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Avebury, Wiltshire

Avebury near Marlborough in Wiltshire is a spectacular prehistoric stone and ditch circle, built around 5000 years ago. It is one of the largest prehistoric monuments known, the circle enclosing an area of over twenty eight acres. Close to Avebury is a huge man-made hill, known as Silbury Hill. Silbury Hill is the largest man-made mound in Europe, constructed with antler picks and shovels made from the shoulder blades of oxen. Together Avebury and Silbury Hill make up a remarkable ceremonial landscape.

Sites such as Avebury and Stonehenge had a symbolic function. The kind of circular ditches seen at these sites mimic circular ditches used to create hill top castles, such as Maiden Castle in Dorset. When these castle structures were used at ceremonial sites it is likely they played a role in making people feel secure. Silbury Hill, is similarly symbolic, but rather than mimicing a hill fort, it mimics the hill on which forts were built! During Roman times Silbury Hill actually seems to have been used as a military fortification. Post holes provide evidence of an enclosure built here. In later history churches continued to use architecture derived from castles. Look at virtually any church and you will see stylised battlements and towers. It might be said that the tradition of Neolithic monument building which seems so distant and mysterious to us, is not actually that distant after all.

Go to the map for this page, switch to the satellite function and zoom in. The image will give you a sense of the size of the circle.

There is a restaurant and site museum telling the story of Avebury through an audio visual display.

 

 

Opening Times: The stone circle is open all year.

The museum is open from January 1st to March 31st, 10am - 4.30pm daily.

From April 1st to October 31st, 10am - 6pm daily.

From 1st November to 31st January 2011, 10am - 4.30pm daily.

The facilities are closed 24th-26th December. The museum is closed Monday to Wednesday in January for two weeks, please ring to check dates.

 

Address: Avebury, near Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1RF

Directions: Avebury is six miles west of Marlborough off the A4361, and then the B4003. Car parking is difficult during the Summer Solstice 18th - 23rd of June. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Avebury Stone Circle.

Access: The museum is ramped and two galleries are accessible by wheelchair users. There is an adapted toilet. Only parts of the circle itself are accessible. The shop and restaurant have level entrances. There is a Braille guide, a large print guide and a handling collection. There is an induction loop in the audio guide and in the Barn Gallery.

Contact:

telephone: 01672 539250

e-mail: avebury@nationaltrust.org.uk