We leave London and head for the ancient site of Stonehenge. Throughout history many archaeologists and antiquarians have visited Stonehenge to try and satisfy this monumental mystery. Whether this mystery will ever be solved, Stonehenge draws visitors from all over the world. The breathtaking prehistoric monument located near Salisbury Wiltshire stands as strong today as it did 3500 years ago.
Stonehenge started as an early form of henge monument, built around 5,000 years ago, where prehistoric people buried their cremated dead. Later, the enormous sarsens and smaller bluestones were set up in the centre.
Stonehenge was built in three phases with a time span of 1500 years. Consisting of over 30 million hours of labour. There is also evidence at the construction site that it could actually date back as far as 6500 years. After viewing Stonehenge we head off to Avebury village
At the heart of pre-historic Avebury is the henge. Compared with other henges it is massive and though erosion and vandalism have reduced it considerably it still remains an impressive spectacle. Its construction was spread over several centuries beginning about 3000 BC when the Cove and the earliest stage of the Sanctuary were built. It would be another 600 years before the final form was achieved when the avenues were added about 2400 BC. It has been calculated that the area occupied by the stone circle at Stonehenge would fit into the outer stone circle at Avebury around 130 times. This gives some idea of how vast the Avebury actually is .Our village tour completed we head off cross country to the little village of Lacock and Harry Potter(and lunch).
For those of you that are true Harry fans this is the tour for you … Lacock village. Here you can lose yourself as you imagine you are in the corridors, classrooms and grounds of Hogwarts. We see Professor Slughorns house, the original Godrics Hollow and several of the classrooms from the Harry Potter film series. We lunch in an old English pub before returning to London.