The company, the weather, the walk and talk were really interesting and enjoyable...not sure which bit was best - maybe the stones in the evening sunlight.
A Wessex Walk - Exploring the Ancient Landscape of Avebury
- A seven mile walk through a prehistoric landscape
- Guided by an expert (from TV's Time Team)
- Avebury’s vast Neolithic stone circle
- Silbury Hill – largest man-made mound in Europe
- Stunning countryside and home-made packed lunch provided
Guide Lecturers
Introduction
The great stone circle at Avebury inspired William Stukeley, its first antiquarian explorer in the 18th century, to pronounce: ‘it does as much exceed in greatness the so renowned Stonehenge as a Cathedral doeth a parish church’. In terms of size and present day setting we may still agree, and here is the chance to walk around the monuments and through the surrounding landscape in the company of an expert.
The whole walk is about seven miles in length, over grass or rough tracks, with fairly gentle slopes, and as well as the henge and stone circles of Avebury itself, you will explore the Ridgeway, Fyfield Down littered with sarsens, the Sanctuary, West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. It will begin and end at the main Avebury car park.
Mark Corney is an Honorary Research Fellow at Bristol University. He specialises in Roman history and has been closely invovled in the protection of downland monuments. He reguarly appears in Time Team.