Wiltshire

Wiltshire is in South/central England. More than half of Wiltshire is occupied by the chalky Salisbury Plain and by the Marlborough Downs. Primarily an agricultural county, Wiltshire is rich and fertile with large areas for sheep grazing in the uplands and fertile valleys in the Lower Avon. Swindon is a leading industrial centre known for its locomotive works. This county has many historical associations and is a popular tourist destination as a result. At Stonehenge, Avebury, and Silbury Hill are the largest and oldest monuments of the early British, dating back 4,000 years. Old Sarum was a district until the 13th century, when the office was transferred to Salisbury, famous since then for its outstanding cathedral. Wilton, known for its carpets, was once the capital of the powerful Saxon kingdom of Wessex; many battles were fought here in the 9th century, when King Alfred's battled against the Danes. His grandson, Athelstan, is buried at Malmesbury Abbey and according to legend, Queen Guinevere spent her last days in the nunnery at Amesbury.

For the visitor, all of Wiltshire is awash with historical sites, unique ruins and attractions to suit everyone. The distinctive silhouette of Stonehenge is known the world over, exuding a mystery that has enthralled successive generations. Protected as a world heritage site, it is arguably Britain's greatest prehistoric monument. The substantial remains of a sequence of monuments erected between around 3050 and 1600 BC make up Stonehenge; each was a circular structure, aligned along the rising of the sun at the summer solstice. It was built in three phases and stands on Salisbury Plain at the centre of a ceremonial landscape containing 450 ancient monuments of national importance. Each a treasure in its own right.

Five massive trilithons form the inner core of Stonehenge, the third and final stage of which began around 2100 BC. The lintels on top of the sarsen stones were fixed in place using a complex system of mortise and tenon joints. According to English Heritage, some 80 bluestone pillars were imported with the intention of creating two concentric circles within the henge. This bluestone would have to have been transported 386 km (240 miles) from the Preseli Mountains in South Wales, an incredible feat of planning, will and engineering. This suggests a particular significance for bluestone, which is not yet known. We have yet to discover the answers to many of the questions surrounding this great site. Yet it is perhaps just that mystery that brings thousands of people together on the longest day of the year; to celebrate and simply marvel at Avebury and Stonehenge.