ancient ruins
Silbury Hill
The largest artificial prehistoric mound in Europe, raised around 2400 BC beside the Avebury complex for reasons still unknown.
1 km · about 5 min drive
EuropeUnited KingdomEngland
Avebury
England, United Kingdom · Europe
About Avebury
Avebury works well as a base: 10 minutes from Fyfield, 1km from Silbury Hill.
Avebury is in England, United Kingdom. You drive on the left here. The nearest town is Fyfield, about 6 km away.
Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religiousRead more
importance to contemporary pagans.
Constructed over several hundred years in the third millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre of the monument. Its original purpose is unknown, although archaeologists believe that it might have been used for some form of ritual or ceremony. The Avebury monument is a part of a larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby, including West Kennet Long Barrow, Windmill Hill and Silbury Hill.
By the Iron Age, the site had been effectively abandoned, with some evidence of human activity on the site during the Roman period. During the Early Middle Ages, a village first began to be built around the monument, eventually extending into it. In the late medieval and early modern periods, local people destroyed many of the standing stones around the henge, both for religious and practical reasons. The antiquarians John Aubrey and William Stukeley took an interest in Avebury during the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively, and recorded much of the site between various phases of destruction. Archaeological investigation followed in the 20th century, with Harold St George Gray leading an excavation of the bank and ditch, and Alexander Keiller overseeing a project to reconstruct much of the monument.
Avebury is managed by the National Trust. It has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument, as well as a World Heritage Site, in the latter capacity being seen as a part of the wider prehistoric landscape of Wiltshire known as Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites. About 480 people live in 235 homes in the village of Avebury and its associated settlement of Avebury Trusloe, and in the nearby hamlets of Beckhampton and West Kennett.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Avebury?
Within an hour or so of Avebury: Silbury Hill (1 km), West Kennet Long Barrow (1 km), Lacock Abbey (Hogwarts corridors and classrooms) (17 km), Lacock Village (Godric's Hollow) (18 km).
Are there any good drives near Avebury?
The nearest famous roads are A466 Wye Valley (Chepstow to Monmouth), Cheddar Gorge Road (B3135) and Rhinefield Ornamental Drive.
Where is Avebury?
Avebury is in England, United Kingdom, about 6 km from Fyfield.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 0
- Continent
- Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Region
- England
- Timezone
- Europe/London
- Coordinates
- 51.4167, -1.8667
Emergency & Services
Essential numbers in United Kingdom
112 also works. NHS non-emergency medical advice: 111. National Highways breakdown assistance on motorways: 0300 123 5000.
Full driving guide for United KingdomTags
Worth the detour from Avebury
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
ancient ruins
West Kennet Long Barrow
A Neolithic chambered tomb near Avebury, over 100 m long and open to walk inside its stone burial chambers.
1 km · about 5 min drive
film location
Lacock Abbey (Hogwarts corridors and classrooms)
The medieval cloisters of Lacock Abbey served as Hogwarts corridors, and its rooms as Professor Snape's Potions classroom and Professor Quirrell's Defence Against the Dark Arts room.
17 km · about 20 min drive
film location
Lacock Village (Godric's Hollow)
The unspoilt National Trust village stood in for Godric's Hollow; 'Harry's parents' house' on Church Street appears in the Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.
18 km · about 20 min drive
racetrack
Castle Combe Circuit
A charming Wiltshire circuit in a picturesque Cotswolds village, one of England's oldest operational racing venues.
26 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Castle Combe
A film-set medieval village of honey cottages with no visible modern intrusions, often called England's prettiest village.
26 km · about 30 min drive
film location
Castle Combe (Doctor Dolittle, War Horse, Stardust)
Often called England's prettiest village; it was the seaside town of Puddleby in the 1967 Doctor Dolittle and appears in War Horse and Stardust.
26 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Westbury White Horse
The oldest of Wiltshire's chalk horses, cut into the escarpment below the Iron Age hillfort of Bratton Camp.
26 km · about 30 min drive
Driving roads near Avebury
5 named roads, passes and coastal drives within 100km.
- 53 kmClifton Suspension BridgeIsambard Kingdom Brunel's iconic 1864 suspension bridge soaring 75m above the Avon Gorge at Bristol, still carrying traffic and glowing with lights after dark.
- 58 kmCleeve HillThe highest point of the Cotswolds at 330 m, an open common above Cheltenham with views to the Malverns and Wales.
- 63 kmDevil's PulpitA narrow limestone pinnacle perched above the Wye Valley near Tintern Abbey, offering a dizzying view down through the forest canopy.
Driving in United Kingdom
- Drives on
- the left
- Petrol
- ~€1.73/litre
- Motorway tolls
- None
When to drive here
April to October
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