This is the last in the short series of posts, relating to places of interest in the English County of Wiltshire. I intended here to help visitors know what to expect. Not presenting details of history, etc., simply describing as well as I can, with the aid of photographs, how to get there and what to expect when you arrive. I’ve provided links to more informative sites for each place listed.

What is it?

Avebury holds a collection of ancient sites gathered together in a small area. Most of the places stem from the Neolithic period and started out life around 2850 BC. The Henge is a circular bank and ditch, within which is Britain’s largest stone circle (around 100 stones when first constructed) which encloses two smaller stone circles.
There are other places, mostly within walking distance. These include West Kennet Avenue and the Long Barrow, Windmill Hill, and Silbury Hill. There’s an onsite museum, the Alexander Keiller Museum, which contains an excellent array of artifacts and provides many facts about the area and its ancient sites. There’s also a café, serving a wide range of excellent foods and drinks. And there are toilets on site near the museum, too.

Where is it?

Avebury Henge and Stone Circles can be found off the A4 between Chippenham and Newbury. If travelling from the west, you’ll reach a roundabout at Beckhampton. Turn first left onto the A361 (Beckhampton Road) and when you reach the village, turn left near the Red Lion pub and follow signs for the car park. You can use SN8 1RF on your satnav.

If coming from the east, you can take the same route, or turn right off the A4 at West Kennett and follow the B4003 to the village. There’s a small lay-by on the left if you use this route. It allows official parking for about five cars but has been extensively enlarged by usage and provides a very muddy spot for a further six cars. As this was our first visit, and we had no previous information, we pulled into this ‘car park’, but I’d advise against it if the tarmacked part’s full. The grass verge that forms the enlarged portion is very deeply rutted and anything other than a four-wheel-drive would probably get stuck in wet weather. (Map here)

English Heritage and the National Trust run the site, which is free for the outdoors areas. Car parking is free for members of either organisation but is charged at £7.00 ($8.95) all day and £4.00 ($5.11) after 15:00 for non-members. Tickets for the Alexander Keiller Museum can be purchased on site and cost £6.00 ($7.67) for an adult, £3.00 ($3.83) for a child, and £15.00 ($19.17) for a family of two adults with up to 3 children.

Unaware at the time we were on West Kennet Avenue, we walked its full length between the parallel rows of sarsen stones leading to the village from where we parked our car at the roadside.

The henge is entered from the end of that avenue, and we wandered around the full circle, taking in the tremendous size and weight of those sarsen stones. How did they shift them?

The interior of the site holds the café, museum, and toilet block, with an area outside for picnics. We visited the café and spent some time in the museum, but didn’t make it to Windmill Hill, as we were on our way home from Salisbury.

But we did manage to see Silbury Hill, which I described in more detail in an earlier post.