Alineamiento de San MIguel

Alineamiento de St. Michael(St.Michael´s Alignment):

Una línea recta imaginaria de más de 200 km. que conecta dos puntos concretos de la geografía británica:
Hopton-on-Sea, en la costa de Norfolk, y la punta Land´s End de en la península de Cornualles. 

A lo largo de esta línea se encuentran misteriosamente alineados numerosos edificios religiosos y lugares santos.

Esta coincidencia ha dado lugar a numerosas teorías esotéricas, algunas realmente descabelladas, que tratan de dar un aexplicación mágica o sibrenatural a este hecho, enlazando su existencia al viejo mundo celta, un territorio siempre fértil para la imaginación. Sean estas hipótesis ciertas o no, la verdad es que siguiendo esta línea en el mapa nos encontramos en fila muchos lugares destacados:



Desde el sur, primero nos topamos con el Mount St.Michael, el hermano británico del espectacular Mont Saint Michel que se levanta en la otra costa del Canal de La Mancha. La línea sigue pasando por Burrowbridge, en el condado de St. Michael, y unos kilómetros más adelante por Glastonbury Tor, donde se hallan las ruinas de una iglesia dedicada al mismo santo.



¿Simple casualidad o hay algo oculto detrás de este alineamiento? Según el estudioso que “descubrió” en 1925 esta línea mágica y que dedicó gran parte de su vida a su estudio, el arqueólogo Alfred Watkins, la línea se corresponde con el trazado exacto de la salida del sol el 8 de mayo, día en el que la liturgia latina celebra … ¡La Aparición de San Miguel!

Los menos inclinados a creer historias fantásticas mantienen que se trata de una coincidencia elevada al rango de revelación y argumentan que, puestos a buscar líneas rectas, encontraríamos para todos los gustos, pudiendo construir en base a ellas todo tipo de teorías demenciales. Basta con elegir un santo, un topónimo que se repita o cualquier elemento sobre el que trazar líneas, curvas o círculos sobre un mapa.

En cualquier caso, leyenda, patraña o misterio, el alineamiento de St. Michael goza de cierta fama en el Reino Unido y muchos ingleses dedican los fines de semana (solo ellos podrían hacerlo) a recorrer la línea en busca de nuevas evidencias de una asombrosa realidad.

If you are given a ruler and a map of the United Kingdom and asked to draw the longest line possible on it that only traverses land, you will end up with a line that stretches from the tip of Lands End in Cornwall to a place near the town of Hopton on the Norfolk coast. Coincidentally this also happens to be the exact axis along which the May Day sun rises over Britain. This line has some very intriguing properties and has profoundly influenced the lives of people living in the British Isles for many thousands of years. The line is known as the St Michael and St Mary Alignments. By drawing together legends, folklore,
historical facts and science, a fascinating picture of the influence the St Michael and St Mary Alignment has on life may be found. Legends & Folklore Legends and folklore often hold essential truths, and it is said that when the Angel Lucifer fell from heaven a great emerald dropped from his forehead. This signalled that humanity would increasingly suffer a loss of vision in the Third Eye, the Brow Chakra.
Lucifer’s Third Eye hit the earth causing a rip in the space-time continuum. It may be called a rip in the fabric that separates time and space or the third and forth dimensions if you will. Although the rip has healed over the millennia, minute amounts of energy, inconsistent with our present world, still leak from it. One of the scars from the rip I referred to is the St Michael & St Mary Alignment and I will show how its existence has influenced history. St Michael, often referred to as the saint of high places, exists in equilibrium with the St Mary Ley, which manifests water sites and holy wells throughout its journey across England. In Chinese feng shui this formation is known as lung mei or dragon's breath. Lucifer’s Third Eye falling to the Earth is thought to mark the beginning of mankind’s enlightenment. The universal program of mankind is designed to live in dynamic equilibrium of opposing forces: chaos-order, good–evil, love–hate, war–peace. Originally when there was only pure good, i.e. before Lucifer made his descent, the earth and mankind did not evolve. Hence the expression: 'Unless you have chaos inside you, you cannot give birth to a dancing star'. Humans would never have been able to become freely creative, brave or loving if they had not been able to make mistakes, to see and believe things to be other than they are. The evil Lucifer gave man was a necessary part of his development. The apple Lucifer offered Eve was wisdom and the power of reflection. Environmental Influences on the Cell and Geology
Figure 2 Head of demon depicting Brow Chakra on holy font at Lostwithiel Church, a major crossing point of the St Michael & St Mary Alignments		Geological survey maps have confirmed that many fault lines do run beneath the Michael & Mary Alignments and the traces of radiation emitted from them influences people’s minds. Over the millennia people have associated the energy with mystical experiences. This explains the number of religious monuments along the alignments, dating back prior to the megalithic period. The alignments are often referred to as manifestations of mystical snakes or dragons. The emission of the energy travels in a sinusoidal wave form and ancients who first detected it thought they were snakes or dragons. The two are intertwined, a little like the two serpents on the Caduceus, the
insignia for the medical profession. St Mary is the earth or ground of the energy and the energy emitted from the high places of St Michael is grounded back to earth through underground streams and holy wells, flowing through the fault lines. Long exposure to the energy emanating from the alignments has a physical effect on the body, especially during times of peak energy. Peak flows of energy occur at the summer and winter solstices as well as May Day on the St Michael and St Mary Alignments. These levels of energy become even more intense, during high sunspot activity coinciding with the solar cycles, as well as the alignments of the moon and inner planets. By chance or design some people, due to their proximity to the alignments, are more influenced by its energies. Perhaps in the distant past this was planned for spiritual leaders, like druidic priests – key occurrences of their lives such as conception, birth and spiritual initiation occurred at strategic locations along the alignments, such as Avebury, during times of peak energy activity. For them, their body’s cells are exposed to a maximum level of energy. The very liquid crystal structure of billions of cells within their bodies resonates with the energy emanating from the fault lines. The energy from the Earth rises up through the body along the spiralling Kundalini and influences the Chakra points. The most obvious change is the development of the pineal gland. Spiritualists call this the development of their Brow Chakra or Third Eye. These people are often powerful clairvoyants. Holy Wells.
Many underground streams of pure Earth water run deep beneath the surface along the fault lines. At certain points these underground streams break through the top soil and have been turned into wells. Pure water molecules have an enormous capacity to hold and maintain geomagnetic energy in its unadulterated state. These sources are known as holy wells, because the energy from the St Michael and St Mary Alignments, captured within the water molecules have healing properties. History Figure 3 Antique etching of Menacuddle Holy Well
The Celts used to celebrate the Beltane Fire festival along the St Michael and St Mary Alignment. Since the dawn of the Megalithic era in Britain the St Michael and St Mary Alignment has seen the placement of numerous sacred stone sites such as Avebury, Glastonbury and Cheese Ring. Subsequently Celtic Druids and early Christian geomancers built temples and churches near or on these sacred sites strategically aligned to the Earth energies and were dedicated to St Michael and St Mary or their equivalents prior to Christianity. It was only after the arrival to the Paulian Roman Church that these churches and Christian holy sites, such as Glastonbury Abbey were destroyed or brought into disrepute. Sacred Engineering Adepts of the megalithic cultures dating back over 7,000 years clearly understood the nature, form and potential of Earth energies. The ancients learnt to harness and manipulate this power, which included telluric currents, gravitational fields and electromagnetic radiation and used it for the benefit of the community. They created centres of learning at places of extraordinary power such as Glastonbury, Newgrange and Carnac and were able to decipher the fundamental nature of the universe and the relationships between the mind, body and spirit. This was achieved through their understanding of the Earth as a sentient being, mankind’s relationship to Mother Nature and their astonishing knowledge of mathematics, engineering, astronomy and geodesy. References: The Secret History of the World by Jonathan Black and Robert Powell – Quercus The Sun and the Serpent by Paul Broadhurst & Hamish Miller – Mythos The New View Over Atlantis by John Michell – Thames & Hudson Working With Earth Energies by David Furlong - Piatkus

Lostwithiel

"There is history in every stone in Lostwithiel"
John Betjeman

The name Lostwithiel conjures dreamy images of a lost yet romantic place. Derived from two old Cornish words, Lostwydhyel translates as 'the place at the tail end of the woodland'. Despite its proximity to the A390, Lostwithiel remains something of a remote destination tucked away in a wooded valley. An excellent spot to get away from it all, Lostwithiel is also a good base for exploring other Cornwall attractions in the area. 

