Durrington Walls is a Neolithic Henge near Amesbury, Wiltshire. It is believed to have been built during the late Neolithic period about 2500BC.
The construction of the henge was preceded by the building of a substantial avenue, 30m wide, leading from the River Avon and aligned on the midsummer solstice sunset. The flint and gravel surface of this avenue led into the Southern Circle, a 40m-diameter monument of six concentric rings of timber posts. Whilst the partial plan of this impressive timber circle was recovered during excavations in 1967 in advance of the new A345, further excavations and geophysical survey in 2006 have allowed its full plan to be reconstructed.
Between 2004 and 2006, excavations on the site by a team led by the University of Sheffield revealed seven houses. It has been suggested that the settlement may have originally had up to 1000 houses if the entire enclosed area was used. The period of settlement was probably short, between 15 to 45 years starting sometime between 2525 and 2470 BC. More: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/archaeology/research/2.4329/intro
Location: South of Durrington, Wiltshire England.
OS Map Ref SU150438
OS Maps – Landranger 184, Explorer 130.
