Just outside the official stone circle of Avebury, there are two random stones that have been left in a field about a mile away on the edge of Beckhampton, called The Long Stones. Apparently once these stones were of a much greater number leading directly to Avebury, but having been used as building materials for years, only a few survive.

I’m not one to usually see shapes in things – but this definitely looked like a horses head to me. Also an interesting feature, the concentric circle and spiral lichen covering part of the side. Nice.

         

It’s hard to imagine these stones in context, with our modern roads either overtaking or ignoring ancient routes, letting them overgrow and disappear. Many stones being incorporated into farmers field borders (saw a few in Cornwall), or used as walls for residential properties. When you walk around these areas and look at the stone used, really look, you can see where it came from. But we need stone and should recycle, so I am slightly torn by this. It’s harsh and logical at the same time. And I wonder, if we didn’t make any money from the tourism on these ancient sites, would we even bother to keep them now…

But given the size of what we have left, it much have been quite impressive back then.

 

(c) K Wicks