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The various parts of the site are unlikely to have been constructed at the same time although all were finished by 2400 BC. It would appear that the inner circles were the original structures here being erected around 2700 BC. The henge and outer circle would then have been built to enclose the area followed by the avenues to connect two other important sites to the main temple. Most of the damage to the site has been done within the last 500 years. The church attempted to purge the area of pagan beliefs by persuading locals to pull down the 'devil's work' and bury the stones. This practice came to an abrupt halt when one of the stones toppled over killing a barber surgeon. His skeleton was discovered under one of the stones on the southern side of the main circle when stones were being reerected earlier this century. The worst destruction came during the 18th century when a local farmer took to toppling and breaking up the stones to use for building material for the village of Avebury and local farm buildings.
From the great outer circle two avenues of stones, each a mile and a half long and 50 feet wide, extended outwards. The West Kennet Avenue reaches out to the SE and terminates on Overton Hill at the Sanctuary. Originally consisting of 100 pairs of stones, only 27 stones remain although markers provide an idea of how the avenue snaked into Avebury. The stones alternate in shape between wide angular shapes and tall thinner ones and many believe this to be female and male representations.
The Beckhampton Avenue extended in a SW direction and the only surface sign left is three quarters of a mile to the west of the stone circle where the LONGSTONES or ADAM & EVE stand. Eve is the eastern of the 2 stones and would have formed part of the avenue while Adam was once part of a three sided cove arrangement.
The History Wiltshire has played a significant role in the history of this region. Wilton, near Salisbury, was once the "heade town of Wessex and Wileshire" and it is said that the county originally grew out of Wilton. The nearby village of Old Sarum has also played a significant role in the county's history, being popular with both the Saxons and the Normans. It was also the site of the original Cathedral in the southern part of Wiltshire, preceeding Salisbury Cathedral.
The county has been host to a number of notable battles, including Alfred`s defeat of the Danes at Ethandune where despite tremendous odds and a seamingly impregnable hill-fort, he used all his guile and cunning to win a famous victory. The civil war battle of Roundway Hill near Devizes also figures prominantly in our 'warrior' history.
In more recent times, the county, especially Trowbridge in the west, was renowned the world over for its quality woollen products. Alas, all mills are now confined to memory and text, although Trowbridge now hosts a museum where details of this aspect of the county's past can be explored.
Swindon, which means 'pig hill' to the north, was once the centre of Brunel's Great Western Railway and until quite modern times produced trains and rolling stock for British Railways. Sadly, this trade has also been lost but Swindon now boasts a number of hi-tech industries.