During the 13th and 14th centuries, Lostwithiel was at the centre of Cornwall's tin mining trade and rose to become the ancient capital of Cornwall. Its heyday long gone, Lostwithiel has risen to a new eminence as a centre for antiques and collectibles in Cornwall. As well as antique and speciality shops, you can also visit the Lostwithiel Antiques Fair which is held twice monthly. 

Lostwithiel is an ancient stannary town that depended heavily on Cornish tin mining for its prosperity. At the turn of the 12th century, Lostwithiel was on the rise and was soon to become the second busiest port on the coast. The town's future was sealed when the Earls of Cornwall made Lostwithiel their administrative centre in the 1270's. They would go on to show Lostwithiel their importance by casting the nearby Restormel Castle into a luxurious mansion. More attractions you can visit in Lostwithiel (thanks to the Earls of Cornwall) are the 14th century bridge with its five tapered arches and the 13th century Duchy Palace on Queen Street. Visitors interested in historic buildings will delight in St Bartholomew's church and its 13th century tower. 

In an ironic twist of fate, the very source of Lostwithiel's wealth would also cause its decline. In the 15th century, accumulated waste flowing down from the Bodmin Moors caused the silting up the River Fowey. Lostwithiel soon began to play second fiddle to the main port at Fowey and disappear into a Cornish background. 

In the 17th century, drama returned to Lostwithiel during the Great Rebellion in 1644. Lostwithiel was seized by the Parliamentarians and after a long stand-off finally recaptured by the Royalist forces . The siege laid waste to much of the original medieval architecture and much of what you'll see at Lostwithiel was rebuilt after the 17th century. 

Attractions near Lostwithiel 
Just one mile away, Restormel Castle is an excellent ruins to explore. The 13th century, circular shell keep is well preserved and you'll get good views from the ramparts. Less than 5 miles north west of Lostwithiel, Lanhydrock is a spectacular Victorian mansion and garden which lends an excellent view into the 'upstairs, downstairs' lifestyle of the time. Five miles south is the ancient port of Fowey, another beautiful town in Cornwall boasting the delightful Readymoney Cove and remains of the St. Catherine's Castle. 

Closer still, there are some nearby villages and hamlets worth meandering about if you're not rushed for time. The small hamlet of St. Winnow is interesting for its tranquillity and farm museum. Lanlivery which lies on the The Saints Way is remarkable for the 97ft tower at St. Brevita's church. Of more importance is Luxulyan and its granite Treffry Viaduct that once served as a railway and stream through the valley. 


The Apollo/St Michael axis is a remarkable alignment of sacred sites stretching from Ireland, through Cornwall, France, Italy, Greece and Israel, marked by sanctuaries dedicated to the Archangel Michael and Apollo, the Greek God of Light. Over ten years, the authors travel the length of this 2,500 mile axis exploring the significance of earth energies in the siting of these sanctuaries. Rediscovered in this book is a profound principle that takes us back to the very roots of religion, encoded in legend and myth. This demonstrates that earth energies were once at the core of a highly developed Natural Science responsible for determining the position and character of ancient sites.

Esoteric theories are usually long on mysteries and short on facts. Nevertheless, the St. Michael Line does cut an intriguing trajectory across southern England. 

• For starters, it traverses St. Michael's Mount, an island monastery off the Cornish coast, and a sister site to the better-known Mont Saint-Michel on the Norman-Breton border [2].  
• The Line touches the Hurlers, a Bronze Age set of three stone circles, so called because Christian legend has it that they are the petrified remains of men practising the sport of hurling during sabbath. A few other points:
• Burrowbridge Mump, also called St. Michael's Borough, and topped with the ruins of a church dedicated to the Archangel.
• Glastonbury Tor, a visible neighbour to the Mump, a centre of Arthurian legends - and also crowned with the ruins of a church dedicated to St. Michael.
• Oliver's Castle, an Iron Age hill fort (originally Roundway Down but possibly renamed for Oliver Cromwell following a nearby battle during the English Civil War in 1643).
• The Avebury Henge - the largest 'henge' (i.e. prehistoric circular monument) in Britain. 
• Bury St. Edmunds, once one of England's foremost abbeys, and the shrine of one of its patron saints.

But what exactly is the significance of all of this? Why St. Michael? And what do the St. Mary Currents, shown intertwining with the St. Michael Line on this map, have to do with anything?

For his quest, the curious cartographer is rewarded with - or more likely frustrated by - elusive explanations that never quite manage to convince, but are in turn dependent by other, further mysteries. Cathedrals built on quicksand.

One could easily spend a few days researching the finer points of alignment lore. All you need is access to your favourite search engine, and the nagging semi-certainty that behind the next hyperlink you'll find the final piece of the puzzle. 

You're more likely to find more puzzle. You could also save some valuable time by contemplating the following counterargument.

As knowledge in Britain of the indigenous, but recently extinct Woolworths chain of stores recedes from living memory, its reputation will undoubtedly shift from the mundane to the legendary. To aid the rapid rise of its legend, Matthew Parker produced this baffling pattern, based on the location of a dozen Woolworths stores centred on the Midlands. 

Connecting the dots between 12 former Woolworths locations, ranging from Conwy in north Wales to Luton, north of London, and Monmouth in the Welsh Borders to Alfreton, south of Sheffield, provides us with an intriguing geometric figure - so symmetrical that it simply has to be meaningful in some hidden, esoteric way…

While in fact all it proves is that it's quite easy to produce seemingly meaningful patterns, given a large enough sample of data (in this case: the locations of over 800 former Woolworths stores).

This is a return to the original criticism of Alfred Watkins' original ley lines theory. As writes Matthew Johnson in 'Archaeological Theory: An Introduction':

"Ley lines do not exist. This was shown by Tom Williamson and Liz Bellamy inLey Lines in Question, which analysed such lines statistically and showed that the density of archaeological sites in the British landscape is so great that a line drawn through virtually anywhere will 'clip' a number of sites." 

Seems like sound advice, but somewhere in all of us lurks a pattern-recognisant idiot savant. The one inside me asks: What's with all these Matthews having problems with ley lines? 

THE BELINUS LINE

THE BELINUS LINE - England and Scotland, UK
The Belinus ley line is the longest ley line in Britain ... courses through St Catherine's Hill, nr Winchester, and continues northwards and eventually targets Inverhope in Scotland. On St Catherine's Hill, two 'Dragon lines' or earth energy currents that coil around the ley line can be located here. One dragon line is female [yin] and the other is masculine [yang] these earth energies were known to ancient Chinese geomancers as 'lung mei' the Dragon's breath.
The Belinus ley is similar to the St Michael ley line and its two earth energy currents, Mary and Michael, which were discovered by Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst in the 1980's.http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/3392

centre of the Belinus line is the megalithic complex of Shap, Entering England at Lee on Solent the straight alignment passes through a Naval Air Base on its way to Titchfield Abbey (Shakespeare connection) crossing the river Meon.

The line continues to St. Catherine's Hill near Winchester.

