time, that I was quite expecting Avebury itself not to live up to my recollections and expectations. But I needn’t have worried....
It’s a ‘what can I say...’ site if ever there was one! There’s just so much of it, so much too look at, so much to take in, so much to think about!
I want to live there & each evening the weather’s decent, I want to take a bottle of Old Peculiar and sit by a different stone to slowly drink in and savour the beer and the place simultaneously.... And when I’d done ‘em all, I’d start again. Reckon I could pass a few years that way.
Big henge. Big circle. Big trees. Big sky. BIG ATMOSPHERE. About the only thing that’s (mercifully) small is the village. And even though the crowds were fairly big too, the bigness of the place compensated comfortably for that too.
Oh, and the stones!!!!!!!!! Big, big, BIG, BIG stones. So much bigger in the flesh than in photos, pictures or my memory or imagination!!!
And the whole thing is so much BIGGER than my vocabulary that I think I’d better shut up now.
Visited on a blustery Sunday with the charming Cloudhigh and delectable JP. Stopped for lunch at the Red Lion, and bravely tried to eat lunch alfresco, but when the lollo rosso started blowing off our plates and across the courtyard, decamped inside.
Afterwards, paid a visit to the fascinating engineering work going on with a couple of the stones – how I would love to see neolithic engineering in action – and photographed archeologists stood in a hole.
Aware that the delightful Jane was burying her beloved cat, Finbarr, back home in Oxfordshire, sat on the henge by that magnificent stand of beech trees, and reflected on a splendid animal. The tempestuous nature of the day suited such an event, and it was great to have the wind blasting straight across the open fields and in to my face at about Gale Force 5. (“North Utsire, South Utsire, Malin, Avebury . . .“)
Cloudhigh and JP returned from a ramble round the earthworks and observed that I appeared to have been sellotaped to the henge, as other walkers got caught off guard by sudden gusting.
By now, a hint of hypothermia began to set in, so we all set off to Cloudhigh’s mother’s for a spiffing tea including an utterly succulent victoria sponge sandwich! :op
29th June 2003
Bizarre, this place is unbelievable. As you can tell by the images there are stones everywhere. The earthworks are breath-taking. Will visit again in two weeks time with my wife.
[visited 19/4/3] Whilst in the area I thought I had better take a look at a genuine archaeological fiddle at The Cove, as these things are getting increasingly rare. I was disappointed to see no info board & no activity but the complex metal work around the stones was fairly entertaining. Lots of other intrigued looking people as well.
Having been a regular visitor to Avebury over the last 10 years I was dying to bring my boyfriend down to experience what is one of the most magical places I’ve ever visited. We came down on the eve of the Winter Solstice and visited the Red Lion. The atmosphere was electric with many people singing, playing instruments and being generally happy. the next morning we were back around 7am to welcome yule and sunrise with the pagans. It took around 1/2 hour for the festivities to end, the finale being a dance in a circle, running fast and holding hands. Not being very well I decided to skip the dance, but the boyfriend was caught up in the circle and decided it was a very spiritual experience! He was smiling all day long.
We had a magical weekend and the atmosphere of Avebury made us fall in love again every time we looked at each other.
A belated visit, but thought that after ‘Discover Avebury’ I should pay it a trip myself, to make sure that they weren’t telling us lies. Yes it was there.
An epic Trip, left home in Essex with the kids at 10am expecting to arrive at midday, however M4 was closed so spent 8 hours in the car with the kids, isn’t Reading one-way sytem wonderful ! Eventually abandoned the trip and crashed out at my Sisters in Stroud (but managed to sneak in Minchinhampton), finally arrived in Avebury Midday Sunday. A nice way to spend an afternoon strolling round with the crowds !
Next time I’ll go mid week – mid winter
Visited this afternoon in the strange high, mizzly haze which had wrapped itself over the Wiltshire plain............having never ventured as far into the Southern interior as Wilts before, i found the rolling, hazy, hedgeless plains disorientating......the same sense of landscape bowling away over the lip of the Earth as I’ve found whilst crossing Bodmin Moor......
......never seen monoliths as big before.....craggy and proud, they seem to stare out the village(and how intrusive this settlement seems outside the rarified aerial shot or Ordnance Survey map!!).......felt a definite current from one of the large stones near the circle- and how awe-inspiring it must ‘ve been to see this site intact and resplendent.
I’ll definitely be back to explore the wider landscape, think next time I’ll park and walk in from a few miles out, taking in a few outlying sites on the way.....it can only be right to arrive on foot, tired and blissful from The Ridgeway.
What a wonderful Easter(ogen) filled Saturday, bottle of coke and a trip to stones of Avebury. Blessed to see the most wonderful sunset of the year so far. Bring it on!
Sorting through old photos, I’ve been reminded that in June 1996 me and my wife had a memorable day in Avebury. Went round all the Avebury sites for the first time in glorious weather. Felt sad for the party of little schoolkids who were all wearing Foreign Legion style hats to protect their skin because the ozone layer is fucked. Saw what seemed to be a gang of people in the distance making a crop circle in a field overlooking the long barrow. Had a laugh at an American bloke and his family in the main circle, because within 1 minute of giving them a reverent pep talk about the age, mystery of the stones etc, he then stood by while his additive-addled kids raised merry hell by fighting round, climbing on, and kicking the shit out of the stones.
