|
| 6. THE AVEBURY STONES AND CROP CIRCLES |
Avebury is the undisputed centre of the crop circle phenomenon. One study claims that on average 80-90% of all crop circles appear within a 25 mile radius of the village. Crop circles first came to the attention of the general public during the late 1970's when they started to materialise
in significant numbers across the counties of Wiltshire and Hampshire. The media were enthralled and crop circles were used to support every theory from disturbed animal behaviour to alien encounters. When two men, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley claimed that they were responsible for many of the crop circles the media turned their attention to debunking and the phenomena was relegated to the scientific fringe. |
Original Sketch of Avebury Stones & Layout
|
|
Crop Circle Avebury Design
Avebury, Wiltshire 2011
|
|
The truth is that many crop circles were created by people and will be in the future. However, some very serious and reputable researchers are correct to point out that just because some circles are made by people this does not mean that all are. In addition, they point out that two men with some rope could not possibly have created all the incidents recorded. Regardless of how these artworks come into being it does seem as if Avebury and its stones are a magnet for such occurrences. ( Click here for more on the Crop Circle Phenomenon) |
| 7. THE DEVIL'S CHAIR / THE GATEKEEPER'S CHAIR |
| The Devil's Chair / The Gatekeeper's Chair |
|
|
The megalith known as the Devil's Chair is located adjacent to the A436 road and formed part of the original entrance to the site from the prehistoric West Kennet Avenue.
It is one of the largest stones and is estimated to weigh more than 60 tons. Set into the outside face of the stone is a natural alcove just large enough to function as a seat. A person sitting in it would find themselves facing near perfectly south (SSE).
For many hundreds of years it has been a tradition for young women to sit in the chair as the sun sets on May Day (Beltane) and then to make a wish - usually for a good husband, love and healthy children.
|
This seems an unlikely tradition if the chair was really associated with the Devil. A number of historians believe that at some point in the distant past the name was provided by local priests in an effort to turn people away from such superstitious and possibly pagan practices. The chair is also said to have other supernatural powers such as the ability to reduce pain and improve fertility. This is apparently due to the magnet qualities of the rock but this remains clearly unproven except for the experiences of people who have tried it. It is said that it is angled so you will see the rising of the sun at the start of the winter solstice. The original purpose of the chair predates recorded history but it is most likely that it was used to keep watch on the entrance and guard the gate - if for that matter it was used at all.
Other tales about the chair have emerged over the centuries. Some claim that a natural fissure above the chair, sometimes called the chimney, is sometimes seen to emit a faint blue smoke. One legend claims that running 13 times around the stone in an anticlockwise direction at midnight will reveal the Devil on his Chair. Another version of this legend claims that if the process is done 100 times then supernatural powers will be conjured into being. |
| 8. THE BARBER STONE - ACCIDENT, MURDER OR SPECIAL BURIAL? |
Around the early 14th Century many of the stones of Avebury were buried by local workers. It's believed that this was an attempt by the church to de-paganise the site. During excavations carried out by Alexander Keiller in the 1930's the diggers made a gruesome discovery. Underneath Stone Nine in the southwest section they unearthed the skeleton of a man. A study of the remains initially suggested that he'd been in the pit adjacent to the stone when the megalith had toppled over killing him. His body was trapped under 40 tons of Sarsen rock and it seems that the decision was made to leave him where he was. Keiller also discovered coins, a pair of scissors and a medical probe in a leather bag next to the bones. |
|
|
This suggested that the man was a travelling barber-surgeon who had merely stopped to help the people of Avebury with their task. The coins were dated to the 14th century and the scissors are considered to be among the earliest examples yet discovered. The skeleton was sent the museum at the Royal College of Surgeons where it was believed to have been destroyed during the Blitz on London. Luckily it was rediscovered and examined again in 1998.
|
 |
It was immediately clear that the body showed no signs of trauma other than a wound on the head. This suggested that the man was already dead and had been deliberately buried under the stone instead of being crushed as it fell. This raised more questions than it answered and gives us one of Avebury's greatest mysteries. If the man had been buried then why was his pouch and its valuable contents left with him. And ... why bury him under a stone that was unlikely to be moved again for centuries - if not millennia.
