Durrington Walls

"A part of the World Heritage Site - Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites"

Durringtom Walls is the remains of a very large henge (bank and ditch) next to Woodhenge     and not far from Stonehenge, in Wiltshire. Two roads run through it and the affects of ploughing and erosion through the centuries has considerably impacted on its condition. It is a part of the World Heritage Site collection based around Stonehenge and Avebury.

While the henge at Avebury is large, a village at one time being built within it, the Durrington Walls henge is said to have been larger, and the largest known henge in Britain.

It was 500m across, the ditch was originally 5.5 metres deep, 7 metres wide at its bottom, and 18 metres wide at the top. The bank is in some areas 30 metres wide. There were at least two entrances at the south east and north west, and maybe two more at the south and north east. Within the henge was a number of smaller enclosures and timber circles.

There were a number of ancient timber houses, some say 7 within the henge. Some extending under the bank on the south east, suggesting the buildings predate the henge. From the density of the houses and readings taken above ground it is thought that a lot more houses were in this area.

It is clearly visible, I visited Woodhenge at the time unaware of the existence of Durrington Walls and spotted and photographed from Woodhenge what was clearly a large manmade earth works, camp or a henge structure. What you can see today is the inner slope of the bank and the outer slope of the internal ditch. This now appears as a ridge surrounding a central basin. On the eastern side the separate ditch and bank are much easier to see, although badly eroded by ploughing.

Being 2 miles NE of Stonehenge and constructed around the same time, some believe it was the settlement for the people who used or built Stonehenge, while others point to the number of timber circles and feel it may have had a use of its own connected with these, or that the larger site may have been connected.

Through it are two roads an old toll road and a modern road built in 1967, there have at times been buildings on this site, including military barracks on the NE end and houses are constructed on the western bank. The land to the west of the old toll road is owned by the National Trust and free access is available.

Further information Grid   Location: Durrington Walls, Durrington, Wiltshire Ceremonial County: Wiltshire Grid Reference: SU150438  Map Link: Multimap  Aerial photo: Multimap Route(s):   Best Times to Visit:   E-mail:   Website: English Heritage Wikipedia - NT stonehenge landscape property Other useful websites: Wiki Megalithic Wikipedia - Stone Henge, Avebury and associated sites Time Team programme Digital digging Nearby Locations: Stonehenge, Wiltshire Woodhenge, Wiltshire   Avebury Silbury Hill, nr Avebury    West Kennet Long Barrow    WKLB Gallery The Sanctuary, nr Avebury Other Relevant pages: World Heritage Sites in the UK World Heritage Sites      World Heritage Sites - Further Information

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By: Keith Park	Section: Stone Circles Section	Key:
Page Ref: Durrington_walls	Topic: Stone Circles	Last Updated: 07/2009

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