Then back at Avebury caff, met Julian, his partner and little girl. My wife didn’t recognise him but I did, but I wasn’t going to let on or tell her – since I thought he probably didn’t want to be pointed at. He spoke about his research for the Modern Antiquarian, and was bloody hilarious about the gerroff-my-land farmers and their scabby dogs he’d had to cope with when doing the research (he showed us the bitten leg...).
My wife took a photo of his little girl playing in the garden, because she was very cute. I think I clocked Julian’s partner looking disapproving at this, although in her defence, she didn’t know who they were. In fact, it’s finding the photo that’s reminded me of all this – if Julian (but NO-ONE else) wants a scan of it for the album, he’s welcome to it.
I read a report in the paper next day about how someone had painted squiggles all over the stones in the avenue, and how it was must have been done just after we were there, and wondered if it was anyone I’d seen, maybe the crop circle people...
I’ve visits twice now and there is definitely something strange and magical about Avebury henge. Its such an awe-inspiring and majestic relic, so open to the natural elements yet isolated and removed from civilisation. It provokes, in me at least, such a sense of time, of change and of loss, while forever maintaining a constant and passivity that’s utterly mysterious and foreboding. A monument once so significant to a people long since departed still holds within its dark stony aura the capacity to bestow such thoughts of wonder and intrigue upon those that now walk within its sacred shadow.
20/01/02 – Wonderful day. The elements were in full force – muddy, rainy, windy, cold. We slipped and slided our way round the circle, as far as we were permitted, then warmed up in the Red Lion. Strange things happened with my camera today...
19/1/02
Avebury again. Took our 7 week old twin boys for the first time outside of mums belly. Suitably disinterested! (They’d better get used to being dragged round these sites in all weathers!)
Maybe its the weather, but Avebury can seem quite sad at times-the destruction, and the intrusion of the village/public bogs/chapel etc.
Roll on the summer....
Avebury....wonderful place, me and mine are booked in for a weekend in february at t’lion. Hope it snows.
I had driven all day from Leeds to a business appointment in Swindon. After my meeting, I took my chances to make my pilgimmage to Avebury before dark. I made it. It was November, cold, wet and dusk – and perfect for the first ever visit to Avebury. I was totally blown away as I wandered through the stones in the half light cutting a bizarre figure in my black suit. I could smell woodsmoke and the church bells rang out four times. The stones were wet, their presence awesome and I explored this ancient place alone. I left in the dark, with the painfully long drive ahead far from my mind. I’ll be back.
Avebury, Silbury and West Kennet : AN AERIAL VIEW, 25 Nov 2001:
Am I the luckiest girl alive? A wonderful now-ex-colleague who only recently got his private pilot’s licence asked me if I’d like to go flying with him one afternoon and where would I like to go? Ummm, Avebury, perhaps!?
We took off in a tiny Grummond(?) Tiger from Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire and flew for 20 minutes west. From 2000 feet Jim navigated us towards Marlborough, a splendid town, and I navigated us by eye from hereon, following the road west, pointing out the unmistakable hump of Silbury which utterly dominates the landscape, even from 2000 feet. We flew towards it, then Jim sought permission for us to drop to 1000 feet to circle Avebury, which was granted and we banked sharply round to the right following the line of the avenue. Jim opened the hatch so I could take some photos. And although it was freezing and my hair blew around like a mad woman... What a buzz! My God! I hardly knew where to look – to see the village so familiar to me swirl around below, those gorgeous and huge beech trees, even from 1000 feet looking as impressive as they do on the ground, and the fantastic achievements of the builders of Avebury; the ditches; the banks; the rhythm of the stones; the low winter sunshine filtering over the undulating land..... To have witnessed this most sacred of places from the viewpoint of an soaring eagle is a priviledge I can hardly express. Thank you SO MUCH, Captain Mc, my mind has been blown.
Yes, I am the luckiest girl alive!
My brother decided to stop here for lunch on the way to Falmouth for the eclipse in August 1999.
It was raining steadily but it was so warm and I walked and walked on the soggy chalk paths. I was cagouled in long shorts and sandals and it felt good.
Up on a nearby hill, someone had spirographed a nice crop circle and despite the rain, this place was so busy.
I could not comprehend this place as a whole, but I still found the visit exhilarating.
I walked down the avenue alone and I’ll never forget that.
A week wouldn’t be enough for all this.
Everyone else was waiting in the car when I got back.
First time we approached this place at dusk I nearly drove off the road at the sheer enormity of actually being in the middle of a stone circle...! Found the local pub very accommodating and hospitable then travelled back a few miles to a campsite. Pitched the Vango in the dark then after a good kip returned to Avebury the next day. Trix and I were on our Grand Tour of Wessex et al and found the whole area deeply moving and intense, especially as most of the touristy types were only gawping at the stones near the pub and completely missing out the Avenue..which was great cos then we had it all to ourselves! Next time we’d travelled all night from York and arrived at Avebury very bleary eyed and not all there, at 8am. The sun was just up, the mist was like a very fine, gauzy curtain and (bugger) I left my camera in the van!
After 6 hours of driving we finally approached Avebury, it was early evening and the road was heavy with traffic, both Mrs Fitz and myself were feeling a little jaded.
FUCKIN’ HELL! The Swindon Stone! It just leapt out of the twilight, BANG.... re-energised ...here we go!