One theory is that he was the victim of a murder and the freshly dug pit for the megalith was a perfect place to hide the body. It wouldn't have taken long to dig an extra foot or so and then cover the body with soil before toppling the stone to cover the evidence. One can only speculate why?
|
| 9. MARS FORMATIONS & THE AVEBURY LAYOUT |
| Matching Formations of Mars (Cydonia) and Avebury |
|
|
Shortly after the first photographs of Mars were received by NASA in 1976 the world was intrigued to notice what appeared to be a giant humanoid face sculpted from a giant rocky outcrop. In 1995 an independent researcher studying this feature noticed that there seemed to be a striking similarity between the geological features of the Cydonia region of the red planet and the prehistoric features of the Avebury Neolithic Complex. In particular, the alignment of the Avebury Stone Circle and the nearby Silbury Hill seemed simply too perfect to be a coincidence. How could man made features on earth seemingly match features on an uninhabited planet at least 56 million kilometres away. And yet the evidence seemed to suggest the impossible.
|
By carefully measuring the features of Cydonia they discovered that many landmarks not only aligned on a macro scale but even smaller details such as gaps in the ditch and ring mound seemed to pair up. To make the discovery even more curious was the presence of the famous 'Face of Mars' some distance to the west. Critics, including NASA, believe that this mysterious synchronicity of landscapes is nothing more than wishful thinking. However David Percy is convinced that the chances of such an alignment happening by accident are less than a trillion to one.
|
| 10. STONE LIGHTS & OTHER PHENOMENA |
Over the decades many people have claimed to witness strange phenomena in or around the stone circles of Avebury. These have included balls of light that appear to float above or amongst the megaliths, small figures moving around the stones and even the occasional UFO flying over the village. Stories of hauntings, particularly at the nearby Red Lion pub, are common and some people have even claimed that entire megaliths have moved during the night. One of the most well documented cases was that of the Wiltshire author Edith Olivier. While looking for an inn where she could spend the night Edith found herself driving through the village of Avebury. A light but persistent rain was falling and the temperature outside had dropped substantially during the day. |
|
Strange Lights Over Avebury Stone Circle
Avebury, Wiltshire 2011
|
|
As she drove past a row of megaliths she noticed that even though the weather was so poor a local funfair had been set up and people were milling around enjoying the event. She stopped the car and watched as the villagers drifted from stall to stall their faces illuminated by burning torches. Edith was amazed that they seemed oblivious to the rain and were surprisingly merry given the dreariness of the surroundings. For a moment she contemplated visiting the fair but the worsening weather persuaded her to return to the car and continue her search for an inn. She didn't think much about what she had seen until some nine years later when she visited the village again and read in a guidebook that the village fair had been abolished decades in the past and that the last event had been held in 1850. What is more she discovered that many of megaliths that she had seen as she drove past had been destroyed for building materials around 1800.
Had Edith experienced a time slip or was the event she witnessed merely the product of her author's imagination? Perhaps if Edith's experience was an isolated case then that matter could be safely ignored but every year the internet blogs are littered with accounts of ordinary people claiming to have had odd experiences at Avebury. Fairly common amongst these are electronic devices such as phones and music players failing to work and a few people have even claimed to feel a strong psychic energy flowing from certain stones. There is definitely something very odd about stone circles of Avebury ... but, it should also be said that the vast majority of visitors experience nothing unusual at all except to wonder at the achievements of these Neolithic builders.
|
|
Physical Address:
Avebury Stone Circle
Avebury
Wiltshire
England
Post Code: SN8 1RF (Sat Nav Suitable)
A National Trust Site
| On Site Parking: |
|
Nearby |
| On Site Restaurant Facilities: |
|
No |
| On Site Toilet Facilities: |
|
Nearby |
| On Site Souvenir Shop: |
|
No |
| Entry Fee to Parking |
|
No |
| Entry Fee to Main Site |
|
No |
| Entry Fee to Museum |
|
Yes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
