ALTON BARNES

Travel out from the Village of Avebury, heading south, you will eventually come to the area well know for the crop circle phenomenon, and is what I term as "The Sanctuary" for the Crop Circles, the area of Alton Barnes.

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Alton Priors & Alton Barnes (left)  Alton Barnes Chapel   (right) 

Alton Barnes & Alton Priors are a sleepy set of small hamlets set on the edge of the Vale of Pewsey, only four miles from the town of Devizes. It first came to the attention of the world in the year of 1990, when the spectacular pictogram appeared in its almost a mile long East Field. The village became almost world famous overnight, and has subsequently had further crop circle events since that first formation in 1990.

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Alton Barnes Landscape & East Field

The range of hills that over look the village creates a natural beautiful amphitheatre for the crop circles, which boost one of the oldest Hill Forts in Britain, Knapp Hill. An unfinished causeway can still be seen today below Knapp Hill, which was cut into the landscape for what purpose is unknown. On the opposite side to Knapp Hill, we have Adams Grave, once a long Barrow or burial mounds for possibly an important individual in ancient times. The mound is still present on the top of Adam's Grave, but no chamber remains.

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Alton Barnes Manor (left)   Local shop (right) 

Alton Barnes & Alton Priors sit in the shadow of their own White Horse, which is the largest of the four near Avebury, and was carved in 1812 under the supervision of a painter John Thorne. Unfortunately he left the area without paying his local assistants, and so pocketed the twenty sovereigns fee. However, it's still a major landmark for the area, and a perfect backdrop for the Crop Circles.

There are a few cottages in Alton Barnes which cater for Bed & Breakfast accommodation, and can be found on the main high street driving through the village. The small Hamlet of Honeystreet is located next to Alton Barnes, and is the main location for the dedicated crop circle investigator, art its own Public House, The Barge Inn. 

Stuart Dike


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