North Wessex Downs
Driving into the market town of Marlborough on a sunny spring morning, I’m confronted with a view so quintessentially English, that it could have been plucked from the imagination of a tea-crazed Anglophile who’s read too much Jane Austen. Higgledy-piggledy redbrick cottages line the streets, blossom-laden trees border a cloistered square and an ‘olde worlde’ pub rubs shoulders with a butcher’s shop that’s so charmingly traditional it would make Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall weep.
I’ve come to the centre of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), one of England’s most archaeologically rich regions, to explore the area’s diverse historical landscape. Its 1,730 square kilometres sprawling across the counties of Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and West Berkshire, the North Wessex Downs is the largest AONB in southeast England and the third largest in the country.
Chalk forms the basis of the region’s geology, and the landscape is dominated by a mass of rolling chalk escarpments and hollows, created when Africa pushed into the European land mass around 30 million years ago. In total, the North Wessex Downs encompass around nine per cent of the UK’s chalk grassland reserve and are home to 279-metre Walbury Hill, the tallest pure-chalk hill in England. Spring-fed chalk streams and winter bournes – ephemeral watercourses that only flow from late autumn to early spring – crisscross the landscape, and the ancient Savernake woodland (the ‘old’ forest referenced by Hampshire’s New Forest) stretches into the distance. But what makes the North Wessex Downs of particular interest to the 400,000 visitors who flock to the region each year is the way in which the landscape reflects the impact of thousands of years of human activity.
Ancient mysteries
Neolithic stone structures, Iron Age fortifications, Saxon burial grounds, civil war sites, long barrows, round barrows, tumulae, medieval field systems and Norman castles are just a selection of the historical monuments that populate the North Wessex Downs AONB, and the majority of these fall within the boundaries of Avebury World Heritage site, which was jointly inscribed with Stonehenge in 1986. Constructed between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, the henge (a circular area often demarcated by stones or wooden posts) at Avebury is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe, yet no-one is sure just what inspired its creation.
The huge, misshapen slabs of rock used to build the stone circle, as well as the avenue of stones that leads from the village of Avebury down towards Silbury Hill, are known as sarsens, a word most likely derived from the Anglo-Saxon star stan, meaning ‘troublesome stone’. It’s thought that they were formed during the Tertiary period, between 65 and 44 million years ago, when silica-rich groundwater saturated sand and gravel deposits and then evaporated, forming incredibly hard sandstone rocks called silcretes. Broken down during the last ice age, the sarsens were revealed by the erosion of softer overlying material, and now thousands of these giant, dark-grey stones litter the AONB. Fyfield Down, a national nature reserve to the east of the World Heritage site, is particularly fecund, containing more than 25,000 individual sarsens, all lying in their natural setting.
But if the well-ordered rings and avenues of Avebury are a stark contrast to the scattered stones of Fyfield, they are also unusual for such a well-protected site, because they don’t stand in isolation. Instead, the stones encompass the Saxon village of Avebury, which uses the positioning of the henge’s original entrances as the basis for its current road layout.
This close interaction between ancient and modern may give Avebury a unique atmosphere, but it also significantly complicates its management. Maintaining the relationship between past and present is an ongoing mission for World Heritage site officer Sarah Simmonds. “It’s a spiritual landscape, so people need to have access to it, which in turn keeps that element of the ‘landscape as sacred’ alive,” she explains. “But it does cause issues with the people in the village, who don’t particularly relish a lot of pagans coming to camp, and caravans in the car park. At the moment, there is some debate about finding an alternative site.”
This clearly isn’t going to be an easy task, given that the present car park was built over an Anglo-Saxon settlement because it was the least obtrusive place to put it. It seems there are so many archaeological sites around Avebury that it’s almost impossible to build anywhere without having an impact on something of historical value.
Spiritual draw
Around 12 major Druidic festivals are marked at Avebury each year, each bringing thousands of worshippers to the region. Silbury Hill, Europe’s largest prehistoric man-made mound is one of the major spiritual draws. It’s also currently the focus of a £600,000 initiative that aims to restore the site to its former glory.
Thought to have been built around 2300 BC, the hill is nearly 40 metres high and was created using deer antlers as picks and the shoulder blades of oxen as shovels. It’s estimated that it would have taken somewhere in the region of 700 men almost ten years to build, yet the reason for its construction remains a mystery and it’s hoped that new excavation carried out during the restoration will throw new light on its purpose.
The hill has been closed to the public since June 2000, when a large hole opened up at the summit. “It was soon clear what had happened,” explains Bob Bewley, regional director for the South West, English Heritage. “The head of an old excavation shaft, dug in 1776 to penetrate the heart of the monument, had begun to collapse.” English Heritage immediately launched an investigation to discover how far-reaching the damage was and what could be done to prevent the situation from getting worse.
