The occurrence of Romano-British artefacts at Stonehenge
Roman (c 43–410 AD)
The occurrence of Romano-British artefacts at Stonehenge
itself shows that the monument was visited and used at that
time; recent excavations have shown that a ‘shaft’ was dug
into the monument during this period. However the pattern
of these artefacts suggests that Stonehenge was already
partly ruinous. Farmsteads and small un-enclosed towns of
the Roman period are known across Salisbury Plain. Within
the WHS itself, a small Roman building interpreted as a rural
shrine has been excavated near to the Cuckoo Stone and a
short distance to the south a Bronze Age barrow became a
focal point for Roman burials.
At Avebury a Roman ladder settlement of 2nd to 3rd century
date lay immediately south of Silbury Hill close to Swallowhead
springs and the Winterbourne and beside the Roman road
running west from Cunetio to Bath. The settlement’s size
and location, together with the presence of a series of shafts
containing what may be votive deposits, suggest something
more than a mere farming settlement. Geophysical survey
has revealed what may be either a mausoleum or a shrine of
the period. Evidence also exists of substantial buildings and at
least one burial on the western slopes of Waden Hill beside
the Winterbourne. To the east on Overton Hill rare Roman
barrows were built beside the road of the same period.
Saxon (c AD 410–1066)
There is evidence of an early Saxon settlement at Avebury
itself, on the site of the current visitor car park, together with
pagan Saxon barrows and other burials reusing the Bronze
Age cemetery on Overton Hill. From the late Saxon period
onwards there is documentary as well as archaeological
evidence of the development of the landscape. Saxon
charters provide evidence of the estates which came to form
the medieval parishes and identify various features which
the boundaries followed or crossed, including the Ridgeway
which cuts across the prehistoric and Roman field systems
on Overton Down. Green Street leading out of Avebury to
the east was probably part of an important east-west route
at this period if not before. Evidence for the Saxon origins
of Avebury church is still apparent in its fabric. In the late
Saxon period the summit of Silbury Hill was remodelled and a
wooden fortification constructed, possibly to serve as a lookout
post.
Amesbury was the centre for a widespread royal estate
during the Saxon period, and the abbey was founded in AD
979. It is probable that the town itself grew up around these
establishments but little is known of the way in which the
surrounding landscape was utilised. However, the remains
of several Saxon sunken-featured buildings were revealed at
the Countess East site which may have been an early Saxon
settlement which later shifted to the town of Amesbury.
Stonehenge itself may have become an execution site during
this period; a decapitated Saxon man was buried around
AD 645 at the monument. It is even possible that the name,
Stonehenge from the Saxon stone and heng may refer to this
function, or may mean that, to Saxon eyes, the great stone
trilithons resembled a gallows. Alternatively it may simply refer
to the extraordinary hanging lintels of the Stone Circle.
Medieval to Modern (AD 1066 onwards)
In the 12th century the alien cell of a Benedictine priory was
established at Avebury, probably on, or close to the site of the
present Avebury Manor.
A documented run of bad harvests in the early 14th century,
which resulted in the desertion of the downland farmstead
on Fyfield Down, followed by the Black Death later marked
the end of early medieval expansion. Marginal arable reverted
to pasture and there is evidence of settlement contraction or
shift in most of the settlements along the Kennet, including
Avebury itself and Avebury Trusloe.
From the 14th century onwards the practice of stone burial
reduced many of the Avebury megalithic settings significantly.
This process accelerated during the post-medieval period
with Stukeley recording a period of particularly rampant stone
destruction in the 1720s; though archaeological evidence
suggests that the destruction may have started as early as the
late 15th century.
The earliest surviving parts of Avebury Manor date to the
mid-16th century. It is at about this time and during the 17th
century that parts of the common downland pasture on West
Hill, Windmill Hill and Knoll Down were enclosed. Most of
the open fields were not enclosed until the 18th century,
but a notable exception, still extant, was the enclosure of
an area just east of the West Kennet Avenue. Parts of the
meadowland along the valley floor at Avebury were enclosed
in the 17th century, and at various points along the floor of the
valley, at Avebury and around the foot of Silbury Hill. At West
Overton and Avebury there are the earthworks of managed
water meadow systems some probably originating in the
17th century and surviving in use until the 19th or early 20th
century.