Here we have the first major energy site on the Belinus line and one of the best locations to connect to and chase the serpent. Many people refer to St. Catherine's Hill as a hub of energy like the centre of a spider's web or a wheel radiating lines out into the landscape. If you compare St. Michael's Mount on the Michael line with St. Catherine's Hill on the Belinus line it is apparent that both are the same distance from where each of the lines enter England, and both are major connecting places of earth energy. Continuing on, the Belinus alignment passes through a long barrow and several Templar sites reaching the Ridgeway from Avebury near Seven Barrows.

Dragon Hill, Uffington

The straight alignment continues to Oxfordshire passing close to the Rollright stones, however we dowsed that there is a connection. Driving past the Rollright stone circle known as the "King's men" the rods twitched. Belinus crossed the road between the circle and the single megalith known as the "King Stone". Arriving at the solitary megalith the serpent passed through the stone and headed down the valley to a village called Long Crompton a place known for its associations with witchcraft and magic. At the parish church of St.Peter and St.Paul, Belinus passed through the east side of the church through the altar and out into the field behind. I later discovered there used to be a stone circle in this field exactly where the energy flowed. I followed the line as far as Brailes Hill passing by Harrow Hill, a place of ritual magic.

Entering the Midlands the straight alignment passes through Meon Hill, another sacred hilltop site
Passing near to Stratford on Avon the line continues north through Birmingham's "Bullring" shopping centre, site of a Bronze Age henge. Then to Biddulph Grange, a Victorian ritual centre of the Rosicrucian movement and pre-Raphaelite brotherhood.
It was 59 feet wide as it passed through Shap village
Just north of Penrith the Belinus line connects with one of the finest stone circles in Britain, Long Meg and her Daughters http://www.britainexpress.com/articles/Ancient_Britain/long-meg.htm .

The line continues into Scotland and passes through sites such as Carlisle, Langholm, Eskdale near to Rosslyn Chapel (Knights Templar centre) before crossing the Forth Railway Bridge (the foundations of the bridge are laid over an old track).
Pitlochery (the geographical centre of Scotland) through the prehistoric Clava Cairns http://www.darkisle.com/c/clava/clava.html ,
Culloden, Lairg (a large prehistoric settlement) and finally reaches the north coast at Inverhope on its way to the Faroe islands.





http://www.chalicewellshop.com/moreinfo/mib0017.htm

The Twin Landscape Circles of the Marlborough Downs

Introduction
This article presents more detailed description of each site on the location of the twin circles on the Marlborough Downs starting first with the eastern circle which is shown below. It takes the form of a tour.

Fig. 1 The eastern circle on the Marlborough Downs

Eastern Circle
Perhaps a suitable starting point for a journey around the different sites of the 'Eastern Circle' would be the henge monument at Avebury. Extending to more than thirty-three acres and having an overall diameter of about 427 meters, Avebury is the largest henge monument in the world. In addition to a massive bank and ditch, which was over six metres or twenty feet deep, it boasted an outer circle of Sarsen stones, with two inner circles each with a diameter of about 100 metres. Little now remains of these inner circles and many stones from the outer ring, particularly in the eastern segment have now gone; removed at a time when it was fashionable to break up the stones. Some of the megaliths at Avebury are among the largest ever erected; these ranging from between 60 to 90 tons making them nearly twice the weight of the biggest trilithon pillars at Stonehenge. Transporting and putting up these stones would have been an enormous undertaking requiring hundreds of people. The excavation of the ditch would also have been a mammoth task and it has been variously estimated that it would have taken around two hundred and fifty people working continuously for about twenty years to complete.

The western bank of the Avebury henge	The church St Mary Magdelene Winterbourne Monkton

The circumference of the Marlborough Circle passes through the western side of the monument in the approximate position of the public car park opposite the post office. This part of the henge still retains many large stones, which give a good impression on how it might have looked in times past. The next group of church sites, which led to my discovery of the circles lie close to the small brook that eventually merges into the famous Kennet river.

Leaving the henge by its northern gateway via the A.4361 and travelling north the first point after Avebury is the ancient church of Winterbourne Monkton . This is found by turning left at the sign about a 1.2 miles from the henge and following through to the car park alongside the farm buildings. Here can be found a small church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene dating to 1133 AD. There is suggestion that it marked the spot of an earlier chapel founded by some monks from Glastonbury in 928 AD. Inside can be found two unusual timber pillars, which support a square bell tower with an inset pitched roof. Outside, at its eastern end, can be seen a large recumbent sarsen stone which marks the grave of Reverend Brinsden who died in 1710 AD. This was taken from an ancient barrow just north of the church. At the western end of the church old undressed foundation stones can be clearly seen at ground level. Such stones are found in many churches and are so obvious that they suggest a deliberate intent of incorporating stones from pagan sites into the structure of the building. Inside there is an ancient font giving clues to the antiquity of the church. This receptacle is carved with chevron design and has an ancient fertility symbol on its northern face.

Leave the church and turn left at the junction with the A.4361. The next site can be found by a left turn just prior to a sharp right hand bend in the road. On entering the hamlet of Berwick Bassett a sign marking the footpath way to the church can be found on the right hand side of the road. This straight trackway, covered over by trees gives a feeling of walking through a tunnel before emerging in front of the small 14th century church of Berwick Bassett dedicated to St. Nicholas . When I first saw this church twenty years ago it was derelict being made redundant in 1972. It has recently been restored by the Churches Conservation Trust. Part stone and part brick the building has a small unusual tower. Close by are some standing stones drilled to take gate posts. Whether these are old or recent I cannot tell, but an information leaflet on the church states that sarsen stones were used for grave stones at this site. The church has a 13th century font suggesting that it was built on the site of an earlier church.

St Nicholas church Berwick Bassett	St Katherine and St Peter Church, Winterbourne Bassett

Continuing back along the A.4361 the church of Winterbourne Bassett can be found from another signposted left turn 1.2 miles from the turning to Berwick Bassett. On entering the village the church can be found via a short roadway on the left hand side. Built in stone with the earliest parts dating from around 1100 A.D it has a light airy feeling with resplendent deep red and purple stained glass windows. The church was originally dedicated to St. Katherine with St. Peter being added at a later date. A gently curving trackway leads from this church and follows the exact line of the circumference of the circle for a distance of about one mile to the next church at Broad Hinton.

For those who wish to travel by car return back to the A.4361 and turn left. Take the next turning left which is signposted to Broad Hinton. The church is off this road on the left hand side and the directions are signposted. Broad Hinton church like the previous churches is fairly small although is used more frequently than the others. Surrounded by trees, including a ancient Yew, the light in the church is much more sombre and brooding reflected in the blackened oak panelling and intricate memorials to the dead. Outside there is a stone cross but its base does not suggest it is of great age. The trackway from Winterbourne Bassett can be found to the eastern side of the churchyard. Of all the churches this is the greatest distance from the calculated line, which follows the footpath. The exact crossing point, to form a 60° angle between East Kennet Long Barrow and the centre of the eastern circle is marked by a small pond close to the church way junction with the B.4041.

Returning back to the main road, a white horse chalk figure can be clearly seen on the side of the downs opposite. The intersection point between the two circles lies just off the left hand side of this road in the middle of a cornfield. Access to it can be found from a bridleway about 2.4 miles along the road from the junction out of Broad Hinton.

St Peter ad Vincula church, Broad Hinton	All Saint's Church Wroughton

Continuing towards Wroughton the church can be found shortly after the road dips down the escarpment on the left hand side. This is a large church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist was built in Norman times. An older Saxon church is known to have stood on the site prior to 965 A.D. because it was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter. There is the remains an ancient broken cross in the churchyard. There are also some old earthworks to the southwest of the church yard, which face out towards Swindon. Remains of Roman pottery have been found in the field alongside the church. The church details state:

There is evidence of Christian worship on this site prior to the 10th century AD. A high point for the site would have been chosen by the Celts, possibly so it could have been seen from as wide and area as possible, to provide a landmark and to be a stronghold.

