 Day Trips From
London
Wiltshire
The English county of Wiltshire
to the south west of London, is famous for its prehistoric barrows
and standing stones, the most famous of which is Stonehenge.
Stonehenge
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The sight of Salisbury
Cathedral with its famous spire soaring to the heavens is
the first glimpse that most people have of the county's best
known city. This quintessential English scene has been painted
by, amongst others, Constable and engraved by Whistler. The
first cathedral was built on the nearby hill of Old Sarum, a
cold, windy and unfriendly place but a natural defensive position
at 240 feet above the river. Archaelogical evidence shows there
was a settlement at Old Sarum from the Iron Age which continued
through Roman and Saxon times. Finally the Normans built a castle
and cathedral side by side on the hill.
In the 13th century, the clerics
decided they had had enough of this miserable, windy, waterless
hill and moved down to the valley below. The townspeople followed
them. Within just 40 years the magnificent cathedral was built.
Its world famous 400 ft high spire was added in the 14th century
and strainer arches to prevent it collapsing were built in the
following century.
The Cathedral contains many treasures
including its famous 14th century dial-less clock in the bell
tower and one of four original surviving copies of Magna Carta.
The adjoining cathedral close is reputed to one of the finest
in England and contains buildings dating from the 14th to 18th
centuries.
If you want to spend a day or
two seeing other places in England while visiting London, take
a look at the tours offered by our partner, Viator. They include
day trips to Stonehenge, Bath, Windsor, York, Canterbury, Oxford
and Stratford-upon-Avon. Find
out more.
Stonehenge, perhaps one of the
most famous prehistoric sites in Europe, is just 10 miles north
of Salisbury. Considered to be some 5000 years old, the exact
purpose of this incredible monument remains unclear. Its construction
points to a considerable effort with some of the stones weighing
up to 50 tons each and with 80 stones being brought from South
Wales, more than 200 miles away. On top of that, the stone avenue
in Stonehenge aligns precisely with sunrise on Midsummer's Day.
Further north, about 30 miles
from Salisbury (map
of Wiltshire), stands the Avebury
Circle. This covers a much larger area than Stonehenge and
the stones themselves are much rougher and more natural looking.
In fact, the circle is so big that the village of Avebury has
grown up within the stones.
Closeby, the 4500 year old Silbury
Hill dominates the area. This man made hill, at 130 feet high
and 100 feet wide the tallest of its type in Europe, is a complete
mystery. In spite of many excavations over the centuries, nobody
has ever discovered its purpose.
If you take a tour or drive through
Wiltshire you will see many grass covered earth mounds. These
are barrows—Neolithic burial mounds. There are 260 barrows
in Britain, 148 of which can be found in Wiltshire. The largest,
the West
Kennet Long Barrow, can be seen just a a mile or so from
Silbury Hill and Avebury. It is over 300 feet long and 8 feet
high. Excavations have discovered the remains of 46 bodies in
it. Construction of the long barrow probably started about 400
years before Stonehenge and it was in use for about 1000 years.
Finally, Wiltshire is the main
place for sighting crop
circles, ranging from simple circles to the most complicated
geometric patterns. If you take your trip to Wiltshire in high
summer, before the harvest is gathered, you may spot a circle
too.
Copyright © 2002 by Carol
Fisher
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