The Sanctuary, Avebury

The Sanctuary on Overton Hill was a ceremonial monument built in about 2500 BC from concentric rings of timber posts and standing stones, with an outer stone circle about 40 metres across made of 42 small sarsens. It lies at one end of West Kennet Avenue, which linked it to Avebury, but its stones were cleared for farming soon after William Stukeley drew them in 1723. Maud Cunnington rediscovered the site in 1930 and marked it out with concrete blocks, blue for the stoneholes and red for the postholes, so its plan can still be traced. In the early Bronze Age a teenage boy who had spent his childhood far from the area was buried here with a small Beaker pot. The site is managed by the National Trust for English Heritage. Reviewers find the display boards helpful but say a visit takes imagination, as no original stones remain. Dogs on leads are welcome. Use the lay-by beside the site rather than crossing the busy A4.