Getting
To West Kennet
Access to West Kennett Long Barrow is from a lay-by on the main A4
London to Bath road, about a mile south of Avebury.
You cannot miss the lay-by, the large earth mound of Silbury
Hill is a few hundred yards to the west of the lay-by and it is
well signposted also.
The long barrow itself is up on the ridge to the south of the road,
its a 10 minute walk up a steady incline direct to West Kennett.
After passing through a kissing gate the path descends to a small
stream. |
Interior
Burial Chamber of
West Kennett Long Barrow |
The
small stream is the River Kennett and the clump of trees about 100
yards to the west of the path in the valley is the source of the river.
This area is a favourite spot for pagan religions and you may see
rags or other things in the tree by the path left by them. The path
then climbs straight up to the burial mound.
West Kennet Long Barrow
The Neolithic people who built Stonehenge and neighbouring Avebury
henge started building burial mounds long before they started henges,
the earliest dating back to around 4,000 BC, a full thousand years
before the henges were contemplated. It is estimated that West Kennett
was built around 3,700 BC. West Kennett is a typical long barrow,
as time passed by the Neolithic people built smaller, round barrows.
Most of the barrows you see around Stonehenge are much smaller round
barrows for example. |
The
mound itself - of which the burial chamber is only a small part -
stretches for 100 metres in an East - West orientation. The earth
used in its construction was taken from two trenches dug alongside
the mound (see diagram), although these have long since become filled
with weathered material. The chamber, which extends 10 metres into
the mound, consists of five separate chambers, two on either side
of a narrow passage, which then opens up into a further chamber at
the far end.
Around 2200BC the tomb was sealed with chalk rubble, and the gigantic
sarcen boulders that now guard the entrance, the same stones as at
neighbouring Avebury henge.
During excavation it was revealed that almost 50 people of varied
age groups were buried within the tomb. The tomb is completely free
access and can be entered at any time. |
Entrance
To
Burial Chamber of
West Kennett Long Barrow |
| There
is an information board outside West Kennett Long Barrow giving you
rudimentary about the monument.. |
|
