Zastrozzi

26.01.2012

A place I’d only found out about recently, and after getting absolutely battered with the hail whilst walking around Avebury this felt like about all I was up to.

The place is palpably magical and sacred, without a doubt. The solitude and sanctity of the visit was rather diminished by a pheasant shoot which was going on nearby, but the ‘specialness’ of the place came through even that.

Probably my perceptual set, but the near-recumbent willow/s remind me of the legs of a birthing mother, further sanctifying the site. Silbury looks down, and in an area which can often get crowded this is much quieter and worth a short detour.

A grey mist all over the landscape in late January. The South East chamber (as referred to in TMA) is indeed pretty scary-looking from the outside, and I crept in and lay down with no small trepidation.

Funny though – it all went away very quickly. In sharp contrast to the outside world, the chamber is dry, calm and (at least on a day like this) comparatively warm when you’re out of the rain and wind. The Cotswold Stone lining the chamber also makes it more light than you might expect. Thanks are due to who or whatever placed a pillow stone in just the right place... I could have drifted off but for the arrival of a troop of American children.

Incidentally, it’s worth comparing the quality and intricacy of the stonework around the North and South entrances to that of the dry stone walls opposite them!