713 



AVEBURY. 



AVERNO. 



7JO 



and arrangement of the triple circle, aa it may be called, will be more 

 clearly understood from the accompanying diagram No. 1, and the view 

 No. 3. Besides these however there were two members, or connecting 

 parts, which belonged and gave a peculiarity to this work, distin- 

 guishing it from all other Celtic structures. These were avenues of 

 approach, consisting of double rows, or lines of upright stones, which 

 branched off from the central work, each to the extent of more than 

 a mile. One of them branched off from the outer circle to the south, 

 turning near its extremity to the south-east, where it terminated in 

 two circular or rather elliptical ranges of upright stones (diagram 

 No. 2, e). According to Stukeley, this avenue was formed by 200 

 stones, being finished at ita eastern extremity with 58 stones. The 

 width of the avenue varied from 56 to 35 feet between the stones, 

 which were on an average 86 feet apart from each other in their 

 linear direction. The outer oval of the terminating circle () to the 

 south-east, on an eminence called Overton Hill, or the Hakpen, 

 measured about 146 feet in diameter; the inner oval was 45 feet 

 across. The western avenue (c) extended about one mile and a half, 

 and consisted of 203 stones ; its extremity ended in a point, or with a 

 single tone. These avenues, or approaches to the circle, were not 

 nilillHiiil in straight but rather in flowing or curved lines. 



The pace inclosed by the great earthen bank of Avebury now 

 contain* a village with its fields, hedge-rows, and buildings, so that it 

 is difficult, if not impossible, at present to make out the original design. 

 When Aubrey surveyed the place in 1648, there were many more stones 

 than at the time Dr. Stukeley commenced his examination in 1720 ; 

 and when Sir Richard Hoare and his surveyor made their plan and 

 drawings in 1812, the stones were still further diminished in number. 

 Even since the latter date, others of the upright stones have been 

 broken to pieces, and it is feared that the remainder will speedily be 

 destroyed and converted into materials for stone fences or roads. 

 Aubrey describes 63 stones as remaining within the intrenched 

 inclosure in his time, which were reduced to 29 when Stukeley made 

 his plan. Only 17 of these remained in 1812, as mentioned by Sir 

 Richard Hoare. In the western avenue there are two upright stones 

 left, and about sixteen of the southern avenue : but not one remains 

 of the two ovals on Hakpen Hill. Indeed, it now requires some skill 

 as well as patience to realise on the spot a conception of the former 

 extent and character of this remarkable work. 



As to the tune when this work was constructed, and the design of 

 it, opinions differ considerably. The most common opinion is, that it 

 was raised by a class of the aboriginal inhabitants of Britain called the 

 Druids or Priests, before the Christian era, and was a national temple 

 in which they performed their sacred rites. Some authors imagine 

 that it served the double purpose of religion and judicature. It seems 

 certain that at least it was not intended for defence, because the ditch 

 is within the mound. On these matters we seek in vain for anything 

 like authentic history, or evidence which may satisfy the discriminating 

 antiquary. Nearly all writers on this subject, such as Stukeley, 

 liorlaae, Toland, King, Valiancy, Rowlands, Davies, and others, have 

 indulged their fancy in dissertations and speculations on the religion, 

 the manners, the arts, and the polity of an ancient people, without 

 any data at all. But Avebury, like Stonehenge, remains quite un- 

 explained and unaccounted for. No satisfactory account has hitherto 

 been given of either the authors or the objects of these extraordinary 

 works. The most judicious antiquaries however lean to the opinion 

 that they were either temples or places of assembly on important 

 occasions ; and it seems probable that they were appropriated to both 

 purposes. There can be no question that they were the work of a 

 very early age. 



Besides the works already described, there are others of very remote 

 antiquity in the immediate vicinity, which are generally supposed to 

 be either connected with the great circle, or to belong to the same 

 age and people. These are the numerous barrows, or tumuli, which 

 abound on the neighbouring downs, with the cromlechs and the 

 trackways. Among the first may be named the large barrow called 

 Silbury Hill, the site of which is indicated at /, No. 2, and 7 No. 3. 

 This vast artificial conical mound of earth is regarded as the largest 

 tumulus in Europe, and may be compared to those mentioned by 

 Homer, Herodotus, and other ancient writers. In Sir Richard 

 Hoare's large publication, entitled ' Ancient Wiltshire,' we are furnished 

 with the survey and calculations of Mr. Edward Crocker, a scientific 

 practical surveyor. " The circumference of the hill, as near the base 

 as possible, measures 2027 feet, the diameter at top 120 feet, the 

 sloping height 316 feet, and the perpendicular height 170 feet; but 

 that part of our measurement which will excite the most surprise is, 

 that this artificial hill covers the space of 5 acres and 34 perches of 

 land." For what purpose this huge pile of earth was raised, appears 

 to be beyond the reach of conjecttire ; but " I think," says Sir R. 

 Hoare, " there can be no doubt it was one of the component parts of 

 the grand temple at Abury, not a sepulchral mound raised over the 

 bones and ashes of a king or arch-druid. Its situation opposite to the 

 temple, and nearly in the centre between the two avenues, seems in 

 some degree to warrant this supposition." Hoare's supposition may 

 however be fairly questioned. In the year 1849 some excavations 

 were made in Silbury Hill, which it was expected would throw 

 some light on the subject, but, after a tunnel had been cut to about 

 thu centre of the mould, without, we believe, any discovery having 



been made, the work was stopped for want of funds. Many other 

 barrows of various dimensions and forms are seen on the downs. A 

 proof that Silbury Hill, and some other barrows near it, were raised 

 before the Roman colonisation of Britain, may be found in the fact 

 that the line of the great Roman road from Aquse-Solis, or Bath, to 

 Londinium, or London, is straight for some miles till it comes to the 

 hill, when it diverges to the south, and again continues in a direct line 

 to Marlborough ; in one place the road-makers cut through a large 

 barrow in forming their road. 