The next site can be found by taking the B.4005 to Chiseldon: passing through the village to road joins the A. 345 which is the main road to Marlborough. Turn right and then first left onto a road, which was originally part of the Ridge Way track. This will take you past the large hill fort of Liddington Castle on your right. Cross the A. 419 and a short way on you will find a cross-roads with an old Roman Road called Ermin Street. Watkins noted that cross roads were often found at significant ley crossing points. Turning right and then first left to the village of Blaydon the road runs alongside the motorway. Just over half a mile up the road turn left again and cross over the motorway. A trackway will be found on the left hand side just past the bridge which leads to the round barrow (tumulus) on Hinton Downs. This is about a third of a mile up the track on the right hand side. This round barrow provides a corridor of extensive views to the south- west across the circle.

A fairly large gap now occurs of nearly a quarter of the circle before the next point. This can best be found by travelling back to Marlborough and then taking the A.4 road back towards Newbury. Just out the town and up the hill a sign will be found to Savenake Forest and Tottenham House. Turn right here which will take you onto a straight road called the Grand Avenue which coincides with an ancient Roman road. Just under 1.2 miles along this road there are some earthwork embankments which mark the edge of the western circle at this point. If you parked your car here and followed these embankments for a short distance on the left hand side of the road you would be walking along the circumference to the earthworks that lie next to the A.4. In the other direction two tumuli sites can be found about one mile away although the easiest access by road is from the A.346.

Continuing on for 2.2 miles you will come to a 'T' junction. Turn left here and a short way up the road a sign will indicate the way to the church. The church in Savenake Forest dedicated to St. Katherine is of recent origin being built in 1860 by the 2nd Marquis of Ailesbury for the workers of the estate and in memory of his mother-in-law the Russian countess from Voronzov in the Crimea who became duchess of Pembroke and the mother also of Sidney Herbert, Florence Nightingale's friend and patron. Unusually the aisle of this church is orientated on a west south west axis which coincides with the alignment of circumference of the circle.

The next point is the church in the town of Wootton Rivers. There are a number of routes that can be taken from Savenake. The easiest route is probably by turning left from the church and taking the road to Burbage. At the end of the town turn right onto the B.3087 to Pewsey. Turn right again about a mile and a half up the road where signposted to Wootton Rivers. The church can be found, via a short road, on the left hand side. Dedicated to St. Andrew it is of ancient origin, being modified and enlarged in a number of stages. Although not included in the western circle this site lies very close the intersection between the two circles which exactly placed just to the east of the road where it crosses the Kennet and Avon Canal. If ever there was a marker at this point it would have undoubtedly been removed during the excavation work on the canal. Running close by is the railway line between Great Bedwyn station and Pewsey. Effectively three great systems of transport, car, rail and boat (communication) come together at this point. The northern intersection has no such markers being set in the middle of a cornfield close to the A.361.

St Andrew's Church, Wootton Rivers	The Giant's Grave hill fort

The remaining sites all date from Neolithic times and are not easy to access. The first is the spectacular promontory of the hill fort called The Giant's Grave. This can be found by taking the Marlborough Road out of Wootton Rivers and at the junction with the A.345 turning left towards Pewsey. You will have to park you car in the village of Oare and then make a fairly strenuous climb up to the hill fort. The effort is well worthwhile for from the top the views are spectacular. (For those who wish to cut short their journey and access some of the sites in the western circle please refer to the sites of Pewsey and Manningford Bohune mentioned in the western circle section.)

The circumference line then passes along Huish Hill moulding to the contour of the land and its earthworks, and then on to some more earthworks at Gopher Wood. Both of these sites can only be accessed via trackways. Next point the East Kennett Long Barrow, which is on private land with no direct access. The Barrow can best be viewed from the road that leads out of East Kennet. As already mentioned its axis aligns to the circumference of the circle.

The East Kennet Long Barrow

The final point is a small group of tumuli on the northern summit of Waden Hill which has also, on its lower eastern slopes, the stones of the Avenue. The tumuli are not readily accessible being on private farmland. From Waden Hill Avebury can be seen again making a total circuit of just over thirty seven miles.

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Fig 2 . The western circle on the Marlborough Downs

Western Circle
The most appropriate starting point for the exploration of the western circle is the church of Bishops Cannings built circa 1150 A.D. and dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. This site is on a direct alignment between the two centres, which also goes through the West Kennet Long Barrow. Bishops Canningscan be found just off the A.361 Avebury to Devizes road. It is the first turning left past the Beckhamton roundabout. The church is fairly large having a tall stone spire and has a number of large undressed foundation stones which could indicate that the church was built on a much older site, with the stones being incorporated into the church fabric. Between Bishops Cannings and the next site of Calstone Wellington can be found the impressive promontory of Morgan's Hill. I have not included this point as one of the sites of the western circle for no actual tumulus or mound is shown on the maps pin points the precise position of the circumference. However its position as a clear marker through to the opposite side of the circle make it a very likely candidate as a surveying key site. Here can be found two towering radio masts, an O.S. Trig. point and the enigmatic copse of trees at Furze Knoll all within 200 metres of the circumference, which cuts across the end of the hill.  

St. Mary's church Bishops Cannings	St Mary's church Calstone Wellington

Leaving Bishops Cannings by the same road, the A.361 needs to be crossed and the road taken to Calne. After two and a third miles you will see a signposted road on the right to Calstone Wellington. The church can be found on the right hand side just through the village. This church is also dedicated to St. Mary and falls on a direct alignment between the centre of the western circle and Silbury Hill. The present church was erected in the 15th century but there is evidence for an earlier church dating to the 12th century.

The next point is the church at Compton Bassett . To find this site take the Calne road out of Calstone Wellington then take the first turning right which will take you through to the A.4. When reaching this road you will need to turn left then almost immediately right towards Compton Bassett. The church is about two miles along the road on the right hand side. It is a large church dedicated to St. Swithins and like many others built on ancient foundation stones. There is some evidence of a church from Saxon times being found here.

Leaving Compton Bassett the circumference of the Western Circle then remarkably follows the sweep of the escarpment, between the downs and the plain below for over four and half miles through Highway Hill, Clevancy Hill and Clyffe Hanging. Leave Compton Bassett and follow the road along the bottom of the escarpment until the sign Clevancy, then turn right. The next site of Townsend's Knoll can be found at the end of the lane on the left hand side. It is an ancient conical mound. It was excavated in 1947 but no burials found within so now thought to be natural. It could equally well have been used for surveying by using transit markers as described in Chapter 9 of Keys to the Temple. In support of this an alignment can be shown running from the Knoll to Bardenstoke Abbey - Rodbourne Church with its ancient cross - Corston Church - Foxley Green church - Leighton church - Boxwell Long Barrow a total of seven sites within a distance of twenty-eight kilometres (16.53 miles).

St Andrew's church Compton Bassett	St Peter's church Clyffe Pypard

The next three sites can only be accessed by walking along the ridge foot path that leads from Clevancy to Clyffe Pypard. They are shown as tumuli and earthworks on my old 1:25,000 scale map, however the most recent pathfinder series (1:25000) have omitted them.

The next site, accessible by car, is the church at Clyffe Pypard. This can be found by leavingTownsend's Knoll and returning back to the minor road that leads to Bushton. Turn right at the 'T' junction and right again in Bushton, which is about one and half miles along the road. The road is signposted to Clyffe Pypard. The church can be found from a left turn after entering the village. Like many other churches in the area ancient foundations stone can be seen which suggest some early site existed here before the church was erected. Dedicated to St. Peter the earliest parts of the present church date from the late 13th century. Close by there is a tranquil ornamental lake, which gives this site a special atmosphere. This completes the marked sites in this sector of the circle and the next place atOgbourne St. George is nearly a quarter of the circle further on.

