Stonehenge Landscape - Great Durnford - Amesbury

Sean Meek

You need to log in as a member of Walkingworld to access the details for this walk and have an active subscription. Please join, or log in above if you are already a member.

Stonehenge is one of the must-see attractions in this country - a world heritage site and one of the most famous ancient monuments in the world. The walk gets up close to the stones, as well as exploring the surrounding landscape, all owned by the National Trust. And there is much more to see here. Woodhenge can be seen at the start of the walk, a huge timber monument built about the same time as Stonehenge. The wood has rotted away now, but they have been replaced with stone, so you can appreciate how it once looked. Durrington Walls surrounded what was once a large Neolithic settlement.

From Durrington Walls, the walk follows the route Neolithic Man would have taken to Stonehenge itself, passing the Cuckoo Stone along the way, a natural sarsen stone, once the focus of rituals and ceremonies. Then it's onto the Long Cursus, a 1.7-mile Long Barrow and the King Barrows, a whole series of huge barrows, one after the other. Then Stonehenge Avenue is followed, which leads directly to Stonehenge.

The rest of the walk explores further barrows to the south of Stonehenge and countryside around it, including the attractive village of Great Durnsford, with many thatched cottages. There is a very busy road crossing to negotiate over the A303, which really can't be avoided in this area, as it passes very close to Stonehenge.

England - South England - Wiltshire - Salisbury Plains