Christmas in Wessex

Today we explore the fascinating history of the Avebury area. In the morning we wander the Neolithic henge built in the 3^rd millennium and, contained within a huge bank and ditch, the largest stone circle in Britain which encircles two smaller stone circles. After a lunch in a local restaurant, we pay a visit to the Alexander Keiller Museum to view finds from the excavations. A short drive brings us to two nearby monuments, Silbury Hill, the largest artificial mound in Europe, and West Kennet, where we explore the chambers of the Long Barrow, located on a hilltop.

A short drive brings us to the UNESCO listed site of Stonehenge built in the 3^rd millennium in an effort which defies reason, making the site Europe’s most famous prehistoric site. Besides the impressive monument itself, we will see some reconstructed Neolithic houses and artefacts from the excavations. This afternoon, we visit Salisbury Cathedral, famous for housing the Magna Carta and for having the tallest spire in England.

On Christmas Day morning, we will take a leisurely stroll through Salisbury and investigate the city’s medieval buildings. Although Salisbury is the best-preserved example of a planned medieval town in England, it has somehow remained under the radar. We will explore the streets of the historic centre with its timber framed buildings and 14^th century clock tower, as well as its Charter Market which dates to 1219. We will also explore the world-famous water-meadows beside the River Avon which surround the cathedral immortalised by John Constable when he visited in 1830, before heading back to our hotel for traditional Christmas Day Lunch.

We spend Boxing day exploring the Cranborne Chase area where we enjoy a walking tour through its diverse landscape wandering past some of its many archaeological monuments. We will look at Bokerley Dyke the defensive dyke which might date back to the Bronze Age and which was dissected by the Ackling Dyke, a Roman road. We continue to the Dorset Cursus, a 10-kilometre-long Neolithic Cursus monument and to the Knowlton Henges, a complex of earthworks from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

Our tour ends this morning after breakfast in our hotel in Salisbury. We disperse and journey home on our own.