All excited we parked up at the pub (rooms pre-booked 2 nights), got our stuff up to the room (The Keiler Room no less), looked out of the window, BANG... The Cove staring back at me..what a view. We yomped out into the dark and started greeting the stoney chaps. Talk about a rush!
The next morning up early full breakfast back to the chaps, for a brief stroll. Mrs Fitz is no great megalithomaniac so she humours me and I don’t push it. Off we go to Devizes (Mrs Fitz checks the market and I mooch around the lovely museum) after this comes Stonehenge (ruined by the almost unavoidable heritage industry, but what can you do? you gotta keep the numpties from wrecking the place, I just find it all very sad, a bit like a trip to the zoo..no joy) ) Marlborough (not impressed), West Kennett (very impressed) and Silbury..Yow!( these are discussed elesewhere).
Back in Avebury. The place has had a dusting of snow and is lovely and frosted. Mrs Fitz chills and I set off with Burl’s Pocket Guide to show me the way. What a place, hardly anyone there, it is just so fuckin organic, stones and village together weaving in and out of each other. The village has prevented the circle becoming another site in a cage (stonehenge).
Following Burl’s root I traipse round the stoney chaps, stopping to chat here and there and just picking up the energy vibe until i reach a point in the SE sector when I feel like..DING .. fully charged. I then hit the West Kennett Avenue. I almost flew down the thing, I was buzzing so much, chatting like a monkey to the stoney chaps and just off in a world of my own, feeling like a lord’s bastard...pure bliss mateys.
Oh, yes and I am hooked! Such a shame that someone shoved a village in it but when I think of the utter peace of mind I feel when I sit within the henge, on a pub bench with a cold beer- it’s almost less of a tragedy (but, not quite). But, up there, on the South-West bank with a view down to the stones, across to the avenue and away to Silbury Hill- that’s where I’ll be. Oh, yes.
I’ve been 3 times to Avebury now (I’m from The Netherlands), but this site hits me all over again every time. I like it far better than Stonehenge or Stanton Drew.
(Added 13 nov 2002)
Though it’s such a touristic site, there are enough times when one can be almost alone. The atmosphere here is much more peaceful. Stanton is almost desolate and Stonehenge, well, maybe I just feel out of place there, on that wide plain, as if trespassing in the cathedral of another religion. Avebury doesn’t have that feling, for me at least. When they’re a bit older, I’ll bring the kids, too.
Me and my brother set off to vist the area of the Marlborough downs, with the aid of the map that is in Interpreter. We travelled down from Norwich just for the day, to see what we could in the short time that we had. We visted several sites around the area and enjoyed the experience but the highlight for us was Averbury.
It was good being able to walk round the site with no restrictions, going in and out between the stones and able to find a spot to lay back and relax while taking in such a magical place.
We will definitely be going back.
Avebury is a very special place to me and ever since I first visted it I try to come and stay twice a year. It is my place where I recharge my batteries. I think we should be thankful that Avebury is still so accessable. We must all ensure that this place is kept safe for ever and ever.
This area has such a wealth of places to visit all of them special in their own way. and all worth while visiting. Walk, breathe, energize, rejoice and enjoy..... Take nothing you see for granted (as I am sure you won’t)
Avebury has changed my life and I am grateful for that, I will continue to visit and bring friends for as long as I am able.. discovering somthing about Avebury that is new and wonderful every time I return.
Back in March....
Avebury, as an area is unbeatable. There is so much here that even after four visits I have yet to reach the Sanctuary!
I would strongly recommended getting your hands on a copy of ‘The Avebury Cycle’ by Michael Dames. Whilst I don’t agree with all of his conclusions, what he does achieve is to locate the circles and henge within a wider landscape that included other circles in the immediate area (Faulkner’s Circle, South Circle, etc), long barrows, sacred hills, enclosures, rivers and springs etc etc. This is an essential book for an essential site. It will certainly help you plan future visits; the next time I go I’m planning on not even visiting the main circles/henge but just taking in the surrounding sacred landscape.
A couple of weeks before heading to Avebury my house, in Madrid, & 15 others burnt down. The stone at 9 0’clock, just south of the road is a pretty good copy of the house shape. A strange way to find it, I was driving from Glastonbury with a very poor map, not knowing where Avebury was exactly. After meandering a random across Salisbury plan past military roads M, P, R, A etc. I found the sign post, maybe luck, maybe. Anyway, I’d just been suffering from stress & needed a key to unlock the cycle, maybe the stone was a key, maybe.
Power?, who knows. Something?, I don’t know. Maybe just enjoy what works without developing dogma. Maybe.
great site to visit, take the time to take it all in. shame they had to build the village right in the bloody centre.
take a stroll down the avenue, its only a shame that a great majority of the stones are missing. i understand that a majority of the stones have been used to construct most of the village, and the others were just burned because of superstition by locals a few hundred years ago. must be more impressive than stonehenge itself in terms of area and the mysticism surrounding it.
Whenever I go to Avebury I just have to dance about like a loon.
I’ve taken a lot of friends there over the years, and it always totally interests me to see what their reactions are, some people click right in and have to start dancing about too, others just don’t seem to get it.
For me it’s simply the most inspiring place to be ever, and I’ll always be thankful to ol’ Jules for introducing me to it through his music.
