3 Stonehenge Cottages, King
Barrows, Amesbury, Wiltshire,
SP4 7DD
TRAIL
Walking
GRADE
Easy
DISTANCE
4 miles (6.4km)
TIME
2 hours and 30minutes
OS MAP
Landranger 184;Explorer 130
Contact01980 664780
Facilities
http://nationaltrust.org.uk/walks
In partnership with
Durrington Walls, StonehengeLandscape walkExplore the link between twoof the most important hengeenclosures in the country ina less well-known part of theStonehenge World Heritage Site.While the Stonehenge StoneCircle is known to have been aplace of burial in Neolithic times,Durrington Walls was a placewhere people lived for part of theyear and held feasts and rituals.Both sites were in use over 4,500years ago.
TerrainA circular walk across open access land and along rights of way, with pedestrian gates. The ground isuneven in places, with a few short, steep slopes. Dogs are welcome on a lead and under control, assheep and cattle graze the fields and there are ground-nesting birds.
Things to see
Henges
Henges are large enclosures withan inner ditch and outer bank,built in the Neolithic period around4,500 to 5,000 years ago. They'rebelieved to be ceremonial ratherthan defensive and may containstanding stones, a stone circle ortimber posts. Stonehenge actuallyhas its bank and ditch the otherway round, so is not technically ahenge.
The Cuckoo Stone
This former standing stonenow lies on its side, alongsideits original natural site. Overmillennia it has been a focusfor Bronze Age urn burials, anIron Age boundary line, andRoman remains. It's made ofsarsen, a kind of sandstone, thesame as the largest stones inthe Stonehenge stone circle.The reason for its name remainsa mystery but probably relatesto such a large rock being ananomaly in this area.
Durrington Walls
The largest complete henge inBritain is 640ft (500m) in diameterand encloses a natural valley.It may have been built to 'closeoff' the area once it fell out ofuse. This area contained timbercircles and what seem to havebeen shrines. The area outsidethe ditch and bank (and partlyunder it) was once a settlement,perhaps containing hundredsof houses, making DurringtonWalls potentially the largestvillage in north-west Europeat the time. People and theirlivestock travelled from across thecountry to feast and take part inceremonies.
3 Stonehenge Cottages, King
Barrows, Amesbury, Wiltshire,
SP4 7DD
Start/endStart: Woodhenge, parking onroadside, grid ref: SU151434End: Woodhenge, parking onroadside, grid ref SU151434
How to get thereBy bike: National CycleNetwork Route 45 runs south-east of the property. SeeSustrans
By bus: Wilts & Dorset X5,between Salisbury, Pewsey,Marlborough and Swindon;service 16 from Amesbury,request stop at Woodhenge
By train: Salisbury station, 9miles (14km) from Woodhengecar park
By car: Woodhenge is1.75 miles (2.8km) north ofAmesbury, follow signs fromA345
http://nationaltrust.org.uk/walks
1. About 100m west of the Woodhenge car park, a little further on from the entrance to Woodhengeitself, go through the pedestrian gate into the Cuckoo Stone field (more on this later!) and head south-west to the far corner.
2. Go through the gate and turn left, heading down a hedge-lined path known as the Apple Track.This was once the route of a military railway between Amesbury and Larkhill, and is so-namedbecause the soldiers would throw their apple cores out of the carriage windows and the pipssubsequently took root.
3. When you reach a gap in the hedge, turn almost completely back on yourself and follow the graveltrack, sign-posted “Old King Barrows”. Follow this long, straight track west for about ¾ of a mile,taking time to view and read about the Nile Clumps along the way.
4. Eventually the track turns north on a right-angle. Shortly afterwards, turn left through the gate andfollow the path, passing Old Kings Barrows and crossing Stonehenge Avenue on your way to a line of200-year-old beech trees.
5. Amongst the old beech trees is a fine row of early-Bronze Age burial mounds, known as New KingBarrows. Originally capped in white chalk, they would have been a visible from some distance andoffer a fantastic view to the west of Stonehenge itself. Return to Point 4, turn left and continue northalong the gravel track.
6. When you reach a crossroads with a field gate ahead of you, turn right and continue along a grassyfootpath.
7. Now back at the corner of the Cuckoo Stone field, head back through the gate you came throughearlier but don’t go back the way you came earlier - head directly north, keeping the fence line onyour left hand side.
8. Close to the edge of the field lies a fallen sarsen known as the Cuckoo Stone. It is one of veryfew naturally-occurring sarsen stones in the area. Local legend says that the Devil stole Stonehengefrom the Old Lady in Ireland and on bringing it to Wiltshire he dropped some of the stones, includingthis one, on the way. When you reach the road, pass through the gate, carefully cross over and gothrough the gate opposite into Durrington Walls.
9. At the centre of Durrington Walls you can appreciate the nature scale of this monument. Standinghere 4,500 years ago you would have viewed shrines around the slopes and, at certain times of theyear, a bustling hive of human activity. Head back across the grassland to Woodhenge to completeyour walk.
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