The top of the hill was shored up using polystyrene blocks that support the sides but don’t add pressure to the collapsed material within the shaft. Further investigation, involving detailed surface mapping, seismic tomography and archaeological examination, revealed that the shaft has collapsed and been refilled several times, and although a second major collapse is unlikely, both the 1776 shaft and a second horizontal shaft from an excavation in 1849 need to be re-excavated and backfilled to ensure that no further collapses occur.
It’s hoped that the reconstruction project, which starts this month, will be completed by the end of the year. When I visited, the public were only allowed to view the site from a nearby field, but even when viewed from a distance, the hill is an impressive sight and it’s fascinating to consider what new insights might be gained from the current excavation.
Oldest road
Heading back towards Marlborough as the sun begins to set, we take a road that cuts across the Ridgeway – a prehistoric trail that follows an ancient chalk ridge route through the downs and is thought to be Britain’s oldest road. As we crest the brow of the hill, pheasants in their spring plumage flash red among the meadows, huge stands of beeches punctuate the skyline and there isn’t a single building as far as the eye can see.
Gazing out over the undulating fields, it’s easy to believe that this is almost exactly the same landscape that was seen by the Ridgeway’s early travellers. “Even if you’ve studied landscapes and the environment,” Wendy Tobit, media relations officer for the AONB, tells me, “you’ll still come to places within the AONB that will take your breath away. I think it’s amazing that there are still places in Britain where the landscape can do that.
Five of the best: local experts nominate their top spots to visit
“The white horse at Uffington is such a beautiful, mysterious figure. I love watching people going there for the first time. It’s just a really beautiful spot – you’ve got an Iron Age fort behind it, corn buntings and skylarks singing and fantastic views.” Fiona Newcombe, director, North Wessex Downs AONB
“The Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Knapp Hill and the Long Barrow give a beautiful view across the Vale of Pewsey. It’s one of my favourite places in Wiltshire.” Isobel Geddes, Wiltshire Geology Trust
“Pewsey Down National Nature Reserve is a place like no other – you go up there and look out over the landscape and it’s breathtaking. It’s also the best place in the country to see tree sparrows.” Tim Frayling, Natural England
“Walk through the cutting at Thames Park in Goring, and imagine the glacier that moved through it. When you look back over the hills you genuinely feel like you’re on a border.” Fiona Newcombe
“At Delling Copse on Fyfield Down, there’s a sarsen stone that’s been polished over the centuries by flint and axe sharpening. It’s amazing to see tangible evidence of the people who lived here so long ago.” Tim Frayling
June 2007
I’ve come to the centre of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), one of England’s most archaeologically rich regions, to explore the area’s diverse historical landscape. Its 1,730 square kilometres sprawling across the counties of Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and West Berkshire, the North Wessex Downs is the largest AONB in southeast England and the third largest in the country.
Chalk forms the basis of the region’s geology, and the landscape is dominated by a mass of rolling chalk escarpments and hollows, created when Africa pushed into the European land mass around 30 million years ago. In total, the North Wessex Downs encompass around nine per cent of the UK’s chalk grassland reserve and are home to 279-metre Walbury Hill, the tallest pure-chalk hill in England. Spring-fed chalk streams and winter bournes – ephemeral watercourses that only flow from late autumn to early spring – crisscross the landscape, and the ancient Savernake woodland (the ‘old’ forest referenced by Hampshire’s New Forest) stretches into the distance. But what makes the North Wessex Downs of particular interest to the 400,000 visitors who flock to the region each year is the way in which the landscape reflects the impact of thousands of years of human activity.
Ancient mysteries
Neolithic stone structures, Iron Age fortifications, Saxon burial grounds, civil war sites, long barrows, round barrows, tumulae, medieval field systems and Norman castles are just a selection of the historical monuments that populate the North Wessex Downs AONB, and the majority of these fall within the boundaries of Avebury World Heritage site, which was jointly inscribed with Stonehenge in 1986. Constructed between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, the henge (a circular area often demarcated by stones or wooden posts) at Avebury is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe, yet no-one is sure just what inspired its creation.
The huge, misshapen slabs of rock used to build the stone circle, as well as the avenue of stones that leads from the village of Avebury down towards Silbury Hill, are known as sarsens, a word most likely derived from the Anglo-Saxon star stan, meaning ‘troublesome stone’. It’s thought that they were formed during the Tertiary period, between 65 and 44 million years ago, when silica-rich groundwater saturated sand and gravel deposits and then evaporated, forming incredibly hard sandstone rocks called silcretes. Broken down during the last ice age, the sarsens were revealed by the erosion of softer overlying material, and now thousands of these giant, dark-grey stones litter the AONB. Fyfield Down, a national nature reserve to the east of the World Heritage site, is particularly fecund, containing more than 25,000 individual sarsens, all lying in their natural setting.
