Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

Yesterday, I got to fulfill a dream I’ve had since I was 9 years old - I got to return to the village of Avebury, in Wiltshire. There, in the fading light, I got to see one of England’s most monumental and significant neolithic remnants - the Avebury Stone Circles. THREAD /1

Around 5,000 years ago, during the late Neolithic, large ceremonial complexes, barrows (tombs) and other ritual spaces began to appear in the Wiltshire landscape. We all know Stonehenge, but its slightly younger sibling, Avebury, is perhaps even more impressive in a way. /2

Avebury is a henge, a huge circular space surrounded by a ditch. Within, there are 3 stone circles - although some are now covered by - or constitute - the village. There’s also an avenue of stones leading out of it, towards the West Kennet Long Barrow - a burial site. /3

Before you ask, no - we don’t know *what* our ancestors spent approx 1.5 million man hours creating. I might have been flailing my arms yelling ‘IT’S A GIANT COSMIC RADIO RECEIVER!’ last night, but y’know, we’re fairly confident it was a ritual space. /4 (Pic: Judith Dobie)

It probably had some role as space where people could commune with the gods - pray for good crops (this being during the dawn of farming in the British Isles) and clement weather, but also as a site honouring ancestors, hence the links to burial sites nearby. /5

Whatever the Avebury Stone Circles were used for, they fell out of use at the dawn of the Bronze Age as new populations arrived. For thousands of years, they were considered the remnants of a lost people, or a place where gods and spirits lurked. /6

The village of Avebury sprung up in the medieval period, following the Anglo-Saxon and Norman invasions. A naturally defensible position, with good farmland nearby, it was only natural that the site become settled. This spelled bad news for the stones, however. /7

A great deal of the Avebury stones were buried during the medieval period. It has been speculated that this is because people believed them to be the work of the Devil. Many, thankfully, were buried right near where they were originally. /8

More damage was done in the 17th century when people began to break up the stones using fire pits to build houses and fences - some of the houses have a great deal of the original stones as building material. I might still be angry at this fact. /9

You can thank three people for our ability to have rebuilt some of the stone circles. John Aubrey and William Stukeley in the 17th and 18th centuries, respectively, left many, many notes as to where the stones had been placed and where many still laid buried. /10

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Alexander Keiller, a wealthy heir and archaeologist, bought the site and did much work to put stones back into place. Any finds he made were put into a museum, that was left to the nation after his death. Good one, Alexander! /11

Today the Alexander Keiller Museum is administered by @AveburyNT and you are most encouraged to go check it out. I, unfortunately, wasn’t able to yesterday. Still kicking myself over that. /12 nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury

It being Wiltshire, a wild, rolling place, the site has attracted a great deal of folklore. The Red Lion pub, inside the inner-most circle, apparently hosts a number of ghosts, including ‘Florrie’, who went down the pub’s well when she was caught by her husband in flagrante. /13

My favourite piece of Avebury trivia, however, is the tale of the Barber-Surgeon of Avebury. In 1938, Keiller discovered the skeleton of a 14th century man under one of the stones, with the instruments of a travelling surgeon. /14

Turns out our mate was either crushed while helping to bury a stone, or died while on site, and was buried underneath a stone. Either way - DON'T FUCK WITH THE STONES! /15

Avebury is a wonderful place that really does make you feel a connection with our distant forebears. You have the ability to go right up to and touch many of the stones, feeling the grain and heft. Of course, the place is a hippie magnet, but that’s all part of the charm. /16

If you’d like to learn more about Avebury, here’s a terrific guide to the site. /16
royalarchinst.org/sites/royalarc…

My time at Avebury was all too short, but hopefully I’ll find a way to get back soon. Please, please go and visit the site and support the museum - the more people enjoying it, the better protected it will be. I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed being there. /FIN

Addendum: @JWSal has kindly reminded me that we should all be thanking his great-grandfather too, who also bought a bunch of the site in the 19th century to protect it from being built on. lubbock.co.uk/sir-john-lubbo…

Addendum II: If you like my stories, consider kicking in the cost of a coffee using @kofi_button. I don't actually buy coffee with it, but it does help me get out to see wonderful places like Avebury, and tell their stories. Thanks. ko-fi.com/mikestuchbery