UK Staycation: A journey through time around Avebury

I've always had a fascination with the idea of World Heritage Sites. The idea of there being a group of monuments, natural environments, and cities all across the world so unique and intrinsic to the understanding of the Earth and human culture that they have been picked by the UN to be understood as such, is a beacon to someone as world-curious as myself. In fact, I think it’s beautiful. I think of it as if an alien landed on planet Earth tomorrow and wanted to know everything about all of history, human culture, and nature, the UN has already hand-picked all of the best places to start.

Growing up in the heart of Ancient Wessex, in the South West of England, I’ve been fortunate to be within arms reach of a number of these amazing places. But the one I come back to time and time again is Avebury World Heritage Site. This charming village in the heart of Wiltshire might not be as famous as the nearby Stonehenge, but is steeped in ancient history and surrounded entirely by the largest stone circle in Europe, as well as other mystical features that you can get up close and personal with.

Join me on a captivating journey as I take you on my favourite walk around Avebury, which takes in the enigmatic wonders of Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, and the Avenue in around an hour and a half.

Silbury Hill

I usually park in the National Trust Car Park just off of the A4361, pick up my picnic bags and walk in the opposite directions to the signs pointing in the direction of Avebury. Crossing the road to the signposted track opposite, you can see the first point of interest looming large in the distance; Silbury Hill. It’s around a 10 minute walk to the hill, with the early streams of the River Kennet trickling along beside you to keep you company. I’ve often heard that there are Water Voles in this amazingly clean chalk stream so keep your eyes and ears peeled; I'm yet to see one (elusive as they are) but I’m told the most obvious sign is a loud plop as they enter the stream from the bank.

Rising like a prehistoric pyramid from the surrounding floodplain, Silbury Hill is an awe-inspiring sight. The river itself is the reason for its commanding position, standing right in the fork of two tributaries. The ground around it almost always floods in the winter, reflecting the largest man-made mound in Europe, and making it notoriously difficult to get anywhere close when it does. Archaeologists have yet to uncover its true purpose, but many digs through the ages have destabilised the mound, so don’t expect to be able to climb it either. However, as you round the base of the hill take a moment to imagine the unbelievable effort required to construct such an imposing monument over 4,000 years ago.

West Kennet Long Barrow

Leaving Silbury Hill behind, and crossing the A4, the great lump of West Kennet Long Barrow can be seen crowing the hill up the track ahead. Once you get to the top, the enormous ancient burial chamber really reveals itself. This is the oldest part of the Avebury landscape, built nearly 6,000 years ago, and surprisingly, is open to walk straight into. There’s nothing that quite prepares you for the eeriness of walking into the cool darkness of a tomb 1,000 years older than the oldest Pyramid in Egypt, the atmosphere is still and silent. It’s like walking into a different world with huge stones and intricate chambers and passageways blocking out the world around. 

Blinking back out into the sun, and finding a patch on the grass outside, this is the perfect mid-walk-point to pour a cuppa and take in the landscape of the Wessex Downs rolling off to the horizon, as well as back towards Silbury Hill and Avebury beyond. Refreshed, I retrace my steps to Silbury Hill, but instead of following the river once at the base of the hill, I turn right and crest the ridge. It’s a little steep but the views of Silbury Hill as you climb are second-to-none. Descending the other side of the ridge, you spot the new waymark on our tour; the Avenue.

The Avenue

Continuing our journey, we follow the ceremonial route that leads to the heart of Avebury, a route that must have ushered our ancient ancestors from the end of the prehistoric Ridgeway, now a national trail just beyond, but formerly a stone-age highway tracing for hundreds of miles across Southern England, to the stone circle itself.

This is where you can start to get up-close and personal with the megaliths. Unlike other sites (aforementioned Stonehenge being the first to mind) the stones in Avebury are not behind a cordon, and many a time have I found myself using a stone for shade on a hazy hot day digging around my rucksack for sunscreen, or on one notable occasion sheltering from hail on a very changeable day. It’s also so quiet as you walk along the Avenue, you’ll only have the sound of grass in the wind and birdsong to accompany you and the stones flanking you. 

Avebury itself will soon come into view, the first sign being the tower of the church peaking over the nearby trees in the distance. A church might be a funny thing to find in an ancient pagan stone circle, and is a relative newcomer on the scene, being itself a place of worship for only 1,500 years. I almost always approach Avebury in this way when I can. Nothing beats following the processional route that people have used for thousands of years, and it’s the only real way you can feel the landscape as one designed for ceremony. Nothing is here by accident, even if the real reason does remain a mystery. As you near the end of the Avenue, cross the road through the gate and proceed up the chalk bank to your right.

Avebury Stone Circle

The first thing you’ll spot when you crest the bank are the absolutely enormous stones littering the field in front of you. As you look longer, patterns begin to emerge. Partial circles and arcs showing where circles would have continued but have since been obscured by the quaint mediaeval village that has since sprung up in between the stones. You can walk from here right up to the megaliths, through the docile grazing sheep, and take a moment to gather their height. The largest stone is the “Swindon Stone” placed almost exactly on the opposite point of the circle to where you entered, and teeters on the edge of the main road in and out of the village. It looks as though one good gust of wind would have it over and cut off the village for good, if only it hadn’t stood in the same spot for multiple-millennia. 

Avebury is an ethereal place that seems to have both an otherworldly and grounding quality. To the east of the village, perched on the enormous surrounding henge, is an old copse of trees (that feel as old as the henge itself) with tangled roots knotted with clooties, old pieces of cloth and ribbon symbolising the hopes and wishes of the person leaving them, further heightening the mysterious energy of the place.

Avebury Village

After my walk through the stones, I always find myself dipping in and out of the shops and tearooms of the village itself. It’s a picture of the English idyll with tiny wisteria clad thatched cottages crowding together around a postcard perfect church and manor house. Make sure you check out the National Trust owned manor on a pre-booked guided tour, as well as the English Heritage run Alexander Keiller Museum to try and make more sense of the henge, stone circle, and landscape surrounding them.

The village also has one of the most famous pubs in the South West, and the only pub in the world to be situated in a prehistoric monument, the Red Lion. Reportedly one of the most haunted places in England, the focal point of the pub is a glass covered well which is nearly 30m deep, and has been the final resting place for at least one unfortunate villager. After acquainting yourself with the local phantoms, the thatched pub serves some fantastic food with plenty of gluten free options, and has a long list of local beers, ciders and gins to sip on as a perfect reward to a long historic walk (unless you are of course the designated driver). 

Once you’ve eaten and drunk your fill, follow the signs from the village back to the car park, allowing a moment to watch the local cricket team play on the small but perfectly formed cricket pitch, before plugging in your satnav to your next destination.

Avebury’s position just off of the A4 means it is perfect to explore as a detour off of the Great Western Way just past pretty Marlborough, or as a day trip from Bath or Bristol, tying together with another picture perfect village, Lacock, to re-enact your favourite scenes from your favourite films shot there.

Every time I visit the Avebury, I find myself having more questions than answers. No one really knows why the stones are here and what they were used for; are they a form of ancestor worship, or do the stones symbolise the permanency of the heavens, or is it all a large celestial calendar? The enormous bank and ditch surrounding the stones, while first appearing to be for defence, then appear to be the wrong way around. Why is the ditch on the inside? Was the bank used for people to spectate from while only a chosen few could experience being amongst the stones, in the holy of holies. 

No one knows, and it’s possible that no one will ever know. I find that’s a draw that keeps bringing me back time and time again. Regardless of the mystery of the stones, the one undeniable quality is the energy here. Nowhere feels quite like Avebury, and that’s why I love it.