Historic Sites

Routes passing Aldbourne Barrows: Aldbourne Loop

More information: Follies & Monuments website

Avebury is the site of an enormous henge and stone circles surrounding the village of the same name. It is one of the finest and largest Neolithic monuments in Europe dating to around 5000 years ago. It is older than the megalithic stages of Stonehenge, which is located about 20 miles to the south.

Routes passing Avebury: Rockley Loop

More information: National Trust website

Cherhill monument is the Lansdowne Obelisk which was put up in 1845 by the third Marquess, who had built the Heath Monument at Bremhill in 1838, which commemorates his ancestor, Sir William Petty, who was the 17th century economist. It towers 125 feet above the hill and can also be seen 30 miles (48Km) away. The hill now belongs to the National Trust. It is said that this is the highest point between London and Bristol.

Routes passing Cherhill Monumentr: Cherhill Loop

Despite its sarsen-littered setting the name Rockley derives from rooks, not rocks, and a local legend predicted that when the rooks leave Rockley the manor will fall. The seventeenth-century farmhouse (the scene of a violent confrontation during the 1830 agricultural labourers’ revolt) which lay west of the present Rockley Manor was in fact demolished in 1985 after lying unoccupied for some forty years. The rooks remain.

Routes passing Rockley Manor: Rockley Loop

Routes passing Savernake Forest: Pewsey Downs Loop

More information: Follies & Monuments website

The largest man-made mound in ancient Europe, Silbury Hill was constructed c2800BC. Even after centuries of research, archaeologists have still not discovered the original purpose of the Hill - it may have been intended as a cenotaph, as a tribal marker or even as a tomb. Silbury Hill can be viewed well from the car park on the A4. Please do not climb the Hill as the site is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Grid Reference: SU100685 Avebury

Routes passing Silbury Hill: Cherhill Monument & The Wansdyke Path

One of the largest Neolithic burial tombs in Britain. The West Kennet Long Barrow was constructed about 3700 BC, and was in continual use for well over 1000 years. Some 42 people were buried in the tomb, which may have been used by a tribe or family. The 5 sarsen stone chambers can be visited at any time. Displays of finds can be seen in the Wiltshire Archaeological Society Museum in Devizes. Grid Reference: SU104677 Avebury

Routes passing West Kennet Long Barrow: Pewsey Downs Loop