I have now visited Avebury five times and have sat watching peoples reactions to the stones for hours. It is definetely a female site in that they are nearly all drawn to touching and embracing the stones like long lost relatives. Males tend to stand back and admire with little touching apart from pointing out various details to their friends. Kids don’t seem to know whether they are male or female. The sheep don’t seem to bother.
My first impression was not about the stones or the circles but how big the sky is!
Everyone should visit before it is fenced off totally by our guardians.
Miss J M Dunn is another reliable witness who claims, on a clear moonlit night, to have seen a number of small human-like figures abroad; figures that seemed to hurry from one spot to another and then back again as though preparing for some festival or special occasion; figures that were plainly there one moment and gone the next [..] There have also been stories of phantom horsemen being seen in the vicinity of Avebury Circle, riding wildly over the ground on small horses with flowing manes.
p10 in ‘Ghosts of Wiltshire’ by Peter Underwood (1989).
History of Handfasting or hand-festa
Their are two theories as to the origins of this term;-
a) Originally a loan from Old Norse hand-festa “to strike a bargain by joining hands”.
b) “Handfasting” was the word used by the ancient Celts to describe their traditional trial-marriage ceremony, during which couples were literally bound together. The handfasting was a temporary agreement, that expired after a year and a day. However, it could be made permanent after that time, or continued for another year and a day, if both spouses agreed.
Either way, handfasting was suppressed following the Synod of Whitby in 664, when Celtic Christianity was abandoned for the Catholic Church. At The Council of Trent, 1545-1563, Roman Catholic marriage laws were changed in order for any marriage to require the presence of a priest.
This change did not extend to the regions affected by the Protestant Reformation, and in Scotland, marriage by consent remained in effect.
By the 18th century, the Kirk of Scotland no longer recognized marriages formed by mutual consent and subsequent sexual intercourse, even though the Scottish civil authorities did. This situation persisted until 1940, when Scottish marriage laws were reformed.
In the 18th century, well after the term handfasting had passed out of usage, there arose a popular myth that it referred to a sort of “trial marriage”. A.E. Anton, in Handfasting’ in Scotland (1958) finds that the first reference to such a “trial marriage” is by Thomas Pennant in his 1790 Tour in Scotland. This report had been taken at face value throughout the 19th century, and was perpetuated.
In 1820, Sir Walter Scott used the term to refer to a fictional sacred ritual that bound the couple in a form of temporary marriage for a year and a day. He wrote of it in his book “The Monastery:”
“When we are handfasted, as we term it, we are man and wife for a year and a day; that space gone by, each may choose another mate, or, at their pleasure, may call the priest to marry them for life; and this we call handfasting.”
During the 1995 movie, Braveheart, Mel Gibson, in the role of William Wallace, was handfasted with his girlfriend Murron. Handfasting has since grown in popularity among Cowans (non-Pagans), particularly those whose distant ancestors lived in ancient Celtic lands.
Modern usage, A Neopagan handfasting
In the present day, some Neopagans practice this ritual. The marriage vows taken may be for “a year and a day”, a lifetime, “for all of eternity” or “for as long as love shall last”, sometimes called “till the end of love”. Whether the ceremony is legal, or a private spiritual commitment, is up to the couple. Depending on the state where the handfasting is performed, and whether or not the officiate is a legally recognized minister, the ceremony itself may be legally binding, or couples may choose to make it legal by also having a civil ceremony.
Modern handfastings are performed for heterosexual or homosexual couples, as well as for larger groups in the case of polyamorous relationships. Currently, handfasting is a legal Pagan wedding ceremony in Scotland, but not in England, Wales or Ireland.
In 2000, William Mackie, a bishop of Celtic Church in Scotland, a small faith group that has attempted to recreate Celtic Christianity and promote the legalization of handfasting ceremonies said: “I plan to lobby MSPs to get it reinstated in its entirety: a lot of people make a mistake and, as long as there are no children involved, the one year opt-out would save a lot of hassle.”
As with many Neopagan rituals, some groups may use historically attested forms of the ceremony, striving to be as traditional as possible, while others may use only the basic idea of handfasting and largely create a new ceremony.
As many different traditions of Neopaganism use some variation on the handfasting ceremony, there is no universal ritual form that is followed, and the elements included are generally up to the couple being handfasted. In cases where the couple belong to a specific religious or cultural tradition, there may be a specific form of the ritual used by all or most members of that particular tradition. The couple may conduct the ceremony themselves or may have an officiant perform the ceremony. In some traditions, the couple may jump over a broom at the end of the ceremony. Some may instead leap over a small fire together. Today, some couples opt for a handfasting ceremony in place of, or incorporated into, their public wedding. As summer is the traditional time for handfastings, they are often held outdoors.
A corresponding divorce ceremony called a handparting is sometimes practiced, though this is also a modern innovation. In a wiccan handparting, the couple may jump backwards over the broom before parting hands.
As with more conventional marriage ceremonies, couples often exchange rings during a handfasting, symbolizing their commitment to each other. Many couples choose rings that reflect their spiritual and cultural traditions, while others choose plainer, more conventional wedding rings. These are sometimes referred to as a Claddagh ring. In Oliver Stone’s movie, The Doors, Jim Morrison and one of his girl friends, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, are seen exchanging marriage vows and rings at a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony in June 1970.
I feel this covers the basics of Handfasting, with the principles, beliefs and symbolism.
If approved by the TMA eds, I shall post up some pictures of an actual Handfasting, as carried out on the Ring-Stone.