Foundation stone Clyffe Pypard	St George's church Ogbourne St George

The most attractive route to get to Ogbourne involves crossing the centre of the Marlborough Downs. Turn left on leaving the church at Clyffe Pypard and left again out of the village taking the road toWinterbourne Bassett. The remains of a stone circle can be seen on the left hand side of this road about 2.8 miles further on. Passing through Winterbourne to the junction with the A. 361, turn left towards Wroughton and 0.9 miles along the road you will come to a junction signposted to Rockley and Marlborough where you will need to turn right. The road will take you up onto the highest points of the downs and provides access to the King's Chamber point at Temple Farm. After several miles (8.5 miles) you will see a signpost to Rockley. Turn left here and follow along the road until it stops at the edge of a wood. There is no vehicular right of way beyond this point but you can walk along the farm roadway toTemple Barn, a distance of just over a mile, where you will find a large clump of Beech Trees. This marks the approximate position of the junction between the St. Michael line and the axis joining the intersection of the two circles. Just to the northeast of this point a long barrow originally existed, but has now been completely destroyed.

OS Map of the Temple farm area

The name Temple Farm stems from the Knight's Templar who were founded in 1119 AD to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. The order was finally destroyed in 1307 AD by Philip The Fair of France after it had attained great wealth and power. During the course of its existence many lands were donated to the Templars, the farm here being on them being given by John Marshall an ancestor to the Earls of Pembroke.

Returning back to you car leave Rockley and at the junction with the road to Marlborough turn right. Within a few hundred yards there is a left turn to Ogbourne Maizey. Take this road through the village until it meets the A.345. where you will need to turn left. This is a busy road, so care is needed, but about 1.3 miles along the road you will see a trackway opposite a turn to the village of Ogbourne St. Andrew. Turn and park here which takes you the spot of the centre of the eastern circle . This lies close to the join of this track with the position of the abandoned railway embankment.

Leaving this point turn right and take the road to Ogbourne St. George which is signposted on the left hand side about 1.5 miles further on. Enter the village and at the next turning go left which will take you via a short road (0.8 miles) to the church which is signposted on the right hand side. Dedicated to St. George this church, as well as being on the circumference of the western circle is claimed to be part of the St. Michael alignment. The present church was built between the 12th to 15th century on the site of an earlier church. The church notes indicate that there was almost certainly a 'heathen temple' here before the original church was erected. Just back from the church in the village of Ogbourne there is a house owned by a friend, which lies on the circumference. Built into the corner of this house is a large undressed mark stone, which stands out clearly from the other coursed stonework.

For Ogbourne access can be gained to the point where the alignment between the two centres intersects with the circumference of the western circle. To find the point return back to the centre of Ogbourne and turn left at the 'T' junction. The road will take you round the village and under the A.345. Immediately after the bridge you will see a roadway on the left hand side. Take this road, which follows the alignment of an old Roman road. You will pass a trackway crossing and a short way further on you will see a farm gate entrance on the left. If you park here it gives the approximate position of the intersection. From this place the East Kennet Long Barrow can be clearly seen as can the alignment through to the West Kennett Barrow. In the far distance the radio masts and the clump of trees on Furze Knoll marking the approximate edge of the western circle is visible on the skyline. This is the only place that I have found in the whole complex where it is very nearly possible to see right across the circles.

To reach the next points you will need to retrace your steps back to the A.345 and take the road through to Marlborough. The earthworks has already been mentioned in the description of the eastern circle, but the tumuli can be found by taking the A.346 out of Marlborough. You will see a church on your left hand side after about 1.7 miles, and a further 1.3 miles along the road you will find a driveway access known as Sawpit Drive. Park here and walk up the drive until you meet a crossing with another trackway. Turn left here and a short walk of around 350 yards will take you to the site of a tumulus on the right hand side of the track. To find the next group of tumuli return back to Sawpit Drive and turn left. At the next main pathway turn left again. About 0.5 miles along this path you will come to another junction. At this point the group of tumuli are immediately in front of you in the 'v' made by the two trackways.

The last but one point on the circle, before returning back to Bishops Cannings, is the Weslyan chapel inPewsey. The chapel is not ancient being built in the last century but shows how modern religious buildings can often be found on 'leys'. This might of course be pure co-incidence for with all the new developments over the past one hundred and fifty years chance alone would predict that some sites of the is nature would coincide. I only mention this site here because it does fall on the circumference of the circle and readers can make there own assessments on whether it should be included or not.

The last point is the de-consecrated church of Manningford Bohune Common, which has subsequently been turned into a private home. This can be found by taking the Woodborough road out of Pewsey. Just before this village, about 2.7 miles from Pewsey, there is a left turn over a railway bridge. Take this road and turn immediately left again over the bridge. Follow this road for a short distance and turn left again. The church site can be seen 300 yards up the road on the left hand side. Built in the last century the church does not appear to have ancient origins. However when excavations were being carried out to put in the septic tank for the new dwelling a much older series of burial sites, dating from the Middle Ages, were discovered which had not been marked on the diocesan map. The site had therefore been used, prior to the 1800's when the church was erected. The circle then returns to the church at Bishops Cannings completing the circuit.

Deconsecrated church of Manningford Bohune

Silbury Hill and the Sanctuary Stone Circle

Introduction
This article looks at two enigmatic structures in the area of the Marlborough Downs that are thought to have been signficant in the construction of the of the twin landscape circles described in the book The Keys to the Temple and further described in the articles on Keys in the side bar,

Silbury Hill
The great mound known as Silbury Hill was built around 5000 years ago. It lies close to Avebury and many significant sites on the Marlborough Downs and is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe covering an area of around 5.5 acres. No burials have been found within and therefore its function has invoked much speculation over time. One thing is certain is that its height allows extensive views from the top across the back of Waden Hill that lies to the east and in the book The Keys to the Temple it was suggested that its position and height could have been used for surveying and setting out the landscape circles.

Picture 1. View looking SW towards Silbury Hill (grid ref: SU 1001 6853)

It has a number curious coincidental parallel relationships with the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

Silbury Hill has an angle of slope of 30 degrees and lies close to latitude 51 degrees 51minutes (exact 51°-24'-58').
The Great Pyramid which has an angle of slope of 51 degrees 51 minutes and lies on a latitude of 30 degrees.

It would also appear that Silbury Hill was crucial to the setting out of the Marlborough Downs landscape circular leys acting as a geodetic and primary surveying point.

Picture 2 (above). View looking east from the top of Silbury Hill. The long back of Waden Hill can be seen in the foreground and beyond that the highest points of the Marlborough Downs. Picture 3 (below). View looking west from the top of Silbury Hill. The Furze Knoll on Morgan's Hill and the clump of trees just east of Compton Bassett church can be easily made out on the skyline.

Surveying the Landscape

By using Silbury Hill, linked to the West Kennett long barrow as a key surveying points the landscape circles of the Marlborough Downs could have been set out in the landscape. The plan below shows how this might have been donw using a rightangle triangle based on a ratio of 6:13.

Fig. 1 Diagram showing link between Silbury Hill, the West Kennett long barrow and the centre of the western landscape circle. The projected line from this centre across the top of Silbury Hill passes through the church at Compton Bassett on the western circumference.

The Sanctuary Stone and Post Circle - An Astronomical Calendar?
Close to Silbury Hill on the A.4 road from Marlborough lies the site of a ruined stone circle that also holds a number of puzzles.

