DAC is away
This used to be a 'hidden' option within the monstrous (to some) Pewsey Circular via Avebury walk, until I split it out and altered the outbound route to make it a very very decent walk route even without those stones, but with the unfortunate feature of having bus journeys at both ends. But what little price to pay that is for a walking visit to Avebury with only a 5/10 effort to show for...
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Length: 24.2 km (14.7 mi)
Ascent/Descent: 297m
Net Walking Time: 5 ½ hours
Toughness: 5/10
Take the 09.05 Newbury train from Paddington (09.33 Reading) to Newbury, change onto the 10.11 Bedwyn train, arrives Hungerford 10.22. From Ealing, go via P’ton.
From Hungerford, take Bus Line X22 from the Library at 10.52, arrives Marlborough/Lloyds Bank at 11.10.
Return buses are on 17.10 and 18.10, arriving Bedwyn Station at xx.28.
Taxis won’t cost the earth…
Return trains from Bedwyn are 17.41, 18.43, 19.46, 20.35 and 21.24.
Buy a Bedwyn Return!
This is a fascinating excursion into the heart of Neolithic Wiltshire, a mysterious landscape full of pre-historic earthworks, standing stones, sarsen fields and barrows – burial mounds of kings and warriors. The route passes through two of the most important prehistoric sites in Britain: Avebury Standing Stones and Bank & Ditch Earthworks and Fyfield Down Sarsen Stones Field. Other significant sites nearby (Silbury Hill, West Kennett Long Barrow, The Sanctuary and Windmill Hill) can be explored on extension loops.
You walk out of the historic market town of Marlborough with its extra-wide High Street onto the Marlborough Downs, passing some horse gallops of the famous Manton Park stud and go through some small and medium-sized fields scattered with sarsen stones. Briefly follow the Ridgeway and turn down it scenically to Avebury, where the route passes all notable features within the village boundary, as well as a short stretch of the West Kennett Avenue of Standing Stones.
The return route retraces the route back to the Ridgeway and descends through the Fyfield Down Sarsen Stones Field, which contains the largest train of sarsens in Britain (about 25,000). You then pass the Devil’s Den, the impressive remnants of a dolmen burial chamber, before crossing the Kennet River a couple of times and passing Marlborough College with a mini Silbury Hill and a shell grotto in its grounds.
Walk Options:
Buses 42 and 49 serve Avebury, enabling a start or finish there:
· Line 42 (Calne - Marlborough) runs 7 buses on weekdays and 6 on Saturdays (in Marlborough connect to lines 20/22/X22 to Bedwyn or Hungerford Stations);
· Line 49 (Devizes-Swindon) runs hourly Mon-Sat and two-hourly Sun (Swindon is on a different train line than Bedwyn and Hungerford!).
Two Extension Loops from Avebury village to outlying sites are possible:
· Avebury to Windmill Hill adds 5.3 km and 52m ascent/descent;
· Avebury to Silbury Hill, West Kennett Long Barrow and The Sanctuary adds 5.2 km and 75m ascent/descent.
Lunch: Circles Restaurant (11.2 km into the walk) or The Red Lion (11.8 km, food all day) in Avebury.
Tea: The Oddfellows (2.4 km from the end of the walk). Plus numerous options in Marlborough, see the walk directions for more details.
For summary, map, height profile, walk directions and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.354