Chance
Stories abound of local people seeing spectral figures and moving lights around the stones at night, as well as hearing phantom singing. As a result, the stones are still treated with a healthy respect. And there is a belief that buildings which have been constructed from former standing stones are subject to a poltergeist-like manifestation known as “The Haunt”.
Stories abound eh – well I’ve not been able to find many about Avebury, so either this is an advertising ploy or some people better get typing.
From ‘Ghosts’ by Sian Evans (a book about National Trust properties), published 2006.
Maybe the 70s tv series ‘Children of the Stones’ is considerably more frightening than reality? I can recommend renting it – megalithic anoraky, 70s fashion and excruciating singing. There is a short clip on You Tube here:
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=e8tui_jUfWw
In her ‘Ghosts and Legends of the Wiltshire Countryside’, Kathleen Wiltshire says:
“The late Miss Edith Olivier, the author of several books of Wiltshire interest, told of an experience she had had when driving her car from Devizes to Marlborough one night in the years of the First World War. She arrived at Avebury just at twilight, and pulled up her car to look down into the Circle. There she saw the lights and heard the music of a fair being held amongst the stones, so she drove on to Marlborough. On her arrival there, she remarked to someone what she had seen at Avebury, only to be told no such fair was being held; the last fair was held there at least fifty years before. Miss Olivier said she could only suppose she had experienced ‘hindsight’.”
Edith Olivier wasn’t a stranger to such weird experiences. Apparently she once saw Lyonesse from Land’s End. That may or may not affect your view of her tale above.
She relates the ‘fair’ story in a book called ‘Without knowing Mr Walkley’ and not content with just claiming to see a fair from the past, ‘it turns out’ that she saw the long-lost Beckhampton Avenue too. There’s more you can read at the ‘UFOarea’ website. Personally I think she had a rather creative mind. But why spoil a good story.
ufoarea.com/physics_cosmology_windowavebury.html
There doesn’t seem to be a legend to explain how the stones got here – Jordan in her ‘Folklore of Ancient Wiltshire’ suggests that perhaps that’s because of the village: familiarity breeds contempt?
Various stones have special names; there’s the Swindon stone mentioned below, the Devil’s Chair at the southern entrance (young women reputedly sat in it to make a wish on May Day Eve), and the cove of the N inner circle were called the ‘Devil’s Brand Irons’.
There is a rumour (mentioned by Stukeley?) that snakes cannot live within the circle. But in christian mythology the snake often represents the devil. So really you’d expect the circle to be knee-deep in snakes! However, on the church font at Avebury there is a carving of a bishop crushing a dragon/serpent with his crozier (nasty man) – so perhaps the ‘no snakes’ thing is actually a memory of the christian church insisting that Paganism Is Over Around Here. On the other hand, you will notice that the church isn’t actually within the stone circle: perhaps they didn’t dare put it in there??
Details of enclosure on Pastscape
Double-ditched curvilinear enclosure with an internal pit visible as a cropmark within the henge at Avebury.
A 1:1000 scale level 3 photogrammetric survey of the features visible as parch marks within the henge at Avebury was carried out by the RCHME Air Photography Unit between the 17th and 28th June 1996. The survey was carried to record a newly discovered double-ditched enclosure situated within the north-western quadrant of the henge. The enclosure is cut by the garden wall of one of the houses on the northern side of road. Faint traces of the enclosure can be discerned within the garden. The enclosure is curvilinear with four convex sides and very curved corners. Within the enclosure there appears to be a central pit. No previous record of the site is known, and it was not recorded during the early surveys of the site, indicating that it had been eroded or flattened very early on. A morphological parallel has been suggested between this and the Neolithic oval barrow at Radley nr Abingdon (Bradley 1992 and Wilson 1982). Photogrammetric plans were prepared with the aid of the AERIAL 4.20 rectification software published by Bradford University. The resultant plan was combined with the RCHME earthwork survey at 1:1000 scale. Also included were the parchmarks noted on the ground in 1990 by the RCHME Field survey. The plan, report and digital files are held by the RCHME (Collection UID 1057206). (1) A discussion of the cropmark, accompanied by photographs and transcription, has been published (4).
The story of the Barber surgeon of Avebury is one that most visitors to the prehistoric site of Avebury Henge have heard.
The traditional story goes as follows:
A pious traveller was assisting the folk of Avebury in burying the pagan standing stones in the village during the fourteenth century. Alas as he was busily digging out the underside of a stone it fell over, crushing him and entombing him beneath it. The archaeologist Alexander Keiller lifted the stone to reinstate it in 1938 and found the man’s remains underneath. Items found with the body including coins, scissors and an iron medical probe identified him as an itinerant mediaeval barber surgeon who had sadly been hoisted by his own petard.
Keiller sent the remains to the curator of the museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, whom he felt would appreciate the find. It was thought to have been destroyed during bombing in the Second World War but was rediscovered and re-examined in 1998. A large healed cut wound was noticed on the skull but no evidence of traumatic death was identified and it was suggested that the man had been buried beneath a stone rather than crushed by it.
On the destruction of the remaining stones of the northerly inner circle:
.. in 1812 there were four [stones surrounding the cove], and it is only within the last two years that this number has been reduced. I saw the man who destroyed them. He was a labourer employed on Mr. Naldy’s farm, and it was by Mr. Naldy’s orders that they were broken to pieces. The reason was that they stood inconveniently to him in his husbandry arrangements; but this reason would press quite as strongly against the two cove-stones, for they stand in the midst of his hay-ricks, and may perhaps occasion some little inconvenience in the piling up or taking down the produce of the farm.
