One of the most famous ancient monuments in the country is Stonehenge.  Standing on the Salisbury downs, close to Amesbury in Wiltshire, much of it’s history is still a mystery, but what of the other monuments in the area, such as West Kennet long barrow or Avebury stone circle, and is there a connection between them? if so, will we ever fully understand the reasons they were built and what they were used for over the years?

To date nobody is quite sure why Stonehenge was built in the first place, some kind of worship, probably sun worshipping is the most likely due to the positioning of the stones in relation to the dawn sunrise. It could have been a burial site, and the BBC’s Time Team have recently discovered human remains very close to the stones, possibly the most significant archaeological find in the area for decades. It could have been some form of ancient calendar or perhaps a centre for healing. Regardless, it’s an impressive structure and can be clearly seen as you drive down the A344 heading to the west country. Close by is Old Sarum, an ancient hill fort, whilst clearly many century’s later, it’s worth a look if you are in the area.

Avebury stone circle is possibly even more unusual, in that the village stands partially within the circle, the reason being that many years after it was built the stones were used as building materials, only in the 1930′s was the circle renovated by Alexander Keiller an archaeologist of his time. Many stones were stood back up which had been fallen flat for most likely many centuries and markers were placed where some has been removed and broken up completely.

Avebury had two avenues (wide tracks marked out on each side by standing stones) one of which has been reinstated and follows the road from the stones towards West Kennet.

It’s a favourite with druids, hippies and tourists alike, so expect to find a wide range of people sitting outside the pub (which also sits inside the circle) on a summers day.

Silbury Hill is probably the most unique of all the monuments in the area, being a flat topped earth mound standing 40 metres tall, it is the tallest of it’s kind in the whole of Europe. It was developed over several centuries, however it is thought that the initial and much smaller original mound was created in 2660 BC.

Just across the road from Silbury Hill is West Kennet Long Barrow, one of 148 in Wiltshire, which is over half of the total in the whole country.  It’s 8 feet high and 321 feet long. It has an impressive opening at one end and an internal chamber which you can actually get inside to see the individual burial chambers.

It seems to have been used by many different people over the years and it is thought that it was used as a mass burial chamber for at least a thousand years, although recent archaeology has only found around 50 sets of bones, so it’s thought that as the people and their beliefs changed, they would clear out their predecessors bones so it was clear for their own dead.

The entrance used to be sealed off, this is apparent from the shape and size of the huge stones which are now standing in front of the entrance, these would have been rolled across the entrance to seal it off.

For more information about the ancient attractions in Wiltshire such as stonehenge and Avebury stone circle see the wiltshire councils tourism website visitwiltshire.co.uk