Kennet Avenue
Encyclopedia
Kennet Avenue or West Kennet Avenue is a prehistoric site in the English
county of Wiltshire
.
It was an avenue
of two parallel lines of stones 25m wide and 2.5 km in length which ran between the Neolithic
sites of Avebury
and The Sanctuary
. A second avenue, called Beckhampton Avenue
led west from Avebury towards Beckhampton Long Barrow.
Excavations by Stuart Piggott and Alexander Keiller
in the 1930s indicated that around 100 pairs of standing stones had lined the avenue and that they dated to around 2200 BC based on finds of Beaker burials found beneath some of the stones. Many stones have since fallen or are missing however.
Keiller and Piggott righted some of the fallen stones they excavated as did Maud Cunnington
during her earlier work there. More recently the stones have been the subject of vandalism when red paint was thrown over some of them.
It is part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. West Kennet Avenue is in the freehold ownership of The National Trust
and in English Heritage
guardianship. It is managed by The National Trust on behalf of English Heritage, and the two organisations share the cost of managing and maintaining the property.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
.
It was an avenue
Avenue (archaeology)
British Archaeologists refine the general archaeological use of avenue to denote a long, parallel-sided strip of land, measuring up to about 30m in width, open at either end and with edges marked by stone or timber alignments and/or a low earth bank and ditch...
of two parallel lines of stones 25m wide and 2.5 km in length which ran between the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
sites of Avebury
Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...
and The Sanctuary
The Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is a prehistoric site on Overton Hill located around 5 miles west of Marlborough in the English county of Wiltshire.It is part of a wider Neolithic landscape which includes the nearby sites of Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and Avebury, to which The Sanctuary was linked by the...
. A second avenue, called Beckhampton Avenue
Beckhampton Avenue
The Beckhampton Avenue a curving prehistoric avenue of stones that ran broadly south west from Avebury towards The Longstones at Beckhampton in the English county of Wiltshire. It probably dates to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age....
led west from Avebury towards Beckhampton Long Barrow.
Excavations by Stuart Piggott and Alexander Keiller
Alexander Keiller
Alexander Keiller was an archaeologist and businessman who worked on the site at Avebury in Wiltshire. He used his wealth to acquire a total of of land for preservation, conducted excavations, re-erected stones on the site, and created a museum to interpret the site. He founded the Morven...
in the 1930s indicated that around 100 pairs of standing stones had lined the avenue and that they dated to around 2200 BC based on finds of Beaker burials found beneath some of the stones. Many stones have since fallen or are missing however.
Keiller and Piggott righted some of the fallen stones they excavated as did Maud Cunnington
Maud Cunnington
Maud Edith Cunnington , was a Welsh-born archaeologist, most famous for her pioneering work on the prehistoric sites of Salisbury Plain....
during her earlier work there. More recently the stones have been the subject of vandalism when red paint was thrown over some of them.
It is part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. West Kennet Avenue is in the freehold ownership of The National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and in English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
guardianship. It is managed by The National Trust on behalf of English Heritage, and the two organisations share the cost of managing and maintaining the property.