Windmill Hill

Windmill Hill stands on a low rise about two kilometres northwest of Avebury village in Wiltshire. It is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, the largest of its kind in Britain, covering more than eight hectares. The site began as a gathering place around 3800 BC when pits were dug by early farmers. Later, about 3700 BC, three concentric ditches were cut into the hilltop, leaving narrow causeways between them. These ditches were dug deepest on the outer ring, and the soil was piled inward to form low banks. A rectangular mortuary enclosure was added at the same time. Excavations led by Alexander Keiller and Harold St George Gray from 1925 to 1929 showed Windmill Hill was a focus for ritual activity. They found human and animal bones, early Peterborough ware, Mortlake and Fengate pottery, and later Grooved ware and Beaker sherds. The ditches also yielded the distinctive Windmill Hill style of pottery, which gave its name to a Neolithic culture. A Bronze Age bell barrow was built between the inner and middle ditch rings after the Neolithic use ended. Michael Dames later suggested the hill was part of a seasonal ritual landscape that included West Kennet Long Barrow, Avebury henge, The Sanctuary and Silbury Hill. Visitors today walk the grassy rings of ditch and bank that still mark the three concentric circuits. The outermost ditch has a diameter of 365 metres, and the causeways between ditch sections vary from a few centimetres to seven metres wide. The site sits within open farmland with views across to the Avebury stone circle and Silbury Hill. A single Bronze Age barrow is visible between the inner and middle rings. The grass is kept short by grazing sheep, so the earthworks stand out clearly against the surrounding fields.