About one mile north of Avebury are the remains of a large 

 cromlech, with the stones fallen ; and at Clatford-bottom, about three 

 miles east of Avebury, is another cromlech, consisting of two standing 

 stones, and one larger raised on them. South of Avebury, at a 

 distance of two miles, is a large and long tumulus, which was formerly 

 surrounded by upright stones, and had a cromlech at one end. At 

 Winterbourne-Basset, north of Avebury, were two circles of standing 

 stones, and a single stone standing detached from the circle. At 

 Rockley, and on Temple Downs, east of Avebury, were other 

 cromlechs, and works of a similar kind to those already referred to. 

 There were numerous other earth-works and standing stones on 

 different parts of the downs, all tending to show that this district was, 

 at a remote age, if not a place of permanent residence for a large 

 population, a chief seat of the religious worship of the primeval 

 inhabitants of Britain. 



(For dissertations on Avebury particularly, and other matters con- 

 nected with Druidical antiquities, &c., the reader is referred to Dr. 

 Stukeley's Abury; to Sir Richard Hoare' a Ancient Wiltshire; Britton's 

 Wiltshire; and other publications; Dalies' a Celtic Researches, 8vo., 1804 ; 

 and his other volume, The Mythology and Kites of the British Druids, 

 8vo., 1809 ; Roberts's Sketch of the Early History of the Cymry, or 

 Ancient Britons, 8vo., 1803 ; King's Munimenta Antigua, fol. 1799 ; 

 Mallet's NortJiem Antiquities, 2 vols. 8vo., 1809 ; Toland's History of 

 the Druids, 8vo., 1814 ; Higgins's Celtic Druids, 4to., 1827 ; Present 

 State of Abury, by the Rev. J. Hunter; Gentleman's Magazine, July, 

 1829; Akerman's Archceological Index; see also Primcev al Antiquities 

 of England Illustrated by those of Denmark, translated from the 

 Danish of J. J. A. Worsaae, by W. J. Thorns.) 

 AVEIRO. [BEIHA.] 



AVE'LLA, a town in the province of Terra-di-Lavoro, in the kingdom 

 of Naples, near Nola, on the skirts of the plain at the foot of the Apen- 

 nines, which divide it from the province of Principato Ultra, 18 miles 

 N.E. from Naples : population about 5000. It gives the title of Prince 

 to a Neapolitan family. On a hill above the town are the ruins of the 

 ancient Abella, still called Avella Vecchia, and celebrated by Virgil 

 (' ^Eneid.' vii. 740) for the abundance of its apples, for which its 

 territory is still famed. The honey gathered in the neighbourhood 

 is also renowned for its flavour. Remains of the extensive ancient 

 walla, of on amphitheatre, a temple, and other edifices, are still to be 

 seen. Among the many relics of antiquity found here the most 

 interesting is an inscription in the Oscan language recording a treaty 

 between Abella and Nola; it is preserved in the museum of the 

 Seminary of Nola, The river Clanius, or Lagni, has its source in the 

 mountains near Avella. and after watering the plain of Campania flows 

 into the sea near the shore-lake of Patria. 



AVELLI'NO, the capital of the Neapolitan province of Principato 

 Ultra, 30 miles E. by N. from Naples, in 40 55' N.lat., 14 45' E. long. : 

 population, 20,000. Avellino is built on the declivity of a hill in a 

 fine valley watered by the river Sabato, between two offsets of the 

 Apennine chain. From Avelliuo a road leads to Salerno, which is 17 

 miles to the south. Three miles north of Avellino, on a rugged 

 mountain, stands the celebrated sanctuary of Monte- Vergine, once a 

 rich Benedictine abbey, now suppressed ; it was built in the llth 

 century on the rums of a temple of Cybele. Avellino is a bishop's 

 see, and a place of considerable trade in country produce, cattle, &c. ; 

 there are also several manufactures of cloth, maccaroni, and paper. 

 It has a royal college, is the seat of the superior courts of justice, 

 and the residence of the governor of the province. The city is 

 named from the ancient Abellinum, but does not occupy its site, 

 which is about two miles distant, near the village of Atripaldi. Abel- 

 linum was in the territory of the Hirpini, at a distance of 16 Roman 

 miles from Beneventum. It was a Roman colony, and became a place 

 of some importance under the empire. Portions of the ancient walls 

 and of an amphitheatre remain ; and great numbers of inscriptions, 

 bas-reliefs, altars, &c., have been found on the site. The territory of 

 Avellino abounds with fruit-trees, especially the apple and the hazel- 

 nut : the latter was much esteemed in the time of the Romans, and 

 the name of ' Nux Avellana ' for the filbert is sometimes said to be 

 derived from this town. 

 AVEN. [AVON.] 

 AVENTINE HILL. [ROME.] 



AVE'RNO, a lake in the neighbourhood of Naples, about 24 miles 

 N.W. of Pozzuoli, and near the coast of the Gulf of Boies. It is a 

 circular sheet of clear water about 1J mile in circumference and of 

 great depth, surrounded by high banks which are covered with vine- 

 yards and gardens. On the south-eastern side is a break through this 

 high margin where formerly was a channel communicating with the 

 Lucrine Lake. The scene though secluded is serene and pleasing, 

 very different from the gloomy descriptions found in ancient poets, 



