Avebury, 2026: The Church

The Avebury parish church is nearby, and, although perhaps not in Jenkins' 1,000 Best British Parish Churches, is well worth a look.

En route

A pied...

Note variety of stones in the porch

The zig-zaggy stuff is all over megalithic monuments
from Spain and Portugal to Ireland and England...apparently
in their genes even unto the 13th century CE...

Very old font

Not one of the great churches, I guess, but certainly 
among the best documented for visitors such as we

A bit of sculpture

A bit of glass...St. James, like so many others, was
originally built in an age where churches had to be
defensible...

More excellent documentation

Moving right along, but still religion, the great megalithic gift 

shoppe at Avebury is the Henge Shop, not to be missed, especially 

for its several rooms of New Age-y hocus-pocus inventory

Can't visit Avebury without connecting with the Crystal Beings

Avebury, 2026: The Manor House

We never miss a National Trust house, great or not-terribly-great, and, upon entering this one, we had to ask ourselves, having visited Avebury so often in the past 46 years, how did we miss it? Turns out the house was acquired by the Trust only "fairly recently" and was not open to the public until just the last decade or so. There was also a major flood that closed it down for a couple years. It's not one of the great great houses, but it's in a special place and of interest because of that.

As with all houses of its age, it started off more modestly and got 
added onto again and again and again as the centuries passed

Approaching through the garden

Another Laburnum tease

National Trust house decor is usually carefully chosen,
either to the appropriate site or age...not sure this art deco
sconce was quite right for Avebury...

On the other hand, I had to look up the word "sconce" 
just to be sure, so maybe I'll let the rest of the pix speak
for themselves...

The house has been here for a while...click

We have one like this...

So if your village or dwelling is enveloped by a ring of stones placed
there by Satan, you might be a bit superstitious and want to surround
yourself with all manner of preventative paraphernalia...

Thus

And thus

More history

More recent

Interesting place; glad we finally made it

Avebury, 2026: The Rocks

Our interest in megaliths was already going strong when we first visited Europe in 1979, and Avebury was among the things we most wanted to see. We took our daughters there in 1989 and again in 1998, and have been back several more times. It's the largest of all the stone circles, far less touristed than Stonehenge, and always impressive. Now administered by the National Trust, it also includes the manor house, the church, and any number of other buildings in or near the stone circle. Previous blogposts include:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2009/11/avebury.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2009/11/lesser-known-sites-of-avebury.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/06/avebury-2013.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/08/avebury-again-2013.html.

1979 megalith hunter; it was a lot more challenging in those days...

1989 view

With Rebecca and Rachel, 1998

With Rebecca and Penelope, 2013

Extraterrestrial alien from outer space view, 2013

Note especially the photo view [click to enlarge] with the village 
within the circle

The thing is so huge you can never capture more than a few degrees 
of the arc

The huge barn that now serves as the National Trust's welcome and
reception center

Just a few specimen scenes from the small museum

Helpful map

Unusual dorsal view

The Christian residents spent centuries trying to destroy
or topple the stones--the work of the devil, they apparently
thought (same approach in Brittany, although they merely
defaced the megaliths there, "Christianizing" them)--
uncharacteristically, I left this little Christianzer stand*

"Gimme that old time religion"...more commonly at Stonehenge but also
at Avebury, one finds these New Age-y groups--this one evidently a
tour led by the gent on the right...

Now he is drumming and chanting and who knows what...
note that the woman in green (previous frame)  has vanished..
perhaps transported to the 30th century BCE

Seventh try but still not taking her to Jamie and the 18th
century...maybe should be doing this in Scotland?

Note village within

The pyramid marks the spot where a stone once stood...there are too
many of these

Note also the ditch and bank...among the largest you'll see anywhere

One of the circles within the circle

*which reminds me to promote my recent "Life of Jesus H. Christ in LEGO," at https://artificialartifices.blogspot.com/2026/05/new-testament-iconography-in-lego.html