Although we went on a commercial tour to Stonehenge, Avebury is a bit more off the beaten track and we found no satisfactory tours to this National Trust site. [Something to consider if you're going to be spending some time in the UK: get a National Trust membership. It lets you in free, and gives you free parking, to an amazing number of historical sites around the country. If I'd been smart, I'd have gotten myself a membership before I left home.]But the good news is that Avebury's easy to drive to and once you're there you can explore the stones to your heart's content, and get as close to them as you want.
The circle(s) aren't as complete as at Stonehenge, and there are no remaining crosspiece stones, but to make up for this is the rather eerie charm of seeing the stones integrated into the village and the roads which run through it, as you can see in these pictures:
You do have to be careful where you step throughout the village, since it seems that the four-legged citizens of the place have pretty much the run of the area.
In addition to the stones, another aspect of the ancient building that went on here (and for what purpose this happened is still under debate) is a deep trench that lies outside, and follows the outline, of the outer ring of stones. You can see part of the depression in the photo below, and it some of the other areas, it's much deeper. There was a group of high-school-aged kids up on the outer wall of the moat, or whatever it is, doing some sort of research the whole time we were in the village. You can see a few of them in the background of the picture with the sheep above. A pretty nice field trip for your British history class!
I'll close with this look at the moat, wall, and stones on the opposite side of the village from where our tour started. Here you can see the stones encircling a field more completely, it seemed to me, giving you a little better idea of how the place might have looked a couple thousand years ago, under a lovely autumn Wiltshire sky....
Next up: more UK touring.
