The Sanctuary, Avebury

The Sanctuary, an elaborate timber and stone monument, is part of the vast Avebury complex and was built on a promontory at the southern end of the West Kennett Avenue. The ancient trackway known as the Ridgeway passes adjacent to the site and the steep sloping hillside has a natural dominance over the surrounding area, attracts the focus for several miles, and seems a fitting location for the southern-most monument of the Avebury complex.

The route of the West Kennett Avenue leading up to the Sanctuary

Today, there is little at the site but concrete markers. The two concentric stone circles were destroyed in the 18^th century. The outermost was 40 metres in diameter, and they were built around 2500BC. This was the culmination of over a thousand years of activity at the site, and it seems the memory and sanctity of this was eventually immortalised.

The inner stone circle, 15 metres in diameter, was flanked by six concentric rings of oak posts, 1-6 metres in height, rising in height towards the centre. A single post stood in the centre. An entrance to the north-west roughly aligns with the point the West Kennett Avenue joins the monument. Other stone and post holes suggest more layers of complexity which are near impossible to interpret.

It’s believed the postholes represent a single structure rather than successive rebuilds, and it’s been suggested the posts may have supported horizontal wooden lintels, rather like at Stonehenge. The posts seem to have been regularly replaced, often long before they rotted, suggesting a dynamic function where the construction was more important than the finished structure. Deposits such as pottery and flint arrow heads in the postholes perhaps link to individuals or families who left part of their identity with the post they raised.

                                Churchyard yews.

Various theories have been proposed for the purpose of timber circles. One idea is that they reflect the growth of yew trees, which layer themselves and eventually form radial groves. Yews have an ancient sacred heritage and are still found in churchyards today. A venerated yew may even have grown near the circle. A large tree hole was actually found in the timber circle at Woodhenge.

An alternative theory is that the posts were linked with wattle screens to create a labyrinth or spiral path. Turf labyrinths and spiral paths such as at Silbury Hill and Glastonbury Tor would become of great importance in the millennia to come.