Picture 3. Shows part of the Sancuary Circle. Most of the stone have been removed and replaced by concrete blocks. The positions of the posts are also shown by concrete.

This circle comprised a series of concentric circles formed by stones and timber posts which archaeologists believe could have been a hut temple, for it marks the start of the Avenue of stones that leads to the henge monument of Avebury. In addition this site could easily have been used as a sophisticated form of astronomical calculator.

The article below enlarges on this theme.

One aspect that should be noted is the number of stones and posts in each quadrant of the different circles when the site is divided into North, South, East and West.

In the outer stone circle there are 21 stones in each East - West half, whilst there are 20 stones in the northern segment and 22 stones in the southern half.

In the first post ring shown blue on the plan the posts increase in number from the north-western quadrant which has 7 through to the south-western which has 10. The sequence of each segment runs7, 8, 9,10. This must have been deliberate.

The following extract is taken from the book The Keys to the Temple

The Marlborough Downs area includes a number of enigmatic megalithic structures. Silbury Hill is certainly one of them, but so too is the Sanctuary. This circular monument standing an the edge of the A.4 road with good views to Silbury Hill and the long barrows of East and West Kennett, comprises a number of concentric rings of both post holes and small standing stones. It is thought to have been put up in several stages commencing around 2,900 BC, with the posts supporting a thatched roof circular building, but little else is sure on the reasons for the erection of this edifice.

In order to calculate the rhythm of the seasons some system needs to be established which measures the angular declination of the Sun. One way to do this is by tracking its sunrise and sun set positions as it moves across the horizon. Monuments such as Stonehenge, which indicates Midsummer sunrise, Newgrange which shows Midwinter sunrise and Maes Howe which depicts Midwinter sunset provide this function.

I used to live on the western side of the Malvern Hills with extensive views out towards the Welsh Hills and in particular Hay Bluff near the town of Hay-on-Wye. During the spring and autumn months the passage of the Sun was very marked by its sunset positions as it moved forward in the Spring and back in the Autumn along the line of the distant hills. In early October and late February it set in a notch in the hills created by Hay bluff. I would often take the trouble to watch out for this moment and it was so apparent when watching the last rays of the sun dip below the horizon how powerfully this could act as both a religious experience as well as an astronomical calculator.

Another way to track the movement of the Sun is with a sun dial. Placing a vertical post in the ground or on a level surface will indicate the approximate time of day (providing the sun is shining) and by measuring the length of the Sun's shadow at noon the season could also be marked. To make these necessary calculations one effectively needs a giant sundial.

It so happens that the Sanctuary monument provides all of these requirements and much more. Fortuitously it does have a post hole right in the middle of the monument which we could suppose held a circular upright post with a pointed end. The monument would then become a sundial indicating the times of day, the seasons through the year and the time of the major solar configurations.

In refutation of Professor Thom's Megalithic Yard Aubrey Burl cites the concentric rings of the Sanctuary as evidence that megalithic peoples did not build in multiples of these units. For as he states:

"The Sanctuary with its seven concentric rings offers a unique opportunity to examine the validity of this 'yardstick' (Megalithic Yard) because consistency would be expected in the counting and measuring of these closely related rings. Yet, although a counting-base of four is manifest here from the number of posts in each ring, four is never used in the number of Megalithic Yards supposedly making up each diameter. Nor is any diameter an exact multiple of this Yard. Instead of a logical progression of 4 Megalithic Yards, 8 , 12, and so on one finds an unconvincing mixture of 4.4 Megalithic Yards, 5.0, 7.1, 11.4, 12.6, 17.2, and 23.8 Megalithic Yards."

The reason for these discrepancies has, I am sure, nothing to do with the existence of the Megalithic Yard. It is, I am suggesting, because the designers of this monument were interested in marking significant dates of the year as part of their religious calendar. As the Sun travelled through the seasons so the length of the noon day shadow would either increase or decrease being at its longest at the mid-winter solstice and its shortest at the summer solstice.

These concentric rings could act as calendar to indicate different dates through the year highlighted when the sun's noon day shadow touched a specific ring of the circle. Using the measurements given by Aubrey Burl for the position of the rings I carried out a number of calculations based on the position of the sun's rays for this latitude at different times of the year. Firstly I needed to establish a hypothetical length for the shadow pole. Without direct evidence this can only be an assumption, but certain factual information helped.

Fig. 2 - How the Sanctuary might have been used as an astronomical calculator

A Giant Sundial
At the time of the winter solstice the Sun casts a shadow of 15° which rises to 62° at its maximum summer height, whilst the equinoxes would show a shadow of 52°. Checking out all possible heights, for a shadow pole in increments of 3 inches or 7.5 centimetres a best fit of 8 ft 9 inches (2.67 m) would seem to be the optimum for establishing significant dates through the year.

A hypothetical pole of this height erected at the centre of the circle would highlight, through the length of the shadow that it cast, the following dates of the year (based on our calendar.) Each date is indicated when the shadow from the centre pole at noon touches one of the rings that make up the Sanctuary monument.

The Sanctuary sundial, based on this shadow pole, does not show the equinoxes nor the summer solstice however each of the four main Celtic festival dates, Imbolc, Beltane, Lugnasad and Samhain are marked. If indeed this monument acted as a calendar it supports the idea that Druidic traditions could link back to much older pre-Celtic beliefs stemming from Neolithic period. A central pole position is marked at the Sanctuary and there is nothing to disprove its use as an astronomical time piece. Indeed I would hazard that this use best fits the evidence of the enigmatic concentric rings.

As a  sundial the Sanctuary circle would indicate the following dates based upon the noon day sun.

Date	Event
20/21 December	Midwinter solstice
30 November/11 January	21/22 days from solstice
4 February (normally 2 February)	Imbolc - Celtic festival
5 November (normally 1st November)	Samhain - Celtic festival
14 February (27 October)	St. Valentine's Day(?)
5 April (7 September)	Easter?
7 May (normally 1st May)	Beltane - Celtic festival
6 August (normally 1/2 August)	Lugnasad - Celtic festival
27 May/ 17 July	24/25 days from midsummer
Dates generated by The Sanctuary Stone Circle using the noon day sun angles throughout the year, based upon a shadow pole of 8 ft 9 inche or 2.6 metres) in height.

In order to operate effectively the priests and priestesses of the Sanctuary would need such a timepiece for establishing a rhythm for the great Festivals that undoubtedly took place at Avebury. If they did not use the Sanctuary for this purpose, to which it was ideally suited, where did they establish their Sundial?

Such ideas are speculative showing how such a calendar might have worked, rather than affirming the validity of the dates depicted. If such a pole were erected, the morning light of the Sun would cast a shadow across the circle to the great avenue of stones that leads down from the Sanctuary to the Avebury monument. Over the space of just two hours, the shadow line would open the gateway that gives access to this processional path. Through this simple means the timing of festivals and ceremonies could be judged to perfection.

There are a number of other similar monuments to the Sanctuary such as the one at Durrington Walls that comprise concentric rings of wood and stone. Orthodoxy suggests that these buildings were thatched over, in which case their calendrical function would be greatly reduced, unless of course certain sections, particularly to the south, remained open to the sky allowing for specific solar alignments to be highlighted.

Avebury - Its Sacred Geometry

Avebury from the air with a crop-circle close byView looking to the west. The North entrance is on the right and the South entrance the left.

