Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1879 V18 Pages 377-383. In confirmation of this testimony to the existence of the Beckhampton avenue I will now give the results of my own observation.

The late James Paradise, who died in the year 1871, at the age of sixty-eight years, informed me that he remembered a large sarsen stone, such as those within the earthwork, lying in the road nearly opposite to his house and outside the northwest corner of the vicarage premises, which was broken up on account of its being in the way of the gateway leading into the meadow at the west of the vicarage premises; a fragment of this stone, nearly five feet long, is now lying on the spot.

On this line, leading westward from Avebury towards the large Beckhampton stones, I myself found a sarsen stone six feet long, now supporting the causeway¹, a little on the eastern side of the brook; and another, a little further westward, at the base of the third pier of the bridge over the brook, five feet six inches long: whilst again a little further westward, lying on the surface of the causeway, is another sarsen stone, upwards of seven feet long, and of nearly equal width; a little further to the westward again from this stone, in the farm-yard of the manor-house called “Avebury Truslowe”’ there are several large stones; whilst at the edge of the pond at the road-side near the corner of the field in which the large stones of Beckhampton stand, there are several large sarsen stones, one of five feet six inches, another of five feet in length and others of nearly the same size. Then, some years ago, I availed myself of the opportunity when the field had been recently ploughed, and found several “sarsen chips” (7.e., small fragments of sarsen stones) near the north-east corner of the field in question, and other similar “chips” about mid-way between that corner and the “cove;” and others also a little beyond, or westward of, the cove itself; all these giving their mute testimony to Farmer Griffin’s destructive handiwork; for I have the assurance of my neighbour Mr. Kemm that such “chips” are only found in those places in which large sarsen stones have been broken up.

I have already spoken of the almost continuous line of sarsen stones for about half-a-mile in length in this westward direction from Avebury, along the presumed route of the Beckhampton avenue ; and when I state-—as I now do advisedly—that on no other line out of Avebury, besides that of the Kennet avenue, is there one-tenth proportion of sarsen stones as now exist on this precise line, I am, I think, entitled to ask, whether the evidence of the former existence of the Beckhampton avenue is not irresistible, and whether the merely negative evidence on the point of one so utterly careless and untrustworthy as I have shewn Aubrey to be, is entitled to the very slightest weight.

Bryan King (age 66). Avebury Vicarage, Sept. 10th, 1879.

Note 1. The late Joseph Robinson, a descendant of the notorious “Tom,” assured me, on his life-long experience as a mason, that all the stones of this causeway are the broken fragments of larger stones.

Archaeologia Volume 84 1935 Section VI. I. INTRODUCTION

In point of size and grandeur Avebury¹ stands out pre-eminently among the prehistoric stone monuments of Britain. It is, however, decidedly difficult to realize fully what Avebury and its appendages were when in the height of their glory. The monument has been terribly mutilated, and vandalism must have prevailed for many years, if not centuries, to effect the complete destruction of so large a number of the great monoliths.

We have been helped, however, to understand the original form of Avebury by making reference to the plans of Aubrey², Stukeley, Hoare (drawn by Crocker), and Lukis; but modern archaeologists can accept only a certain proportion of the statements and theories advanced by these antiquaries. Much remains to be proved with regard to the precise original form and lay-out of the great Avebury monument and its avenues of approach.

Avebury, as we know it to-day, consists of an agricultural village, which, as it has grown, has unfortunately been extended into the central part of the ancient enclosure, thus causing the partial destruction of the inner group of circles. It is situated about 525 ft. above mean sea-level, and is commanded by higher ground at a short distance away.³ The sarsen stones remaining are so few that the casual observer visiting Avebury for the first time finds it most difficult clearly to understand the original lay-out of this fascinating monument. The stupendous ditch enclosing the circles is very striking, but few visitors realize that it is full of silt, and was in prehistoric times open to a great depth.

The fosse is bounded by a vallum of imposing height, of which more than three-quarters remain, many parts being well preserved. The mutilation of the rampart and ditch in places was caused chiefly by the building of the eastern half of the village, and the construction of roads which approach Avebury from four directions. Walls (see pl. XXXII, fig. 2) and houses, obviously built of the venerable stones, collected and cracked up for the purpose, meet one’s gaze at every turn⁴. Indeed, as Lord Avebury said in Pye/iistoric Times , ‘the pretty little village of Avebury, like some beautiful parasite, has grown up at the expense and in the midst of the ancient temple \

Note 1. Avreberie in Domesday.

Note 2. The stones of Avebury were first noticed by Aubrey in 1648-9, when he observed that Avebury far surpassed Stonehenge as a cathedral does a parish church.

Note 3. The site of ‘the Temple’ is on the outcrop of the Middle Chalk zone of Rhynchonella Cuvieri.

Note 4. The Rev. Bryan King said: ‘There are very few lineal yards which are not occupied by causeways, walls, and cottages, all formed of sarsen stone, sufficient, and more than sufficient, to absorb all the stones of the Beckhampton Avenue’ (Wilts. Arch. Mag. xviii, 377-83).