743 



AVEI1UHY. 



AVEBUHY. 



Longobards and Frank*. Thy extended their domination over the 

 Slavonian* on the Danube^nd to the north of that river ; over the 

 Bulgarian* a* far as the Black Sea, and in 610 besieged ConitantinopK-. 

 The emperor Heraclius succeeded in repulsing them, but they n-tir.-l 

 loaded with booty. The Slave* or Sclaves, aud Bulgarians, whom they 

 l^ cruell v oppressed, piH"g them serve in their armies, and transport- 

 ing them to various parU of their dominion for the purpose of weakening 

 their strength (Gibbon says they settled some of the Tcheclu in the 

 Camarw, where they are yet to be I raced), at length rose against them 

 in WO, and drove them out of Dalmatia, but they still retained 

 Pannonia. Here they were conquered by Charlemagne in 796, and 

 after 827 their name disappears from history, but according to the 

 received belief their descendants are the Szeklers, who appear to have 

 been anti-Magyars though they now speak the Magyar tongue. 



AVEBURY, ABURY, or ABIRY, \Viltshire, a village in the parish 

 of Avebury, and hundred of Selkley, situated in 51 25' N. lat, 1 60' 

 W. long. ; about 29 miles N. from Salisbury, and 0, miles W. from 

 Marlborough ; is remarkable a* the site of what was once the largest 

 and most interesting Celtic or Druidical structure in Europe, with the 

 exception perhaps of that at Canute, in Brittany. When this site was 

 chosen for this vast work, we may reasonably conclude that it was in a 



No. 1. 



Section 1 to 2. 



No. 1. Oround Plan of lit* Temple, with a sectional view of 

 the same from 1 to 1 that it, from cant to vest. The plan, 

 though on a small Kale, shown the relative proportion)* und 

 arrangement* of the lofty bank, or vallum, c; the ditch, or 

 moat, /; the commencement of the wwtcrn, or Bcckhampton 

 Amur, a ; the (outturn, or Kennct Avenue, b ; the nuuthcm 

 nple, e ; the northern inner temple, </. 



No. 3. 



of stone. Then is still a great number of detached oolitic sandstones 

 of various sizes, known by the name of the Gray Wethers, lying near 

 the Bath road, in the neighbourhood of Avebury. From amongst 

 those stones scattered about the neighbourhood, the builders selected 

 such as seemed best adapted to their rude design. 



According to Stukeley and hia followers, no less than 650 blocks 

 were brought together aud placed in circles and rows. These stones 

 were of various dimensions, measuring from 5 feet to 20 feet in height 

 above the ground, and from 3 feet to 12 feet in width and thickness ; 

 100 were raised on end, and placed in a circular form, nround a flat 

 aud nearly circular area of about 1400 feet in diameter ; aud these 

 stones were bounded by a deep ditch aud lofty bank, which inclosed 

 the whole work, except at two places, where openings were left for 

 entrances to the circle. The bank or mound at present is broken 

 down in four places ; but there seem to have been originally only two 

 openings corresponding to the two great avenues which will be 

 described hereafter. The inner slope of the bank measured 80 feet, 

 ami it.s whole extent, or circumference, at the top was, according to 

 Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 4442 feet; the area within the bank or mound 

 is somewhat more than 28 acres. About half way up the inner dope 

 was a sort of terrace walk, apparently adapted for spectators. Dr. 



Mb, 



No. 2. Plan, or Jfap of the whole Temple, with it* two avenues, c and /; the temple, a ; 

 a small temple, . ; sill.ury Hill, /; high ([round, g ; a line of road, or British track- w*y, h ; 

 the course of the river Kennct, i ; line of Roman road from Bath to London, * ; barrow* ; 

 sites of village*, /. 



No. 1. A Krfi tff Tien of On Temple, from UK north, looking south, and intended to display the clrcumrallated bank, 1 ; the two inner, 

 or imatl templets J and 3 ; the counc of the Kennet river, 4 ; the western avenue, i ; the southern avenue, 6 ; the situation of Silbury 

 Hill, 7 i a Utge barrow, called by Stukeley the DrnldV barrow, 8 j a cromlech, surrounded by a circle of small stones, 9. 



tate of nature, and, like the general character of the Marlbomugh 

 Downs and Salisbury Plain, was without either forest-trees or under- 

 wood of any kind. A thin stratum of mould here coven a continuous 

 chalk substratum, which presents a clean, dry, grassy surface. The 

 immediate site chosen for the grand circle is a flat urea of ground, 

 having an irregular range of gentle hills to the east, running north 

 and south, a rising tract of land to the south, a level country of some 

 miles in extent to the north, some undulating and rather high hill* to 

 UM west, and extending thence to the east. A small brook or rivulet 

 called the Rennet, a tributary to the Thames, has it* source a short 

 distance to the north. On the surface of the ground, both in the 

 neighbouring valleys and in thr high lands, are numerous large masses 



Stukeley conjectures that there was a second circular arrangement of 

 upright stones at a short distance within the outer circle ; and ho 

 founds his opinion upon the fact of there being one large stone in a 

 position which does not come into any other component circle of tho 

 temple. There were two smaller circles within the periphery of the 

 great circle. One was a double circle of upright stones, with a single 

 stone raised near the centre, which Stukeley calls the ambive, or 

 obelisk ; this small circle consisted of 43 stones (diagram No. 1, c). 

 Another circle of 45 stones, some of which are still standing and of 

 immense sue, was placed a little north of the former, and consisted 

 also of two concentric circles, inclosing a group of three tall stones 

 called the covs. These component parts as well as the general design 