Parliamentary enclosure occurred in 1795 at Avebury and in
1813 to 1814 at Winterbourne Monkton and the Overton
group of parishes, resulting in the creation of large rectangular
fields, many bounded by quickset hedges, alongside the more
limited areas of old enclosure. The Napoleonic Wars saw a
re-expansion of arable, and this became even more marked
The settlement’s size
and location, together with the presence of a series of shafts
containing what may be votive deposits, suggest something
more than a mere farming settlement. Geophysical survey
has revealed what may be either a mausoleum or a shrine of
the period. Evidence also exists of substantial buildings and at
least one burial on the western slopes of Waden Hill beside
the Winterbourne. To the east on Overton Hill rare Roman
barrows were built beside the road of the same period.
Saxon (c AD 410–1066)
There is evidence of an early Saxon settlement at Avebury
itself, on the site of the current visitor car park, together with
pagan Saxon barrows and other burials reusing the Bronze
Age cemetery on Overton Hill. From the late Saxon period
onwards there is documentary as well as archaeological
evidence of the development of the landscape. Saxon
charters provide evidence of the estates which came to form
the medieval parishes and identify various features which
the boundaries followed or crossed, including the Ridgeway
which cuts across the prehistoric and Roman field systems
on Overton Down. Green Street leading out of Avebury to
the east was probably part of an important east-west route
at this period if not before. 
Evidence for the Saxon origins
of Avebury church is still apparent in its fabric. In the late
Saxon period the summit of Silbury Hill was remodelled and a
wooden fortification constructed, possibly to serve as a lookout
post.
Amesbury was the centre for a widespread royal estate
during the Saxon period, and the abbey was founded in AD
979. It is probable that the town itself grew up around these
establishments but little is known of the way in which the
surrounding landscape was utilised. However, the remains
of several Saxon sunken-featured buildings were revealed at
the Countess East site which may have been an early Saxon
settlement which later shifted to the town of Amesbury.
Stonehenge itself may have become an execution site during
this period; a decapitated Saxon man was buried around
AD 645 at the monument. It is even possible that the name,
Stonehenge from the Saxon stone and heng may refer to this
function, or may mean that, to Saxon eyes, the great stone
trilithons resembled a gallows. Alternatively it may simply refer
to the extraordinary hanging lintels of the Stone Circle.
Medieval to Modern (AD 1066 onwards)
In the 12th century the alien cell of a Benedictine priory was
established at Avebury, probably on, or close to the site of the
present Avebury Manor.
A documented run of bad harvests in the early 14th century,
which resulted in the desertion of the downland farmstead
on Fyfield Down, followed by the Black Death later marked
the end of early medieval expansion. Marginal arable reverted
to pasture and there is evidence of settlement contraction or
shift in most of the settlements along the Kennet, including
Avebury itself and Avebury Trusloe.
From the 14th century onwards the practice of stone burial
reduced many of the Avebury megalithic settings significantly.
This process accelerated during the post-medieval period
with Stukeley recording a period of particularly rampant stone
destruction in the 1720s; though archaeological evidence
suggests that the destruction may have started as early as the
late 15th century.
The earliest surviving parts of Avebury Manor date to the
mid-16th century. It is at about this time and during the 17th
century that parts of the common downland pasture on West
Hill, Windmill Hill and Knoll Down were enclosed. Most of
the open fields were not enclosed until the 18th century,
but a notable exception, still extant, was the enclosure of
an area just east of the West Kennet Avenue. Parts of the
meadowland along the valley floor at Avebury were enclosed
in the 17th century, and at various points along the floor of the
valley, at Avebury and around the foot of Silbury Hill. At West
Overton and Avebury there are the earthworks of managed
water meadow systems some probably originating in the
17th century and surviving in use until the 19th or early 20th
century.
Parliamentary enclosure occurred in 1795 at Avebury and in
1813 to 1814 at Winterbourne Monkton and the Overton
group of parishes, resulting in the creation of large rectangular
fields, many bounded by quickset hedges, alongside the more
limited areas of old enclosure. The Napoleonic Wars saw a
re-expansion of arable, and this became even more marked