Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (373 - 01 Stonehenge)
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GeoRams
N 51° 10.750 W 001° 49.519
30U E 582107 N 5670405
Stonehenge and Avebury, in Wiltshire, are among the most famous groups of megaliths in the world. The two sanctuaries consist of circles of menhirs arranged in a pattern whose astronomical significance is still being explored.
Waymark Code: WM1HMJ
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/13/2007
Views: 216
The Stonehenge and Avebury landscapes, in Wiltshire, were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986 for their outstanding prehistoric monuments.
Stonehenge became a World Heritage Site for two key reasons:
Stonehenge itself (3000-1500 BC), the famous prehistoric stone circle, visited by nearly 800,000 people a year. Its shaped stones, lintels, unique jointing and perfect geometry make it the most sophisticated stone circle in the world.
The ceremonial landscape that surrounds it, with its dense concentration of archaeological remains, including a processional avenue leading to the stones, hundreds of Bronze Age burial mounds, and many other important monuments such as the Cursus, Woodhenge and Durrington Walls.
The Winterbourne Stoke Barrow Cemetery includes a Neolithic long barrow and several Bronze Age round barrows of various shapes. Together, Stonehenge and its landscape represent an incomparable testimony to prehistoric times.
To protect such a wealth of archaeological features, the Stonehenge World Heritage Site covers 2,600 hectares (6,500 acres) of chalk downland and mixed arable fields. The ownership is shared between English Heritage, the National Trust, the Ministry of Defence, farmers and householders.
Type: Monument
Reference number: 373
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