But beside the destruction of two uprights, the same person acknowledged to having broken to pieces one which had fallen; and another person in the village told me that two of the prostrate stones, besides the two uprights, had lately been broken to pieces, by tenants of Mr. Thring of Wilton, of whom Mr. Naldy was one. It was added that the tenant had received permission from the owner, but this may be a mistake. Such an unparalleled remain may be in little esteem with “the dull swain, Who treads on it daily, with his clouted shoon:” -- but something better may be expected where the proprietorship resides.
There is, however, no replacing them as the Rocking-stone was replaced; for they were broken to pieces, and the new wall on the Swinden road is composed of the fragments.
From a letter to the Gentleman’s Magazine, July 1829, by Joseph Hunter.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=-Xyjw0o11mcC&printsec=titlepage
- see page 7.
Ever wondered what people did at Avebury before the invention of the dustman?
Thirteen men were employed last April in the reexcavation of the great fosse at Avebury.. on the east side of the Kennet Causeway... This immense fosse had been partly reexcavated in 1914, when owing to danger to children and animals, it had to be fenced in, and it was only during the spring that this work could be completed.
During this time .. a large amount of talus had formed. It was intended to measure this [to determine] what rate these chalk ditches silted up from natural causes; but.. during the interval of eight years the villagers found the ‘hole’ an attractive dump for their broken crockery, worn-out domestic utensils and rubbish. It took the greater part of the first week to remove the rubbish and the eight years’ accumulation of silting.
You’d imagine it was ever thus? From a report in The Times 14 August 1922, quoted in Proc Bris Glouc Arch Soc Trans 44 (1922).
1663. King Charles IId discoursing one morning with my Lord Brounker and Dr. Charleton concerning Stoneheng, they told his Majestie, what they had heard me say concerning Aubury, sc. that it did as much excell Stoneheng as a Cathedral does a Parish Church. His Majestie admired that none of our Chorographers had taken notice of it: and commanded Dr. Charlton to bring me to him the next morning.
I brought with me a draught of it donne by memorie only: but well enough resembling it, with which his Majestie was pleased: gave me his hand to kisse, and commanded me to waite on him at Marleborough when he went to Bath with the Queen about a fortnight after, which I did: and the next day, when the court were on their journey, his Majestie left the Queen and diverted to Aubury, where I showed him that stupendous Antiquity, with the view whereof He and his Royal Highness the Duke of Yorke were very well pleased.
His Majestie then commanded me to write a Description of it, and present it to him, and the Duke of Yorke commanded me to give an account of the old Camps and Barrows on the Plaines. As his Majestie departed from Aubury to overtake the Queen he cast his eie on Silbury-hill about a mile off: which he had the curiosity to see, and walkt up to the top of it, with the Duke of Yorke; Dr. Charlton and I attending them...
Quoted in ‘Wiltshire: the topographical collections of John Aubrey,’ JE Jackson 1862. This also has Aubrey’s plans of the circle, and a discussion of these by Jackson.
A wry comment in the 1950 edition of the Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine, which highlights how it is not always ‘riffraff’ which damage archaeological sites; perhaps interesting in light of the present issues at Silbury?
Even under Mr Keiller’s care, it has not been possible to foresee or provide against all forms of attack, and in the distraction of the present moment [the site being signed over to the nation] it is more than ever difficult to protect the stones of Avebury.
Thus within the month that preceded the completion of these protracted negotiations two megaliths were defaced with the bench-mark of the Ordnance Survey! The broad arrow of the symbol carries a suggestion befitting the desecration*.
How are we to be sure that other sign manuals are not appended in future? [Avebury’s] policing, if it comes to that, will not be easy.
*the arrows on prison uniforms, I assume. Good one.
Don’t try this at home, kids.
Aubrey “heard the minister of Aubury say those huge stones may be broken in what part of them you please without any great trouble. The manner is thus: they make a fire on that line of the stone where they would have it to crack; and, after the stone is well heated, draw over a line with cold water, and immediately give a smart knock with a smyth’s sledge, and it will breake like the collets at the glasse-house.”
(quoted in ‘Avebury, the biography of a landscape’ by Pollard and Reynolds (2002), maybe from Aubrey’s ‘Monumenta Britannica’?)
The famous antiquarian John Aubrey (1626-97) began his interest in prehistoric monuments when he was inspired by unexpectedly seeing Avebury while out hunting in 1648.
“I was wonderfully surprised at these vast stones, of which I had never heard before, as also the mighty bank and graff about it.. I left my company a while, entertaining myself with a more delightful indagation.”
(taken from R Whitlock’s 1976 ‘The folklore of Wiltshire’)
Visited 13th July 2003
I followed Burls circuitous route around Avebury, but this was not before having an entertaining beer in the Red Lion. A gentleman by the name of Badg (probably Badger) entertained the bikers, crusties and bemused families with small children. He cursed the motorized ones from his vantage point of the white lines in the middle of the road. Great stuff.
There are a few crop circles there at the moment, I couldn’t see their design from where I was. I wasn’t going to walk up to them as I had a 350 mile journey ahead of me.
