Friday February 21, 2014 - Avebury Ley, Wiltshire

Friday February 21, 2014 - Avebury Ley, Wiltshire

Today I first mapped out the Old Sarum Ley, as given in LHC.  However, realizing the travel distances involved and the shortness of time I decided instead to save investigation of this ley for a more appropriate occasion. I also looked at the Stonehenge Ley, but as it spans a whole 22 miles in length, it was not going to be possible to do this justice either.

I instead happily struck upon the Avebury Ley, which runs 7 ¼ miles from nearby Martinsell Hill Camp to Windmill Hill Camp via Avebury Henge.  This seemed an altogether more measurable challenge to sate my hunger for progress. This worked well as I was keen to visit Windmill Hill as it is a feature of the Avebury complex and drew considerable focus from Keiller.

I mapped the ley then headed for Martinsell Camp, shown as Martinsell Hill fort on the OS map. In an area awash with ancient earth workings Martinsell doesn’t leap from the map, being rather weakly noted and obscured by the heavy footpath lines.  However, on approach from the car park to the east I was struck by an impressively steep scarp rising to the camp perched aloft. Buoyed by a shining sun I headed up to see what I could discover.

Martinsell Hill Camp

The National Trust have open access land running from the car park that takes in some of the earthwork on the escarpment. While a public right of way navigates the whole perimeter of the camp, sadly the main area of the fort, including the summit and given ley terminus, are not very accessible.

I found the Trig point buried in scrub woodland that has grown up since the surveyors last had need of its purpose. From my map work, the Trig point lies on the ley and at 289m is the highest point on the hill. If my alignment is correct I would suggest this high point as the true terminal of the ley.

From the Trig point I progressed along the ley to the point given by the LHC which lies in an open field with views of the surrounding hills and countryside.  However, the north west face of Martinsell Hill has a shallow slope and I found Windmill Hill obscured by tree cover. It struck me that the aspect does not lend itself to this being a good terminal point, and it seemed doubtful if any of the intervening mark points along the ley to Windmill Hill would be visible be from here.

From Martinsell Hill I next visited the cross roads and long barrow at West Woods as described in LHC. At the cross roads I saw the substantial stone which lays between two arms of the junction. There are many stones about, and it is of course possible that this stone was placed to prevent undercutting of the corner. However, it is well embedded and of remarkable size, so would have taken considerable effort to install.

Possible markstone at cross roads near West Woods

Taking the by-way I climbed up to a fork in the path where the ley also intersects. A short way beyond I came to the long barrow.  This is a substantial earthwork of around 5 meters in height.  Looking back in the direction of Martinsell Camp no view is possible from within the beech plantation, but returning to the by-way where a view toward Martinsell is possible, the elevation appears sufficient for sight of the hill. Profiling of the ley will prove this point.

Moving on further through the wood I reached Wans Dyke. Silted heavily and not as pronounced as is it is at Tan Hill, the earth work still has an impressive presence.   What is most interesting is that the dyke follows a shallow ridge which would be a good location for a ley marker.

Arriving at Avebury, I walked around the north east quadrant of the embankment to the mid point where the ley cuts a chord to where Green Street makes its exit.  Windmill Hill is in clear sight, but looking toward Martinsell I could only see the ridge taken by the Ridge Way.  There are no candidate mark points revealed by the OS map where the ley crosses the Ridge Way, nor upon the ridges of Boreham Down and White Hill further back.

Avebury Henge sighting toward Windmill Hill

Finally I made for Windmill Hill, taking the path beside the Kennet which given the recent flooding wasn’t perhaps the wisest move.  A far easier, and drier alternative is by way of Bray Cottages. While that route appears longer, there is a short cut through an access point to Windmill Hill off the bridle way.

At Windmill Hill I caught a fine view of Avebury Henge and the glory of Silbury Hill set out below. If ever anyone shows doubt at the possibility that leys exist this is a place to impress them of the monumental abilities of the people who shaped this landscape.  Founding leys would be a doddle compared to these other monumental undertakings.

By my map work the ley passes through the pedestrian gate taken by the White Horse trail, allowing a good certainty of location on the map. Sighting from the gate across the chord cut of Avebury Henge, Martinsell Hill is clear to see, with West Wood below in the middle distance.  

Martinsell Camp from Windmill Camp sighting over Avebury Henge and West Woods

Barrows at Windmill Hill