——annis solvit sublapsa vetustas:
Fertur in abruptum magnus mons—— Virg. Æn. 12.
The other was carried off by that destroyer Richard Fowler, together with many more, but seven years ago (when I was there). The people that saw it broken in pieces by fire, assured me there were perfect flints in its composition and bones. And I verily believe I saw a piece of this same stone in a garden-wall of the little alehouse below in Bekamton-road, which had evidently a bone in it. Whence probably we may conclude, that these stones were form’d by nature since Noah’s deluge, and these bones are of an antediluvian animal, which casually fell into the petrifying matter. They told me the stone contain’d 20 good loads, that the bones were in the middle of the stone, and as hard as the stone. That stone now standing, was the right hand or eastern jamb of the cove.
A little way hence is a bit of heath-ground, but the plough will soon have devoured it. Here remains a great barrow, call’d Longstone long barrow; and from hence we see innumerable more barrows. The avenue continu’d its journey by the corn fields. Three stones lie still by the field-road coming from South-street to the Caln-road. Mr. Alexander told me he remember’d several stones standing by the parting of the roads under Bekamton, demolish’d by Richard Fowler. Then it descends by the road to Cherill, ’till it comes to the Bath-road, close by the Roman-road, and there in the low valley it terminates, near a fine group of barrows, under Cherill-hill, in the way to Oldbury-camp; this is west of Bekamton-village. This point facing that group of barrows and looking up the hill is a most solemn and awful place; a descent all the way from Longstone cove, and directed to a descent, a great way further, down the Bath-road, where no less than five valleys meet. And in this very point only you can see the temple on Overton-hill, on the south side of Silbury-hill.
Here I am sufficiently satisfied this avenue terminated, at the like distance from Abury-town, as Overton-hill was, in the former avenue; 100 stones on a side, 4000 cubits in length; ten stadia or the eastern mile. Several stones are left dispersedly on banks and meres of the lands. One great stone belonging to this end of the avenue, lies buried almost under ground, in the plow’d land between the barrow west of Longstone long barrow, and the last hedge in the town of Bekamton. Richard Fowler shew’d me the ground here, whence he took several stones and demolish’d them. I am equally satisfied there was no temple or circle of stones at this end of it. 1. Because it would be absurd in drawing. The head of the snake was aptly represented by that double circle on Overton-hill: but this place, the tail of the snake, admitted no such thing, and I doubt not but it grew narrower and narrower as before we observed, of the neck of the snake. 2. Here is not the least report of such a thing among the country people. It would most assuredly have been well known, because every stone was demolish’d within memory, when I was there. I cannot doubt but many have suffered since; and I have had very disagreeable accounts thereof sent to me. I apprehend this end of the avenue drew narrower in imitation of the tail of a snake, and that one stone stood in the middle of the end, by way of close. This I infer from the manner of the end of that avenue of the Druid temple at Classerness; which I take to be the tail of a snake. Of which hereafter.
For a more mathematical determination of this end of the avenue, see Chap X. at the end.
The avenue took another circular sweep of a contrary manner, as it descended from Longstone cove, bending southward.
——pars cætera campum
Ponè legit, sinuatque immensa volumine terga.
as Virgil writes of this creature, Æneid II.