Avebury
The Avebury henge, although not as well known as Stonehenge, dwarfs the latter in its size and structure. Antiquarian John Aubrey writing around 1665 stated Avebury 'did as much excel Stonehenge, as a Cathedral does a Parish Church'. Built over a period of time commencing around 2700 BC it covers a levelled circular area of some 28.5 acres with a diameter of over a quarter of a mile and still includes today a number of massive stones weighing up to ninety tons. The ravages of human despoliation over several hundred years has seen the destruction of much of this temple site, which originally boasted over six hundred large stones, few of which now remain. Re-erection work this century has restored something of its original grandeur and, despite the missing stones, it is still a very impressive place to visit.
Henge monuments, distributed throughout Britain (although mainly lying on the western side of the country) were first built around 3,000 BC. They comprise a circular bank with a ditch on the inside making them useless for defence and, as such, it is inferred that they must have been established for religious purposes. In most cases the bank and ditch would have been no more than a few feet in height. With Stonehenge the work of the humble earthworm, over time, has reduced this feature to being now almost indiscernible.
Not so with Avebury, where it is still very prominent. The ditch alone originally extended to a depth of around 10 metres (33 feet) whilst the bank rose to a height of about 6 metres (20 feet). Whilst statistics can be boring Aubrey Burl in his book Prehistoric Avebury has estimated that the ninety thousand cubic metres of chalk removed from the ditch, which is over a kilometre in length, had about the same cubic content as the seven pyramids erected by the Vth dynasty Egyptian pharaohs between 2560 and 2420 BC; a time comparable to the building of the Avebury monument. It has been calculated that the bank and ditch alone at Avebury would have taken 250 people over twenty years to complete. This would have been an enormous undertaking for the small community that was thought to have lived in the area at the time. At its completion it was the premier megalithic site in Britain and still remains so today.
I have on many occasions throughout the ensuing years and at different seasons stood within the precincts of this mysterious place, my body tingling with the "atmosphere" that I have sensed there. Often I have leant against one of the giant Sarsen stones, wondering at the people who built this edifice. What was its purpose? Why spend so much time and effort unless there was a powerful reason? What further secrets had this place still to reveal?
If the construction of the bank and ditch was a mammoth task the erection of the Sarsen stones was an equally monumental undertaking. Although a relatively local and extremely hard rock, these giant blocks would have had to have been dragged several miles before being erected in their pre-determined positions. In 1934 an experienced foreman and twelve inexperienced workman took five days to re-erect a relatively small eight ton stone in the nearby Avenue.
The western edge of the circumference of the Eastern great circle of the Marlborough Downs passes through the Avebury henge.
Extract from The Keys to the Temple

Fig. 1 Plan view of the Avebury henge with it hidden geometry.

The Hidden Geometry of the Avebury Henge
The geometry of the Avebury henge contains a number of interesting features and is multi-layered. What is shown here represents but a small part of what might originally have been intended.
As can be seen the henge is not an exact circle with only the south-eastern part conforming to the circumference of a circle which also touches the stone circle in the south-west and the north. That nearly a quadrant (G) conforms to the circle shows that the Neolithic builders were quite capable of creating true circles when they wanted which is also demonstrated by the two inner circles (northern and southern). That larger parts of this monument were not circular must therefore have been deliberate with some greater plan in mind.
About ten stones in the southern-western segment form an alignment to point B which is set just outside of the southern entrance. Point A is represented by a stone in the north-eastern corner and point C sits in the middle of the western entrance of the henge.
In the primary triangle ABC line AB is on a true north/south axis.
Both triangles ADC and BDC are right angular (90 degrees). Therefore alignment DC is due east/west.
Point E is the placement of a huge stone called the Obelisk which has sadly now disappeared. This stone estimated to be over twenty feet tall would have cast a shadow on the sunrise of the equinoxes towards the western entrance of the henge. This is one way in which the henge also represented an astronomical calculator. Further solsticial alignments can be seen with the obelisk in that the setting sun of mid-winter would have cast a shadow towards the eastern entrance of the henge (see fig. 2). Additional seasonal alignments can be found between point C (western entrance) and point T (eastern entrance) which picks up the May day sunrise. This give further evidence that the Celtic calendar had its origins in the Neolithic period or, at least, a similar calendar was used then.

Fig. 2. A view of the Avebury henge from Google Earth showing the alignments from the Obelisk for the solstices and equinoxes. Shadow lines would emphasize these alignments.

The internal angles of triangle ADC are 40-50-90 which means that the ratio of side AD:DC = 5:6
BDC is a 3:4:5 Pythagorean triangle. We can therefore state that the ratio of AB:DC = 19:12. These numbers have significance in calendrical assessments. 19, for example being the number of years in the lunar metatonic cycle.
The size of the two inner circles are determined by the line AQ which passes through the centre (O) of the large circle. AQ and AB are tangents to the southern inner circle and line CD passes through it's centre. The northern circle is of similar size to the southern. Few stones now remain in this circle.

The Landscape Circles of the Marlborough Downs

Extract based on the book The Keys to the Temple

Introduction This article outlines the background and discover of a large twin-circle landscape pattern on the Marlborough Downs. It is run over several separate pages (see left panel), which includes the discovery, the relationship with other landscape features and finally its geometric link to the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

Fig 1. The Church Sites above Avebury

The Discovery In 1975 I made a discovery whilst looking at one of the old Ordnance Survey maps in the Avebury area. With a background in Town Planning I have had a life long interest in maps and this was enhanced when I came across Watkins idea of site alignments that linked together churches and other significant landscape points in straight lines, which Watkins called a "ley line" or simply a "ley". Leys are an anathema to the archeological establishment because they link sites of vastly different age ranges from the early Neolithic, like long barrows, to Medieval churches spanning a period in excess of three thousand years. To such minds this is highly improbable and in addition statisticians have looked at this concept and concurred that chance alone could account for most "leys". Nevertheless the idea has not quite gone away. Watkins believed, with some good reason, that old churches were built on much older sacred sites and therefore could well have retained a link back into the distant past. My researches into the patterns on the Marlborough Downs lends weight to the principles that Watkins suggested of ancient alignments to significant sites in the landscape. It was looking for "leys" on the map shown in the panel on the left that I made my discovery.

A Circle Emerges
I noticed four churches, in the villages of Winterbourne Monkton, Berwick Bassett, Winterbourne Bassett and Broad Hinton, above the famous henge monument of Avebury and looked to see if I could draw any straight lines between them. Watkins had claimed that at least four significant sites were required to create a "ley" and statistically six sites or more is likely to be possibly significant. As much as I tried to link these sites I could not yet the more I looked at them the more connected they seemed to be. And then I realised that perhaps it was not a straight line that linked them but a circle. So I got a large sheet of tracing paper, drew on it a circle to a radius of six miles, a distance which I had discovered seemed to be significant in other "ley" research and placed it on the map.

What emerged left me astounded for not only did the circle pick up all of the above sites but in addition another ten significant places fell on its circumference. This circle is shown below.

Fig. 2 The First Marlborough Downs Circle - Discovered in 1975

So here was something totally improbable. Instead of a straight line we had a circle, made up of fifteen significant sites. In all of my reaseaches into "leys" I have never come across an alignment of fifteen sites in such a short distance of just under thirty-seven and a half miles. Statistically this is of a very high order of probability.

A Second Circle
Having discovered the first circle I then looked to see if I could find any more in this area and eventually another emerged with exactly the same circular diameter.

Fig 3. The Western Circle of the Marlborough Downs complex.

This second circle had slightly fewer points, twelve in all, but still nevertheless a straight alignment with this number of points would still be very significant. This is reinforced by the fact that now two such circles would appear to exist, rather than just one, which, on its own, might have been a statistical quirk.

These circles are interlinked as the diagram below shows:

Fig. 4 The Twin Circle Pattern of the Marlborough Downs

Dimensions of the Circles

Circle	Radius	Circumference
Eastern Circle	9588 metres 5.958 miles	60.243 km 37.433 miles
Western Circle	9570 metres 5.947 miles	60.130 km 37.363 miles
Distance between centres	8124 metres 5.05 miles	Bearing between centres 242.1°(degrees)

Location Information
Click here for detailed information on the sites of the Marlborough Downs landscape circles giving OS grid references etc.