This is much better than stonehenge, pitty about the obelisks
Dave
AN AVENUE, A COVE AND AN ENCLOSURE: FURTHER FIELDWORK AS BECKHAMPTON, NEAR AVEBURY
In Past 34 we reported on the excavation, during 1999, of a newly-discovered Neolithic enclosure near Avebury, Wiltshire, and the rediscovery of a second megalithic avenue (the ‘Beckhampton Avenue’) leading from the Avebury henge. Undertaken by a team from the Universities of Leicester, Southampton and Wales (Newport) with generous funding from the AHRB, work on these monuments continued during 2000 and 2002. (Like so many projects, our plans for fieldwork during 2001 had to be curtailed due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth.) Further sections of the avenue and enclosure were investigated, including what we believe to be the avenue’s original terminal (or beginning, depending on your orientation) – a massive and largely unparalleled box-like megalithic setting known as the ‘Longstones Cove’.
Our excavations have focussed on an area 1-2 km to the south-west of Avebury near the village of Beckhampton. The sequence of Neolithic activity here is a long one, beginning with limited occupation and cultivation during the earlier 4th millennium BC, as revealed by John Evans’ earlier work on the nearby South Street long barrow (Ashbee et al. 1979). This in turn was followed by the creation during the mid-4th millennium BC of the South Street barrow and the nearby Beckhampton or ‘Longstones’ long mound. We now know from radiocarbon dates and finds of Grooved Ware on the base of the ditch that our oval enclosure was constructed early in the later Neolithic, around 2900-2700BC. This puts it more or less contemporary with the Avebury henge enclosure (Pitts & Whittle 1992). However, the Beckhampton enclosure and Avebury henge were very different monuments. In stark contrast to the truly monumental scale of Avebury, the Beckhampton enclosure was a slight and ephemeral monument that was to leave little tangible trace in the landscape. The ditch was no more than 0.9m deep and showed no evidence of recutting. It appears to have been systematically backfilled perhaps a century or two after being dug. The circuit of the ditch was interrupted by frequent causeways, with a major entrance (of the order of 40m wide) on the east. It is highly significant that the style of the monument is more akin to earlier Neolithic causewayed enclosures than it is to contemporary henges. The enclosure’s builders may deliberately have set out to create an anachronistic monument, perhaps out of respect to earlier sacred traditions, as a process of emulation, or as an intentional act of recreation.
Trenches dug within the interior of the enclosure failed to reveal any prehistoric features, nor were any visible on geophysical surveys of the site undertaken by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory of English Heritage. Finds from the ditch were few. A scatter of pig, cattle and sheep bones on the base near the eastern entrance could relate to a brief episode of feasting following on from the construction of the enclosure. Other finds of bone and antler came from the base of the later backfill. Set within grazed grassland, perhaps the enclosure was visited infrequently, if at all, once constructed. In this context it was probably the act of construction that was important, rather than an intention to create a lasting statement within the landscape.
Despite the excavation of 150m of its length (comprising 13 individual stone settings), the chronology of the avenue remains imprecise. It is almost certainly secondary to the enclosure, and may come at the end of the Neolithic sequence in the region, that is around 2500-2300BC. A further pair of stone settings was investigated during 2000, both stones having suffered the common fate of fire-setting and breaking in the early 18th century. We also explored the area immediately around one of the two surviving Longstones (’Adam’). This massive block of sarsen stone was recorded as the sole survivor of a megalithic ‘box’ or ‘cove’ by the antiquary William Stukeley; who recorded much of the avenue during a concerted period of stone destruction between 1700-1725. Our excavations showed this setting to incorporate two distinct phases. The first comprised a linear setting of three stones 40m across, forming a simple ‘T-shaped’ terminal to the avenue immediately to the south-west of the earlier enclosure. Two of the stones were then taken down and their sockets carefully backfilled with chalk. The central stone (set on the centre axis of the avenue) was left in place to form the south-eastern side of the cove. With splayed sides, the cove enclosed an area of c.15 x 10 m; the individual stones standing 2.5-3.5 m above ground and weighing up to 60 tonnes each. Unfortunately, all the stone sockets had been extensively disturbed during the phase of stone destruction recorded by Stukeley, but sufficient survived of one to show that the stones were held in place by a packing of small sarsen boulders. From the stone sockets and fills of later destruction pits came several thousand of pieces of worked flint, much of it debitage from rather ad hoc working.
Almost invariably associated with henges and stone circles, cove settings are known elsewhere, for example at Stanton Drew in Somerset, Mount Pleasant in Dorset, and locally within the Avebury henge (Burl 1988). However, none of these approach the scale of the Longstones Cove, nor do they form ‘closed’ four-sided settings of this kind. The Longstones Cove might, as Burl has suggested for others, reference the format of earlier megalithic burial chambers (ibid., 7). Alternatively, its closed format could have drawn upon memory of the earlier enclosure – a transformation from earth to stone that would parallel the lithic conversion of certain late Neolithic wooden monuments, such as the Sanctuary at the end of the West Kennet Avenue. Either way, themes of time, transformation and a desire to make reference to the past, seem to be deeply implicated in the Beckhampton monuments.
