Avebury Stone Circle

On our way to our holiday accommodation we realised that we were going to be very close to Avebury Stone Circle. So of course we had to make a stop on the way. My son had never been but for all the adults it was a return visit. We had all forgotten what size the stones were:

The National Trust had a couple of exhibitions about the history of the stones and some hands on ways of showing how the stones may have been erected:

We didn't visit the manor house but we did try out the temporary cafe which is in use whilst they recover from last winter's big freeze:

Not all the stones are still in the shape that they were in Neolithic times as in the intervening centuries they had been damaged by residents and the weather. They have restored as many in place as possible. Some of them are amazingly big:

One of the most impressive features is the great enclosure which you can walk around on part of the circle:

It is an incredible piece of engineering that was dug out with antlers and primitive tools:

You can see how the avenues of stones drew the people into the circle:

Of course we couldn't resist having some photography fun:

The stones attract all sorts of folks and one lady informed us that the stones would speak to us if we listened:

Unfortunately they didn't want to speak to us!

A fascinating part of British history and worthy of its position as a World Heritage Site. Definitely somewhere you should try and visit.