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Abury, a Temple of the British Druids, with Some Others, Described, Volume the Second
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Rich in titles on English life and social history, this collection spans the world as it was known to eighteenth-century historians and explorers.
Titles include a wealth of travel accounts and diaries, histories of nations from throughout the world, and maps and charts of a world that was still being discovered. Students of the War of American Independence will find fascinating accounts from the British side of conflict.
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: Trinity College Library Watkinson Collection T146300
Intended as a companion volume to his 'Stonehenge', London, 1740.
London: printed for the author: and sold by W. Innys, R. Manby, B. Dod, J. Brindley, and the booksellers in London, 1743. [6], vi,102, vip., XL plates: ill., ports., maps; 2
Rich in titles on English life and social history, this collection spans the world as it was known to eighteenth-century historians and explorers.
Titles include a wealth of travel accounts and diaries, histories of nations from throughout the world, and maps and charts of a world that was still being discovered. Students of the War of American Independence will find fascinating accounts from the British side of conflict.
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: Trinity College Library Watkinson Collection T146300
Intended as a companion volume to his 'Stonehenge', London, 1740.
London: printed for the author: and sold by W. Innys, R. Manby, B. Dod, J. Brindley, and the booksellers in London, 1743. [6], vi,102, vip., XL plates: ill., ports., maps; 2
202 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1743
5 people want to read
About the author
William Stukeley
62 books3 followersWilliam Stukeley FRS FSA was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire. He published over twenty books on archaeology and other subjects during his lifetime. The son of a lawyer, Stukeley worked in his father's law business before attending Saint Benet's College, Cambridge (now Corpus Christi College). In 1709, he began studying medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, Southwark, before working as a general practitioner in Boston, Lincolnshire.
From 1710 until 1725, he embarked on annual tours of the countryside, seeking out archaeological monuments and other features that interested him; he wrote up and published several accounts of his travels. In 1717, he returned to London and established himself within the city's antiquarian circles. In 1718, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and became the first secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London. In 1721, he became a Freemason and, in 1722, co-founded the Society of Roman Knights, an organisation devoted to the study of Roman Britain. In the early 1720s, Stukeley developed a particular interest in Stonehenge and Avebury, two prehistoric stone circles in Wiltshire. He visited them repeatedly, undertaking fieldwork to determine their dimensions.
In 1726, Stukeley relocated to Grantham, Lincolnshire, where he married. In 1729 he was ordained as a cleric in the Church of England and appointed vicar of All Saints' Church in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He was a friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury William Wake, who encouraged him to use his antiquarian studies to combat the growth of deism and freethought in Britain. To this end, Stukeley developed the belief that Britain's ancient druids had followed a monotheistic religion inherited from the Biblical Patriarchs; he called this druidic religion "Patriarchal Christianity". He further argued that the druids had erected the stone circles as part of serpentine monuments symbolising the Trinity.
In 1747, he returned to London as rector of St. George the Martyr, Holborn. In the last part of his life, he became instrumental in British scholarship's acceptance of Charles Bertram's forged Description of Britain and wrote one of the earliest biographies of Sir Isaac Newton. Stukeley's ideas influenced various antiquaries throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in addition to artists like William Blake, although these had been largely rejected by archaeologists by the second half of the 19th century. Stukeley was the subject of multiple biographies and academic studies by scholars like Stuart Piggott, David Boyd Haycock and Ronald Hutton.
From 1710 until 1725, he embarked on annual tours of the countryside, seeking out archaeological monuments and other features that interested him; he wrote up and published several accounts of his travels. In 1717, he returned to London and established himself within the city's antiquarian circles. In 1718, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and became the first secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London. In 1721, he became a Freemason and, in 1722, co-founded the Society of Roman Knights, an organisation devoted to the study of Roman Britain. In the early 1720s, Stukeley developed a particular interest in Stonehenge and Avebury, two prehistoric stone circles in Wiltshire. He visited them repeatedly, undertaking fieldwork to determine their dimensions.
In 1726, Stukeley relocated to Grantham, Lincolnshire, where he married. In 1729 he was ordained as a cleric in the Church of England and appointed vicar of All Saints' Church in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He was a friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury William Wake, who encouraged him to use his antiquarian studies to combat the growth of deism and freethought in Britain. To this end, Stukeley developed the belief that Britain's ancient druids had followed a monotheistic religion inherited from the Biblical Patriarchs; he called this druidic religion "Patriarchal Christianity". He further argued that the druids had erected the stone circles as part of serpentine monuments symbolising the Trinity.
