The Windsor
69 Great Pulteney Street
Bath
BA2 4DL
www.bathwindsorhotel.com
Telephone 44 (0)1225 422100
Pre Historic Sites
Leave
Bath heading towards Chippenham along the A4. Here you have the option of
visiting either Castle Combe or Lacock or both. Both locations are famous
as movie locations, Castle Combe for Doctor Doolittle with Rex Harrison
and Lacock more recently for Harry Potter.
Castle Combe has a unique setting.
Nestling in the valley cut by the ByBrook stream, and with wooded hills
on all sides, the village of Castle Combe has retained a charm unique to
itself. The village is in Wiltshire at the southern edge of the Cotswolds
is conveniently located for Bath and Avebury. Reaching Castle combe one
also passes through Biddestone, a typical english village with its village
green. local pubs and village pond. At castle combe you can either park
at the top of the village and walk down or take a chance and hope to find
one of those rare parking places in the village. From castle combe you can
drive back towards Chippenham and take the road south to Lacock.
Lacock Abbey Founded in 1232 and converted into a country house c.1540,
the fine medieval cloisters, sacristy, chapter house and monastic rooms
of the Abbey have survived largely intact. Used as a location in the TV
and film productions of Pride and Prejudice, Moll Flanders and Emma. The
Abbey has also featured in the recent Harry Potter films. But the abbey
is not all there is to see at Lacock, 
you
can also take a stroll around the village, once a thoroughfare for the main
traffic between London and Bristol but now
a sleepy village. We now turn our attention to the ancient sites on
our way to Marlborough.
Retracing our steps back to Chippenham we now take the A4 through Calne
and as we pass through Cherhill we see a White horse on the left hand side.
One of five horses that lay within a five mile radius of Avebury. All may
be visited by road or via track-ways, the old lines of communication in
this area. The
Cherhill white horse is the second oldest of the Wiltshire horses and
well placed, high on a steep slope, the horse is easily visible from below
and from a distance. As one continues to drive along the A4 you come to
Silbury Hill on your lefthand side. 
Silbury
Hill forms the largest prehistoric mound in Britain - its very size
defying comparison. It is the tallest man-made mound in Europe. Driving
on from Silbury you reach Avebury.
One of the most important megalithic monuments in Europe and spread over
a vast area. 
This
World Heritage site comprises an enormous circular earthwork, 400 m wide,
with deep external ditch whose circumference is over 1200 metres. Inside
is a 400-metre diameter circle of immense standing stones, and inside that
there are two more stone circles each 100 metres in diameter. Additional
placed stones increase the complexity and world-wide appeal of this complex
monument. From Avebury there run two stone avenues, each of which had about
100 megaliths. Altogether there were some 600 megaliths including those
of the Sanctuary.
Time for lunch and we are just outside Marlborough. Marlborough has one
of the widest high streets in England with many Georgian buildings and architectural
styles which span over 300 years. At each end of the High Street is a fine
church. At the west end, the 15th-century St Peter's and to the east behind
the town hall, St Mary's. Among the buildings in the street is the splendid
Merchant's House, built in 1656 during the Cromwellian period, and now being
restored to a museum of 17th-century town life. Walk along the street, feel
the atmosphere and select a coffee shop or small restaurant for lunch.
After
lunch take the A346 heading towards Salisbury. Before reaching Salisbury
take the A303 and head west for Stonehenge. Just as you pass Amesbury you
will reach the top of a brow of a hill and have probably the best view to
appreciate the size of Stonehenge. Stonehenge
is probably the most recognisable and enigmatic stone circle in Britain.
The structure has fascinated people for centuries, and there are many theories
as to what purpose it was put to by ancient man.
As with the beginning of your trip your have a choice, either Ancient Sarum
or Salisbury Cathedral. If you want to continue along the path of ancient
history Sarum is your next or final visit. For both Salisbury and Old sarum
head back along the A303 to Amesbury where you take the A345 to Salisbury.
High above Salisbury Plain stands Old
Sarum, the site of the ancient city of Salisbury. In the Iron Age a
massive hillfort was created here, named Sorviadum 
by
the Celts, meaning 'the fortress by the gentle river'. This was later occupied
by the Romans, several Roman roads converge on the site. In Saxon times
a town grew up within the prehistoric ramparts, which defended the local
people against attack from marauding Vikings.. If time is pressing, continue
into Salisbury to view the magnificent cathedral.
The Cathedral forms a backdrop for one of Constables most famous paintingsSalisbury
Cathedral from the Meadows. It is now time to return to Bath taking
the A36 out of Salisbury passing through the wylie valley, through Warmister
and along the Avon valley and into Bath.
