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Panoramic view from Windmill Hill looking East at Avebury in Wiltshire.
Panoramic view from Windmill Hill, Wiltshire | © National Trust Images/Paul Wakefield
Wiltshire

Discover Windmill Hill trail

This walk explores the World Heritage Site to the north west of Avebury. From Windmill Hill enjoy views back towards Avebury and Silbury Hill. The surrounding area is rich in wild flowers, particularly in spring, supporting a wide variety of insect life and the predators that eat them. Look out for birds of prey, such as red kites, with their distinctive red colouring and forked tail.

Neolithic earthworks

Walking on Windmill Hill you'll be walking in the footsteps of our ancestors from over 5500 years ago. The Neolithic earthworks still remain though they're difficult to pick out.

Total steps: 7

Total steps: 7

Start point

Old Farmyard, Avebury. Grid reference: SU100700

Step 1

Start outside the Museum Barn in Avebury's Old Farmyard. Walk past the dovecote on your left, towards the Museum Stables. Turn left and go through the entrance ahead into the churchyard. Go through the gate on your right just before you reach a whitewashed cottage. Follow this path for about 250 yards, passing a pumping station on your left. Cross a small bridge over a stream and then another bridge over the Winterbourne river and bear right at the fork.

Step 2

Shortly after the fork in the path, there's a stile on your right. Cross over into the field and carry on to the stiled footbridge to your right, taking you back across the Winterbourne. Head northwards, keeping close to the right-hand fence line and you'll see a stile. Go over and straight ahead to the next boundary where there's a double stile. Go straight ahead to the hedge line in the distance for around 400 yards, then cross a triple stile and walk across a large field for another 500 yards, keeping the hedge line on your left.

Step 3

When you reach a metal field gate turn left up a grassy track and begin your ascent of Windmill Hill. Continue up the long slope for around 1 mile, through a metal pedestrian gate and a wildflower meadow until you reach a pedestrian gate with a National Trust sign.

Step 4

Feel free to explore Windmill Hill and enjoy the stunning views. From this site you can see the Ridgeway on the horizon to the east; Avebury Henge to the south east; Silbury Hill to the south; Milk Hill (the highest point in Wiltshire) on the horizon to the south west; and Cherhill Down with the Lansdowne Monument to the west.

Step 5

Make your way to the gate in the south-west corner of the site. Turn left after the gate and start walking south down the byway,

Step 6

After about 900 yards, just before the byway crosses the Winterbourne, there's a footpath signposted left. Take this turning and enter a field through the metal gate. If you look to your right as you cross this field you'll see the last remaining stone of the Beckhampton Avenue and the stone next to it that once belonged to the Beckhampton Cove. Head towards the metal pedestrian gate about 200 yards away on the right-hand side of the field. Go through the gate and follow the hedge-lined footpath into Avebury Trusloe.

Step 7

When you reach the lane, turn sharp left and walk through the old part of the village. You'll come to the bridge you crossed earlier on your walk. From here, you can make your way back to the Old Farmyard, where the Stables Gallery of the Alexander Keiller Museum has more information on Windmill Hill, together with Neolithic finds from the site.

End point

Old Farmyard, Avebury. Grid reference: SU100700

Trail map

Map showing the route of the Windmill Hill trail at Avebury in Wiltshire.
Windmill Hill trail map | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey

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Avebury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 1RD

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