Avebury has to be one of the most renowned and popular megalithic complexes in the whole world. The village itself is about 6 miles West of Marlborough, in Wiltshire, England. The massive ditch was some 50 feet deep, originally, and is even now one of the most impressive earthworks you are likely to see, particularly when you consider that it was dug by hand using tools such as cattle shoulder blades and antler picks. The Outer Circle is some 421 metres in diameter. Houses are found within it - one particular builidng actually straddles the ditch.
It is impossible to do the site justice here. Aubrey Burl wrote an entire book about it - "Prehistoric Avebury" - which I have even now sitting on the floor on loan from the Oxford Central Library. For photographs, there is a comprehensive list of places to find Avebury on the web at Andy Burnham's site.
| Visit date: | 12/09/1999 |
| Reporter: | Catherine Humes |
| Email: | cath@gingerbreadhouse.demon.co.uk |
| Purpose: | Visit |
| Time since last visit: | 3 months |
| Damaged Lichen: | Yes |
| Objects: | Flowers and coins in stone crevices - approx 10 instances |
| Flowers: | Yes - local |
| Action taken: | Such offerings are regularly found and removed safely, so did nothing. |
| Comments: | Saw teenager climbing on stones to impress girlfriend who was strolling with mother nearby. Both ignored him, and when he approached asked "Did you HAVE to do that?!" in an embarrassed way. |
| Visit date: | 26/08/1999 |
| Reporter: | Sam |
| Email: | sam@ravenfamily.org |
| Website: | This one |
| Purpose: | Start of Ridgeway Walk |
| Time since last visit: | About 6 months |
| Spoke to Land Spirits: | No - I don't talk to the Spirits at Avebury because the place gives me a headache and a nosebleed as it is. |
| Damaged Lichen: | Yes |
| Chipped bits: | Yes - I noticed a couple of old damage spots on the Avenue |
| Objects: | Yes - assorted coins in holes in stones on the Avenue |
| Flowers: | Yes - locally picked |
| Other marks: | Yes - the infamous paint jobs applied to the last two stones in the Avenue and currently awaiting remediation under tarpaulin. Massive amounts of damage, and if I ever get my hands on whoever is responsible... |
| Action taken: | Ranted and sighed. Removed coins. |
| Comments: | I didn't spend much time here - this is the only site I have been to so far that does not make me want to spend hours there. I was keen to get out, so did not spend much time looking at its current state. I did see the crop circle Andy reported though. I'd say about 6/10 for artistic merit. |
| Visit date: | 29/07/99 |
| Reporter: | Andy Gates |
| Email: | andy@project-people.com |
| Website: | http://www.hollyking.freeserve.co.uk |
| Purpose: | Touching base |
| Time since last visit: | A few months |
| Damaged Lichen: | Yes |
| Left food: | Yes |
| Picnic remains: | Yes |
| Chalk marks: | Yes |
| Also found: | A little general litter, as might be expected at a site with so much traffic. |
| Action taken: | Cleared away the most eyesore litter; didn't touch the chalk figure in case I did more damage than good. Left the flowers as they were already pretty much decomposed. |
| Comments: | Someone - or something? - had created a new crop circle in the cornfield overlooking the Avenue entrance to the Avebury Circle. The circle took the form of a regular circle, in which was an equilateral triangle made up of tesselated hexagons and triangles. Interesting to note how cool the air was within the earthwork compared to the hot breeze coming across the wurrounding countryside (nothing supernatural there, just an effect of the architecture. |
| Visit date: | 24/07/1999 |
| Reporter: | Rich |
| Email: | kernunos@bigfoot.com |
| Website: | http://www.bath.ac.uk/~prsrlp/kernunos/kfront.htm |
| Purpose: | To eat sacred ice cream in the sun |
| Time since last visit: | 5 weeks |
| Also found: | 9 new carvings into the lovely tree (the one on the bank with the exposed roots). Including initials and sigils. |