Friday, March 09, 2012

Avebury - Wiltshire, England

Spent a little vacation time with Elesa in the English country side. The weather was beautiful except for the 3 or 4 hours we were in Avebury where we had driving snow and rain. My camera and I were soaking wet by the time I was finished wandering among the stones.

Avebury is part of the "Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites" World Heritage Site. The Avebury prehistoric stone circle is the largest in the world. The stone patterns there encircle and pass through the village. The accompanying circular ditch/mound is over 1 kilometer in circumference. A large number of the stones were destroyed in the middle ages and into the 17th century even as some of the early researchers did their work. Now, markers are placed where they know stones used to be. Unlike Stonehenge, visitors can wander pretty freely among the stones and mounds, although most of the mounds were roped off when I was there due to erosion concerns. As a bonus, just a mile or so away is Silbury Hill, at about 130 ft high, it is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe.

The weather didn't make for great photographs, everything was dull and grey, but here are a few none the less.

Stones Through Avebury - Wiltshire, England

Stones of Avebury - Wiltshire, England

A Marker Marks a Missing Stone - Avebury, Wiltshire, England

Silbury Hill - Wiltshire, England

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