Prehistoric Wessex Trail

This route runs through the West Country of England. From approximately the 6th to 10th centuries, the area was the Kingdom of Wessex.

Understand

Explore Prehistoric Wessex - this trail links the most significant archaeological sites and museums in Wiltshire and Dorset.

Prepare

Find out more about prehistoric sites and museums in Wiltshire from this guide to Prehistoric Wiltshire

Get in

By bus

To Devizes, West Kennet, Silbury Hill and Avebury

• By train to Swindon and then catch the Trans-Wiltshire Express bus (no.49)
• By coach to Devizes from London, and a local bus to Avebury

By train

To Salisbury

• By train from London

To Dorchester

• By train from London

By car

To Devizes and Avebury

• From the M4 at Swindon via Marlborough

To Salisbury

• From the A303 take the A338 to Salisbury

To Dorchester

• From the M3, take the A31 to Ringwood and then the A35.

Go

• West Kennet Long Barrow: The most impressive and accessible Neolithic chambered tomb in Britain. Built in around 3650 BC, nearly 50 people were buried in its five stone-built chambers.
• Silbury Hill: The largest man-made mound in Europe, mysterious Silbury Hill compares in height and volume to the roughly contemporary Egyptian pyramids.
• Avebury: With its huge circular bank and ditch and circles of standing stones, Avebury is at the centre of a remarkable complex of monuments, including the West Kennet Avenue.
• Devizes - Wiltshire Museum. Prehistoric Wiltshire displays, telling the story of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. 
• 1 Durrington Walls, A short walk from the Woodhenge car park. A massive henge, the site of the discovery of Neolithic houses in 2004-2006, where the people who gathered from across Britain to build Stonehenge may have lived. (updated Nov 2020)
• Stonehenge: The most sophisticated stone circle in the world, at the centre of a remarkable sacred landscape. Includes the cursus, a 3km long earthwork and the Avenue, leading from the River Avon.
• Old Sarum: The original site of Salisbury – the remains of a Norman castle and cathedral, set within the impressive earthworks of an Iron Age hillfort.
• Salisbury (England)
• 2 Salisbury Museum. Salisbury Museum is home to the famous ‘Amesbury Archer’ and unique finds from Durrington Walls and Stonehenge, and a gallery dedicated to the archaeology of Wessex.  
• Dorset Cursus: Remains of the banks and ditches of a Neolithic cursus that runs for six miles, surrounded by barrow cemeteries. Contact in advance to arrange a visit to the private museum at Down Farm, and for a landscape tour.
• Ancient Technology Centre: Visit during a special open day to take a step back in time. Experience the realities of daily life in the past and learn ancient skills in an authentic landscape.
• Knowlton henge: An impressive Neolithic henge, with a Norman church built inside the bank and ditch. You can also see other nearby barrows and burial mounds.
• Dorchester - Dorset County Museum. 
• Maiden Castle: The largest and most complex Iron Age hillforts in Europe. Multiple ramparts once protected an important settlement, but the site has 4,000 years of history, from a Neolithic causewayed enclosure to a small Roman temple.