In 1747, he returned to London as rector of St. George the Martyr, Holborn. In the last part of his life, he became instrumental in British scholarship's acceptance of Charles Bertram's forged Description of Britain and wrote one of the earliest biographies of Sir Isaac Newton. Stukeley's ideas influenced various antiquaries throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in addition to artists like William Blake, although these had been largely rejected by archaeologists by the second half of the 19th century. Stukeley was the subject of multiple biographies and academic studies by scholars like Stuart Piggott, David Boyd Haycock and Ronald Hutton.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 12, 2023
Travelogue through history of my trip to Avebury, one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, containing the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. - this is not a fun read.
Having the patience of going through the absurdly confusing religious mess that is the mind of Stukeley was rewarding, one uncovers some crazy stuff about Avebury:
"These two temples were all that was standing originally in the great area, within the circular colonnade. Very probably it was the most magnificent patriarchal temple in the world. Now a whole village of about thirty houses is built within it. This area would hold an immense number of people at their panegyres and public festivals; and when the vallum all around was cover’d with spectators, it form’d a most noble amphitheater, and had an appearance extremely august, during the administration of religious offices.
Each of these temples is four times as big as Stonehenge."
Lost, all of it - much before Stukeley was making his surveys and excellent illustrations of Avebury, a historical treasure showing only a glimmer of the magnitude of the monument, see here Stukeley's theoretical design of what would it had looked like had human not interfered.
The madness started in the Late Middle Ages, when England had been entirely converted to Christianity and this most definitely non-Christian monument was associated with the Devil. In the 14th century villagers started burying the stones in large pits, at the urging of local priests. This insane effort was slowed down by the death of a barber-surgeon who was crushed by the stone he was trying to bury, the villagers fearing it was the Devil's retribution. Soon afterwards the Black Death hit the village, it halved the population who was too busy starving to further damage the stones.
It is John Aubrey who is historically acknowledged to be the first antiquarian to recognise the true importance of Avebury when he came across it by chance in the January of 1649 whilst out fox-hunting. Aubrey, who sadly died in poverty in 1697, made drawings (see here) of what he found at Avebury that reveal the presence of stones which had disappeared by the time Stukeley was to study the megaliths.
In the 18th century, Puritanism hits the village and the stones are once more declared pagan and set on fire to be smashed up and used as building material for houses. It is interesting to observe just how much the religious superstitions of the medieval period have dissipated as the villagers had no qualms in Capitalising by using demolished pagan megaliths in constructing their houses.
Thus we arrive to 1719 when Stukeley visits Avebury and witnesses the destruction being done by the local people. Disgusted by all this madness (see here his drawing of the stones broken up by fire), he names and shames especially one Tom Robinson, "The Herostratus of Avebury", a local housing contractor and builder (what a surprise... ) who was the main instigator of the damage and who came up with the plan of setting the stone on fire.
Avebury and Stonehenge stones are sarsens stones. Sarsen stones are post-glacial remains in the shape of a dense, hard rock created from sand bound by a silica cement, making it a kind of silicified sandstone. Several times harder than granite, it is prized for its durability since Neolithic times.
Sarsen is not an ideal building material, however. In the case of Avebury, villagers who used the stones were bankrupted when the houses they built proved to be unsaleable and also prone to burning down.
Stukeley remarked that "this stupendous fabric, which for some thousands of years, had brav'd the continual assaults of weather, and by the nature of it, when left to itself, like the pyramids of Egypt, would have lasted as long as the globe, hath fallen a sacrifice to the wretched ignorance and avarice of a little village unluckily plac'd within it."
The real saviour of Avebury is archaeologist Alexander Keiller who was heir to the James Keiller and Son marmalade business and was able to use his wealth to acquire much of the site between 1924 and 1939. It is he who re-erected many of the stones standing today.
The discovery of over 40 antler picks on the bottom of the ditch shows that the Avebury builders had dug down 11 metres into the natural chalk using red deer antlers and ox shoulder blades (see here) for shovels as their primary digging tools.
Avebury originally contained over 600 stones but only 76 of them are left standing, though National Trust excavations and surveys in recent years have revealed that at least 20 others remain buried since the 14th century.
Here is what we believe was the original layout of the stones, per historical illustrations and geophysical surveys.
Here is an aerial shot of Avebury today.
