Stukeley's Fieldnotes

William Stukeley, 'Abury: a temple of the British Druids with some others described', 1743.
Stukeley (1687-1765) holds a key position within the study of British megalithic monuments, and his legacy of fieldwork and publication has, more than indirectly, secured Avebury's position as a World Heritage Site. He recorded much of the Avebury complex during a series of visits between 1719-24, at a time when active breaking and removal of the megaliths making up the circles, avenues and monuments such as the Sanctuary was still underway. In part an exercise in 'salvage archaeology', his record of the monuments heavily influenced subsequent generations of researchers, including Alexander Keiller in his restoration of the West Kennet Avenue and henge. It could be said that Stukeley provided a blueprint that Keiller followed. Without Stukeley's timely intervention and subsequent publication of 'Abury', Avebury may have quietly succumbed to further piecemeal destruction and development, and so a loss of its essential character.
Caption: Josh Pollard (University of Southampton)