Avebury Circle

Avebury Circle, Neolithic henge monument, situated 8 km (5 mi) west of Marlborough, in Wiltshire. It consists of a bank and ditch enclosing a circular area 365 m (400 yd) in diameter within which runs a circle of sarsen stones. Within this circle are two smaller circles of stones, one enclosing three upright stones and the other a linear arrangement of standing stones. The bank is pierced by entrances; from the entrance on the south-east an avenue of standing stones runs for 400 m (437 yd) to the Sanctuary, a smaller monument with some remaining standing stones and evidence of timber post-holes. The avenue running from the western entrance is less well preserved.

Avebury Circle is thought to have been built between 2800 and 2700 bc. It forms part of the ritual complex that also includes Silbury Hill and numerous barrows, and is one of the largest and most elaborate henge monuments to have been built in ancient Britain. In 2003 megaliths forming part of the outer stone circle were discovered buried underground by the National Trust using scanning equipment. Previously it was thought that the missing stones were taken elsewhere and broken up but they are now believed to have been there since the 13th or 14th centuries, toppled as pagan symbols by the Christian population at that time. The complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986.

See also Megalithic Monuments, Stone Age.