A day of two Henges

Last week when returning from Bath we stumbled upon Avebury - the site of a both a Neolithic henge and Silbury Hill.

Today we returned to Avebury to walk the henge and explore the sarsen stones. Constructed over 5000 years ago this whole area is covered by barrows (burial mounds), standing stones, and circles. Not surprisingly it is now designated a World Heritage site.

We started off with a picnic lunch to make the most of the warm sun and gentle breeze (why didn't we have this last week when we were in the Cotswolds?) James and I were interested in the 15th century Dovecot. This round building housed up to 500 nesting birds that provided a food source in the winter months. We moved on to explore St James church. This church still bears evidence of its Norman origins. Interestingly there were three small round windows which still contain the holes from which the original curtains were suspended.

After lunch we walked the short distance to the standing stones. These are located in the henge which is surrounded by a ditch dug into the chalk. You can walk amongst the standing stones and on to an avenue which extends for about a kilometre. The grass was long and waved in the breeze. James decided to walk amongst it picking off seed heads and crushing them in his hands. He then explained an elaborate story involving mills, lawn mowers, and machines that finally resulted in bread! [Last week during our walks in the Cotswold I showed him the maturing wheat crops and explained how the seeds are removed from their husks and crushed in a mill to make bread.]

Our walk amongst the Avebury henge took us through fields filled with sheep. Some were lying against the stones whilst others were scratching up against them.

Rather than return home we decided to revisit Stonehenge - only some 20 miles away. James was thrilled - although his favourite part was spotting the audio guide numbers and listening to the commentary. Merrilyn and I both enjoyed visiting this amazing monument again.

You can see our photos here.