Saturday 11 June 2011

Avebury





At the centre of a prehistoric complex in the Marlborough Downs stands the World Hesitage Site of Avebury, the largest stone circle in the world.




It dates from around 4,500 years ago and many of the stones were re-erected in the 1930s.





The circles and henge enclose part of the village.




Now we are in the village itself and this is the dovecote dating from the early 1600s (if I remember right). It is in the middle of the village on the side of a clearing with a pond in the middle, an old barn on one side which is a museum now as well as the National Trust restaurant which is the only NT restaurant serving vegetarian food and where we had lunch.




At the other end of the clearing is Avebury Manor




The gardens were restored twice in the 20th century. We start with the Monk's Garden




The East entrance to the Manor and the East Garden



the pet cemetary on our left as we move on towards




the Topiary Garden



and another view





walking along the Half Moon Garden which is bordered with lavender on one side




leading on to the Kitchen Garden




with its wonderful pond




more lillies, white this time



and more topiary




on to the Italian Walk



then through this doorway



finally, some rest on a bench in the Half Moon garden.







1 comment:

  1. Glad you were able to manage such a beautiful walk.

    ReplyDelete