But if the well-ordered rings and avenues of Avebury are a stark contrast to the scattered stones of Fyfield, they are also unusual for such a well-protected site, because they don’t stand in isolation. Instead, the stones encompass the Saxon village of Avebury, which uses the positioning of the henge’s original entrances as the basis for its current road layout.
This close interaction between ancient and modern may give Avebury a unique atmosphere, but it also significantly complicates its management. Maintaining the relationship between past and present is an ongoing mission for World Heritage site officer Sarah Simmonds. “It’s a spiritual landscape, so people need to have access to it, which in turn keeps that element of the ‘landscape as sacred’ alive,” she explains. “But it does cause issues with the people in the village, who don’t particularly relish a lot of pagans coming to camp, and caravans in the car park. At the moment, there is some debate about finding an alternative site.”
This clearly isn’t going to be an easy task, given that the present car park was built over an Anglo-Saxon settlement because it was the least obtrusive place to put it. It seems there are so many archaeological sites around Avebury that it’s almost impossible to build anywhere without having an impact on something of historical value.
Spiritual draw
Around 12 major Druidic festivals are marked at Avebury each year, each bringing thousands of worshippers to the region. Silbury Hill, Europe’s largest prehistoric man-made mound is one of the major spiritual draws. It’s also currently the focus of a £600,000 initiative that aims to restore the site to its former glory.
Thought to have been built around 2300 BC, the hill is nearly 40 metres high and was created using deer antlers as picks and the shoulder blades of oxen as shovels. It’s estimated that it would have taken somewhere in the region of 700 men almost ten years to build, yet the reason for its construction remains a mystery and it’s hoped that new excavation carried out during the restoration will throw new light on its purpose.
The hill has been closed to the public since June 2000, when a large hole opened up at the summit. “It was soon clear what had happened,” explains Bob Bewley, regional director for the South West, English Heritage. “The head of an old excavation shaft, dug in 1776 to penetrate the heart of the monument, had begun to collapse.” English Heritage immediately launched an investigation to discover how far-reaching the damage was and what could be done to prevent the situation from getting worse.
The top of the hill was shored up using polystyrene blocks that support the sides but don’t add pressure to the collapsed material within the shaft. Further investigation, involving detailed surface mapping, seismic tomography and archaeological examination, revealed that the shaft has collapsed and been refilled several times, and although a second major collapse is unlikely, both the 1776 shaft and a second horizontal shaft from an excavation in 1849 need to be re-excavated and backfilled to ensure that no further collapses occur.
It’s hoped that the reconstruction project, which starts this month, will be completed by the end of the year. When I visited, the public were only allowed to view the site from a nearby field, but even when viewed from a distance, the hill is an impressive sight and it’s fascinating to consider what new insights might be gained from the current excavation.
Oldest road
Heading back towards Marlborough as the sun begins to set, we take a road that cuts across the Ridgeway – a prehistoric trail that follows an ancient chalk ridge route through the downs and is thought to be Britain’s oldest road. As we crest the brow of the hill, pheasants in their spring plumage flash red among the meadows, huge stands of beeches punctuate the skyline and there isn’t a single building as far as the eye can see.
Gazing out over the undulating fields, it’s easy to believe that this is almost exactly the same landscape that was seen by the Ridgeway’s early travellers. “Even if you’ve studied landscapes and the environment,” Wendy Tobit, media relations officer for the AONB, tells me, “you’ll still come to places within the AONB that will take your breath away. I think it’s amazing that there are still places in Britain where the landscape can do that.
Five of the best: local experts nominate their top spots to visit
“The white horse at Uffington is such a beautiful, mysterious figure. I love watching people going there for the first time. It’s just a really beautiful spot – you’ve got an Iron Age fort behind it, corn buntings and skylarks singing and fantastic views.” Fiona Newcombe, director, North Wessex Downs AONB
“The Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Knapp Hill and the Long Barrow give a beautiful view across the Vale of Pewsey. It’s one of my favourite places in Wiltshire.” Isobel Geddes, Wiltshire Geology Trust
“Pewsey Down National Nature Reserve is a place like no other – you go up there and look out over the landscape and it’s breathtaking. It’s also the best place in the country to see tree sparrows.” Tim Frayling, Natural England
“Walk through the cutting at Thames Park in Goring, and imagine the glacier that moved through it. When you look back over the hills you genuinely feel like you’re on a border.” Fiona Newcombe
“At Delling Copse on Fyfield Down, there’s a sarsen stone that’s been polished over the centuries by flint and axe sharpening. It’s amazing to see tangible evidence of the people who lived here so long ago.” Tim Frayling
June 2007
