Avebury Stone Circle
Here is Avebury Stone circle. It is a large henge and several stone circles in the countryside of Wiltshire and dates to about 5,000 years ago. It is older than the megalithic stages of Stonehenge, which is located about 32 kilometers south.
Most of the surviving structure consists of the dykes, consisting of a massive ditch and bank henge 421 meters in diameter and 1.35 kilometers in circumference.
Here is the view via GoogleEarth. You can see how huge it is - note that part of the town of Avebury is located within the circle.
This is a map I found off the internet that shows the stone circles and original stone corridors, parts of which can still be seen. From the road its hard to get an idea of size, especially since the road cuts through the corridors.
Many of the original stones were destroyed from the 14th century onwards to prodice local building materials and to make room for agriculture. Our guide pointed out several of the houses were built with stones taken from the site.
During an excavation during the 1930s, an archeologist found, under one stone, now known as the Barber Stone, the skeleton of a man was discovered. Coins found with him dated from the 1320s, and the evidence suggests that he was fatally injured while digging the burial pit for the stone when it fell on top of him. As well as the coins, he was found with a pair of scissors and a lancet, the tools of a barber-surgeon at that time, hence the name given to the stone.
This is Silbury Hill, a man-made chalk mound near Avebury. This is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe and one of the world's largest. Its purpose is still highly debated. It stands 40 meters high and covers 5 acres. It was built about 4750 years ago and is estimated took 18 million man hours (or 500 men working 15 years).
Nearby is the Cherhill White Horse, one of the oldest of the Wiltshire Horses. It was cut in 1780 (the ground has chalk underneath).
This white horse originally had a glass eye made of upturned bottles, however, they no longer remained by the 19th century. The present eye is of stone and concrete.
A major restoration was carried out during August 2002, involving re-cutting the outling of the horse and resurfacing the horse with 160 tonnes of fresh chalk.
You can read more about these white horses at their website.
This is the view off GoogleEarth - helps to get a clearer image.
Nearby the chalk horse was a huge tower known as the Lansdowne Monument. It was errected in 1845 by Sir William Petty. Our guide told us that it was to mark the boundary of his land - he could see the obelisk from his manor house and point it out to the ladies he wanted to impress.
The interwebs point out that this obelisk sits on a very important ley line. You can read more on the BBC's website about this ley line, which you can read about here.
That's all for now! I've still got to put together and edit the photos both from London and Edinburgh, which will take a day or so. Be patient, and enjoy these photos !