The Mythic Trees at Avebury with their intricate root system (see : here) inspired Tolkien's Party Tree in the Shire. Presently, the lushy foliage of autumnal hues blends with the colourful wishing ribbons and tokens from all over the world, a place of infinite charm - I had to be dragged away.
Reader, I am upset about all this. There was something eerie about walking around the village, a peculiar discomfort of some sort in remarking bits of familiar looking stones in houses masonry. It is all rather beautiful. Beautiful and Tragic.
Having the patience of going through the absurdly confusing religious mess that is the mind of Stukeley was rewarding, one uncovers some crazy stuff about Avebury:
"These two temples were all that was standing originally in the great area, within the circular colonnade. Very probably it was the most magnificent patriarchal temple in the world. Now a whole village of about thirty houses is built within it. This area would hold an immense number of people at their panegyres and public festivals; and when the vallum all around was cover’d with spectators, it form’d a most noble amphitheater, and had an appearance extremely august, during the administration of religious offices.
Each of these temples is four times as big as Stonehenge."
Lost, all of it - much before Stukeley was making his surveys and excellent illustrations of Avebury, a historical treasure showing only a glimmer of the magnitude of the monument, see here Stukeley's theoretical design of what would it had looked like had human not interfered.
The madness started in the Late Middle Ages, when England had been entirely converted to Christianity and this most definitely non-Christian monument was associated with the Devil. In the 14th century villagers started burying the stones in large pits, at the urging of local priests. This insane effort was slowed down by the death of a barber-surgeon who was crushed by the stone he was trying to bury, the villagers fearing it was the Devil's retribution. Soon afterwards the Black Death hit the village, it halved the population who was too busy starving to further damage the stones.
It is John Aubrey who is historically acknowledged to be the first antiquarian to recognise the true importance of Avebury when he came across it by chance in the January of 1649 whilst out fox-hunting. Aubrey, who sadly died in poverty in 1697, made drawings (see here) of what he found at Avebury that reveal the presence of stones which had disappeared by the time Stukeley was to study the megaliths.
In the 18th century, Puritanism hits the village and the stones are once more declared pagan and set on fire to be smashed up and used as building material for houses. It is interesting to observe just how much the religious superstitions of the medieval period have dissipated as the villagers had no qualms in Capitalising by using demolished pagan megaliths in constructing their houses.
Thus we arrive to 1719 when Stukeley visits Avebury and witnesses the destruction being done by the local people. Disgusted by all this madness (see here his drawing of the stones broken up by fire), he names and shames especially one Tom Robinson, "The Herostratus of Avebury", a local housing contractor and builder (what a surprise... ) who was the main instigator of the damage and who came up with the plan of setting the stone on fire.
Avebury and Stonehenge stones are sarsens stones. Sarsen stones are post-glacial remains in the shape of a dense, hard rock created from sand bound by a silica cement, making it a kind of silicified sandstone. Several times harder than granite, it is prized for its durability since Neolithic times.
Sarsen is not an ideal building material, however. In the case of Avebury, villagers who used the stones were bankrupted when the houses they built proved to be unsaleable and also prone to burning down.
Stukeley remarked that "this stupendous fabric, which for some thousands of years, had brav'd the continual assaults of weather, and by the nature of it, when left to itself, like the pyramids of Egypt, would have lasted as long as the globe, hath fallen a sacrifice to the wretched ignorance and avarice of a little village unluckily plac'd within it."
The real saviour of Avebury is archaeologist Alexander Keiller who was heir to the James Keiller and Son marmalade business and was able to use his wealth to acquire much of the site between 1924 and 1939. It is he who re-erected many of the stones standing today.
The discovery of over 40 antler picks on the bottom of the ditch shows that the Avebury builders had dug down 11 metres into the natural chalk using red deer antlers and ox shoulder blades (see here) for shovels as their primary digging tools.
Avebury originally contained over 600 stones but only 76 of them are left standing, though National Trust excavations and surveys in recent years have revealed that at least 20 others remain buried since the 14th century.
Here is what we believe was the original layout of the stones, per historical illustrations and geophysical surveys.
Here is an aerial shot of Avebury today.
The Mythic Trees at Avebury with their intricate root system (see : here) inspired Tolkien's Party Tree in the Shire. Presently, the lushy foliage of autumnal hues blends with the colourful wishing ribbons and tokens from all over the world, a place of infinite charm - I had to be dragged away.
Reader, I am upset about all this. There was something eerie about walking around the village, a peculiar discomfort of some sort in remarking bits of familiar looking stones in houses masonry. It is all rather beautiful. Beautiful and Tragic.
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