Stone circles

The Avebury monument is vast, and consists of several smaller sites of varying dates. The earliest of these, the earthworks, dates to between 3400 and 2625 BC. Later additions include a henge and several stone circles. Starting in around the 14th century, locals began dismantling the stone circles for one reason or another: to clear land, to provide material for other building projects, or simply to efface a pagan monument. In 1648 John Aubrey visited the site and found most of the stones still standing or lying nearby:

These Downes looke as if they were Sown with great Stones, very thicke; and in a dusky evening they looke like a flock of Sheep: from whence it takes its name. One might fancy it to have been the Scene where the Giants fought with stones against the Gods... I was wonderfully surprised at the sight of those vast stones, of which I had never heard before; as also at the mighty Banke and Graffe [ditch] about it. I observed in the Inclosures some segments of rude circles, made with these stones, whence I concluded, they had been in old time complete.^[3]

In the 18th century, William Stukeley visited the site and chronicled the further damage that had been done. In 1872, the banker and Liberal MP, Sir John Lubbock, bought part of the village and protected the monuments.^[4] He later promoted the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 to ensure the British government protected ancient monuments.

In the 1930s, the archaeologist Alexander Keiller re-erected many of the fallen stones, partially restoring the circle to its original condition. In 1943 the government took possession of the monument and the village; they are currently administered by the National Trust. In 1986 UNESCO added Avebury, along with Stonehenge, Silbury Hill, and associated local sites, to its World Heritage List.^[5]

Other sites

The earliest occupied site in the area is on Windmill Hill in the north-west of the parish, where a causewayed enclosure with three concentric ditches was built c.3700 BC on an earlier field system.^[6][7]

Two avenues of standing stones radiate from Avebury henge. Kennet Avenue runs south-east for about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) from the south entrance of the henge to Overton Hill, just beyond West Kennett hamlet. Originally there were around 100 pairs of stones, and many survive although some are buried or have been re-erected. On the hill stood a stone and timber circle, destroyed in the 18th century, known as The Sanctuary. The second avenue, known as Beckhampton Avenue, consisted of pairs of stones running south-west for about 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) from the west entrance of the henge to a cove known as The Longstones near Beckhampton. Of this avenue, only one stone remains (one of the Longstones); the rest are either buried or missing.^[8]

Other prehistoric sites in the parish include Silbury Hill, south of the henge, a chalk and earth mound about 40 metres (130 ft) high. Further south (on the other side of the A4) is West Kennet Long Barrow, a chambered long barrow. Falkner's Circle, 750 metres (820 yards) south-east of the henge, was a stone circle of which one stone remains.^[8]

Avebury Trusloe

Another manor held by the abbey was bought by Joan Trusloe in 1563, and around 1628 the estate known as Avebury Trusloe was held by William Dunche; he sold it to Sir Edward Baynton in 1633. The Victoria County History traces the later owners including Alexander Keiller, who bought a farm in the 1920s and sold it to the National Trust in 1943.^[12] The house known as Trusloe Manor began as a rebuilding c.1520, was later reduced in size to four bays, and in the 1980s gained a large rear wing.^[15]

Beckhampton

Racehorses have been trained at Beckhampton House, using gallops on West Down, since the mid 19th century.^[12] Notable trainers include Sam Darling and his son Fred Darling who had nine Derby winners between them in the first half of the 20th century; then Noel Murless between 1948 and 1952, followed by Jeremy Tree, and since 1990 Roger Charlton.^[16]

Parish church

St. James' Anglican Church

Pevsner describes the Church of England parish church of St James as "archaeologically uncommonly interesting".^[19] There was a stone church on this site, just west of the prehistoric earthwork, in the 10th century;^[20] it had a high and narrow nave without aisles, similar in its proportions to St Laurence's, Bradford-on-Avon.^[21] Parts of this building survive, in quoins at the north-west corner and two small windows at the west end (now internal to the church), which had external shutters rather than glazing.^[22] Three circular clerestory windows in the north wall are also Anglo-Saxon.^[20]

Aisles were added in the 12th century, the nave walls being pierced by low arches; the aisles were widened in the 15th century and in 1812 the arches were rebuilt to let in more light, but fragments of 12th-century work remain.^[23] Pevsner called the newer Tuscan columns "a surprise, but not an unpleasant one".^[19] In the 14th century the south porch was rebuilt, using a 12th-century doorway having two carved orders and a hood mould.^[23] The three-stage west tower, with stair-turret, was built around the same time.^[20]

The chancel was rebuilt in the 13th century, and again in 1879 during restoration by R. J. Withers.^[20] The church was designated as Grade I listed in 1966.^[20]

The stone font has carving which is probably from two periods. The lower part has an arcade of intersecting arches with a somewhat chaotic layout, while the upper decoration has foliage scrolls, two serpents or dragons, and a skirted figure which may be Saint Michael, holding a crozier. The font may be Saxon with Norman carving over-cut.^[23][22]

The chancel screen is a design of 1884 by C.E. Ponting,^[19] and above it is a 15th-century rood loft with coloured and gilded panels, complete and therefore described as "rare" by Historic England.^[20] The timbers of the loft were concealed behind a wall after the Reformation in the 16th century, remained undiscovered until 1810, and then were reinstalled by Ponting in 1878–1884.^[24] Monuments inside the church include an elaborate marble wall memorial to Susanna Holford (died 1772).^[20]

In 1979 there were five bells in the tower, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries;^[12] after the peal was restored in 1981^[22] there were six cast at Whitechapel, and two more were added in 2009.^[25] The old tenor bell, cast in 1719 by Richard Phelps (born in Avebury and master of the Whitechapel foundry from 1701 to 1738) now strikes the hours.^[24]

The lychgate at the south entrance to the churchyard was designed by Ponting and erected in 1899.^[19] A heavy timber frame on low limestone walls, under a tiled roof, it is described by Historic England as a good example of its type.^[26]

The benefice was united with Winterbourne Monkton from 1747 to 1864,^[12] and again from 1929,^[27] although the parishes remained distinct. From 1952^[28] and again from 1963,^[29] the incumbent also held the benefice of Berwick Bassett. In 1975 a team ministry was created for the area,^[30] and today the parish is part of the Upper Kennet Benefice, alongside seven others around Avebury.^[22]

Chapels

A nonconformist chapel was built inside the stone circle circa 1670, then extended in the 18th century and again in 1830.^[31] In the 20th century the congregation joined the United Reformed Church^[12] and in 1977 the building was designated as Grade II listed.^[32] The building was bought by the National Trust in 2017,^[33] regular worship having ceased by 2015,^[34] and is operated as an information centre.^[35]

A Strict Baptist chapel was built in 1873, replacing a building from the 1820s. The chapel closed circa 1953.^[12]

Avebury Manor

Avebury Manor and Garden is a National Trust property in the village, near the church, consisting of the manor house and its garden. The house was begun c.1557 by William Dunch, extended in 1601 and partly rebuilt c.1907; it is Grade I listed.^[41] Since 1938 its 18th-century stables have housed a museum, now the Alexander Keiller Museum.^[42] A well-preserved 16th-century circular dovecote in the grounds is Grade II* listed.^[43]