On to London

     The last section of our trip to England and Wales was a trip back to London for research at the British National Library.  On our way back to London we stopped off at Avebury and its stone circle.  I had been there once before, but Nan hadn't. I convinced her it was worth a stop.
     Avebury consists of a circle of ditch and bank enclosing 28 acres.  Within this acreage lie the remains of the largest stone circle in England. A prehistoric mound called Silbury Hill is less than a mile away, which in turn is overlooked by a long burial mound, the West Kennet long barrow.

     There is no firm answer as to why Avebury was built or what its function was.  It is surmised that, like its neighbor Stonehenge, it held some importance for marking specific times of the year or as a transitional area celebrating changes in or departures from this world.(We are talking about 3,000 B.C. here.  People just didn't write things down then.)  The 28 acre circle of stones held around 100 standing stones, only 15 of which lasted into the 20th century.  During excavations in the 1930s, 21 more were found and resurrected(so to speak).  Within the large outer circle there were a number of inner stone circles.

     It's hard to imagine how Neolithic humans maneuvered the stones, some of which weigh over 100 tons.

     In addition to the Neolithic sites at Avebury,  a visitor can also tour Avebury Manor, a structure over 900 years old.  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to take the tour.  It was very crowded, as the BBC had funded and shot a TV series which dealt with the restoration of the manor. making it a very popular tourist destination.

     We did however take time to walk through The Church of St. James in the village.  Avebury village was founded in Anglo-Saxon times, that is the period after the Roman control of Britain ended.  Many of its buildings date back to that period, including parts of the church which date back to 1000 A.D

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