In tracking the course of the Beckhampton Avenue from Avebury to Longstones Field, Stukeley’s observations have proved extremely reliable. He was convinced that the avenue continued beyond Longstones Field to the south-west, eventually terminating on a low hill at Fox Covert (’a most solemn and awful place’: Stukeley 1743, 36). His projected course seemed to be supported by the discovery in 1968 of a large sarsen buried in a pit alongside the present A4 (Anon 1969, 127). Wishing to confirm or refute this south-western extension of the avenue, we returned to the field during Easter 2002. We were again aided by a geophysical survey undertaken by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory. However, this and another geophysical survey further along the projected line failed to detect any buried stones or stone destruction pits. Excavation likewise drew a blank. Did the avenue really extend this far? We think not. Re-analysis of Stukeley’s field notes suggests his identification of this stretch of the avenue was based on the presence of only a small number of recumbent stones, all of which could be naturally occurring sarsens. His records for this section were clearly quite speculative. Technically the case is ‘not proven’ and many ambiguities remain. However, our opinion would favour a termination of the avenue in Longstones Field, at or just beyond the cove. From the end of one avenue to the end of the other, this makes Avebury an impressive 4km long.
Mark Gillings,
University of Leicester
the henge
tired each time I see you
not sure which road is green street
until I am there
down to meet Badger
Tigger or pete?
or someone else drawn by this
disjointed place?
On the way to Stonehenge at the end of last year two of our members stopped off briefly at Avebury. There was only time for a quick walk over to the Cove where they took some photos. It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Bright, low sunlight raked across the stones from the west. Later, when they looked at their photos, there was something on one of the Cove stones that they hadn’t noticed before.
“Today, we must celebrate John Aubrey’s dramatic rediscovery of Avebury – the world’s largest prehistoric stone circle – whilst out hunting with fellow royalists during the English Civil War, exactly three hundred and sixty-two years ago. For Aubrey’s heroic retrieval of this vast but (by then) long forgotten Stone Age temple confronted the then-accepted notion that only the coming of the Romans had forced a degree of culture upon the barbaric Ancient British, and also confounded the then-popular 17th-century belief – propounded by the highly influential Scandinavian antiquaries Olaus Magnus and Ole Worm – that all such megalithic culture had its archaic origins in Europe’s far north. Indeed, so rich were the cultural implications of John Aubrey’s re-discovery that – come the fall of Oliver Cromwell’s 11-year-long Commonwealth and the subsequent Restoration of the Monarchy – even the returned King Charles II would himself insist on taking one of Aubrey’s celebrated tours of the Avebury area. But how could the world’s largest stone circle have suffered such a total cultural extinction in the first place? ”
More here – onthisdeity.com/7th-january-1649-%E2%80%93-the-re-discovery-of-avebury/
Avebury: A Journey to the Past by Gordon Kingston.
Part 1 of Gordon’s personal, and very sensitive account, of his homecoming journey to Avebury appears on the Heritage Journal today. Part 2 will appear on Tuesday, 28 September and Part 3 on Thursday, 30 September.
plan view of the circle in 1722. click on ‘this album’ link for more of Avebury.
A dozing horse from the past at Avebury, next to a very large stone, which Pete G tells me is the Devil’s Chair (stone 98).
Photo taken by the eminent Alvin Langdon Coburn.
A 5 page article on the website forum entitled:
Evidence that the Avebury stone circle and its associated monuments show knowledge of past Polar positions.
by S. F. Wells
A personal view of an ancient enigma including re-creation images, panoramas,chronology and descriptions of the major components of the complex.
This page gives the times of opening and cost of entry for the Alexander Keiller Museum, Barn gallery and National Trust shop. It also has other information about access to the site and contact details for the local NT.
Original watercolours of sacred sites of Britain, including lots of Avebury, Stonehenge and the Rollrights – and other seriously starry stuff, too.
Topics
Sites within 20km of Avebury
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The Cove
photo 58 forum 1 description 5 link 2 -
Avenue stone with axe grinding marks
photo 11 description 2 -
West Kennett Avenue
photo 132 forum 5 description 12 link 3 -
Falkners Circle Long Barrow
description 1 -
West Kennet Avenue Settlement Site
photo 25 description 4 -
Falkner’s Circle
photo 26 forum 2 description 13 link 2 -
Falkners Circle mounds and barrows
photo 1 description 2 -
Waden Hill
photo 5 forum 1 description 2 -
Beckhampton Road Enclosures
description 2 -
Beckhampton Avenue
photo 9 forum 4 description 3 link 1 -
Wagon and Horses Barrow Cemetery
description 1 -
South Street
photo 6 description 4 link 1 -
The Longstone Cove
photo 63 forum 2 description 13 link 2 -
Silbury Hill
photo 162 forum 180 description 46 link 15 -
Avebury Down
photo 26 description 1 -
West Kennet Hollow Way
description 1 -
Horslip
photo 3 forum 1 description 3 -
Long Stones
photo 10 forum 1 description 6 -
The Shelving Stones
description 1 -
Penning
photo 12 forum 2 description 2 -
Silbaby
photo 18 forum 17 description 7 link 1 -
Penning Barn
photo 1 description 2 -
Winterbourne Monkton (Churchyard)
photo 3 description 3 link 2 -
Windmill Hill
photo 80 forum 4 description 15 link 3 -
Swallowhead Springs
photo 34 ondemand_video 1 forum 5 description 9 link 1 -
West Kennett Palisaded Enclosures
photo 2 description 2 link 1 -
West Kennett
photo 180 ondemand_video 1 forum 14 description 36 link 7 -
Winterbourne Monkton oval mound