The Landscape Circles of the Marlborough Downs

Extract based on the book The Keys to the Temple

(part 1) by David Furlong

Set out in the landscape of Wiltshire there is a vast geometric pattern comprising two interlocking circles which stretches over nearly seventeen miles. Even more remarkable these circles provide a clue to the hidden geometry of the most famous monument of the ancient world. For set out across the rolling hills of the Marlborough Downs is the geometric cross-sectional plan relationship with the Great Pyramid of Egypt. (See Fig 1)

Fig 1.    Plan showing the Marlborough Downs Landscape Circles. Click image to enlarge.

It took more than twenty-years meticulous research and the advent of the desk top computer to be able to prove beyond doubt that this pattern exists and to uncover many of the tantalising mysteries that it holds. The discovery arose from my interest in looking for alignments of ancient sites which sometimes are referred to as 'leys'. The concept of 'leys' was first proposed by Alfred Watkins in his book 'The Old Straight Track' published in 1925. Watkins suggested that ancient sites were deliberately aligned to each other as part of an ancient communication system. Watkins also included Medieval churches in his alignments, because these were often built on known pagan sacred sites. There is some evidence to support Watkin's ideas although the concept of 'leys' has not found any favour with the archaeological fraternity.In the late sixties a renewed interest in Watkins work suggested that there might be a connection between 'leys' and natural earth 'energy' currents; that it was these terrestrial 'energy' pathways that our ancient forebears were marking through their stone circles, henge monuments, tumuli, standing stones and similar sacred sites. This is a contentious area with some alignment researchers eschewing any notion of an 'energy' connection, whilst others define all 'leys' as 'energy' alignments. What all 'ley' hunters agree is that these alignments are straight, not curved and can be shown to be accurate over distances up to twenty miles.

Yet here I was with my discovery of not one, but two, interlocking circles of identical size, comprising more than twenty-eight sites with radii a fraction under 6 miles and circumferences of just over 37 miles. Both circles comprise a series of individual points which includes megalithic sites such as Avebury and the East Kennett long barrow, as well as churches. In the case of the churches these have been carefully examined and large non-indigenous Sarsen stones can often be seen in their foundations suggesting the possibility that these churches were indeed built on older pagan sites. The church at Clyffe Pypard is particular significant in this respect. Nor as I was to discover are these the only two circles of this size for set out over the Cotswolds is another example

Dating the Circles
If we include the earliest known sites in the pattern, which in the Eastern circle is probably the East Kennett long barrow we would have the earliest possible date for the circles creation of between 5100 BP to 5500 BP (3100 BC - 3500 BC). However many of the megalithic sites, such as Avebury itself, are a little more recent. We might therefore assume that this pattern was set out somewhere between 4500 BP - 5200BP to (2500 BC - 3200 BC). Yet how could a Neolithic people, using only simple equipment have created such an amazing landscape pattern?

Corroborative evidence
The position of the various sites is determined by grid-reference. These can be used to accurately assess mathematically the spatial placement of the sites in relationship to each other. My calculations for the circles have been re-checked by a statistician and have been shown to have a very high probability. Computer calculations were also to prove that, incredibly, these circles are, almost, exactly proportional to the equatorial circumference of the earth by the enigmatic ratio 1:666

An analysis of the geometric relationship of these circles was to show that they are connected by the same fundamental geometry as that found within the Great Pyramid of Egypt. The superimposition of a proportionally enlarged cross-section of the Great Pyramid onto a large map of the area shows the alignment of the Grand Gallery and Ascending passage to the centre of one of the circles. The King's Chamber point in this Great Pyramid section, located on the ground at a place known as Temple Farm, once owned by the Knight Templar, is highlighted by the well known St. Michael's alignment, named thus because it passes through a number of churches dedicated to St. Michael. This alignment begins at St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, runs through Glastonbury Tor and onto to Bury St. Edmunds, passing through Avebury and a number of other significant sites en route. It so happens that this major line runs parallel to the alignment of centres of the two circle. Moreover one of the key points on the St. Michael line and a circumference point of the eastern circle is Avebury henge which is largest monument of its kind in the whole of the British Isles.

Fig 2.     St Michael Alignment

So here we have two circles surveyed and set out in the landscape, very closely proportional to the size of the Earth, and containing within their geometry a cross-sectional plan of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Setting out an alignment of sites over several miles would be quite within the known capabilities of Neolithic people; creating a circle to a set dimension, nearly twelve miles in diameter, is a very different proposition which would fully tax even the best modern surveyors. My discovery therefore seemed totally at odds with what was known about the Neolithic peoples, despite their technical skills. I was to spend the next twenty years working out how these landscape patterns might have been executed. The answers, when they came, proved to be most illuminating, resolving some enduring mysteries and showing both a simplicity as well as an amazing sophistication in how this was achieved.
The peoples of Britain in the late Neolithic period were, without doubt, a highly organised and intelligent race, possessing great skills in surveying, engineering, mathematics and astronomy.
© David Furlong 1998

David has been working as a healer, therapist and researcher for more than 40 years. He is the author of six books including The Healer Within and Working With Earth Energies
To contact David click here

The definitive book onWorking With Earth Energies. 
Click here for more details.

The book The Keys To The Temple from which the article is taken. Click the image for further details.

The twin circles of theMarlborough Downs

Click to enlarge

The four church sites of:
Winterbourne Monkton,Berwick Bassett,Winterbourne Bassettand Broad Hinton that led to the discovery of the landscape circles. Click to enlarge

Avebury from the air. One of the key points on the Eastern Circle.

Part of the Avebury Henge

The Giant's Grave: one of the points on the circumference of the Eastern Circle.

The East Kennett long barrow. A key point on the Eastern Circle.

Bishops Cannings Church. One of the key points on the Western Circle

Useful Links follow on articles giving more details of other landscape patterns.
Twin circles of the Marlborough Downs explores sacred patterns of Wiltshire
Marlborough Downs Sites a tour of the sites that make up the twin circle pattern
The Cotswold Circle an article on a similar sized circle that over-lights the Cotswold area
The Hidden Geometry of Avebury a look at the hidden geometry of Avebury
Silbury Hill and the Sanctuary an article on significance of Silbury Hill and the Sanctuary
The Keys to the Temple information on the book The Keys to the Temple by David Furlong

For further information please write to: David Furlong Myrtles, Como Road, Malvern Worcs WR14 2TH Tel: +44 (0)1684-569105 or Mobile: + 44 (0)777-978-9047 Email: David Furlong

The Landscape Circles of the Marlborough Downs

INTRODUCTION - Part 2

Based on the book The Keys to the Temple

Introduction
In the first introduction article I recounted my discovery of the twin circle pattern. This article takes the process forward another stage and considers its relationship to a wider patterning, particularly the Michael line, proposed by author John Michell and also to a possible relationship with the size of the Earth.

The plan below shows the pattern as it was first discovered. It was to take a number of years before I was able to crack the geometric code that linked these two circles but the first observation was that the centres fell inside the circumference of the opposite circle rather than being on the circumference, which is what one might expect if the pattern had been deliberately created, for then it would form a true 'vesica piscis' design.

Fig. 1 The Twin Circle Pattern of the Marlborough Downs

The Elements of the Pattern
In accordance with any true "ley" this pattern contains elements that span a vast period of time in human terms. The oldest site is probably the East Kennett long barrow whose great tree topped humbed back extends for over 100 metres and runs parallel with the circumference of the eastern circle. This barrow could potentially make a wonderful sighting point and was probably erected circa 3000 BCE although no full excavations have been carried out to determine more precise dates.. At the other end of the scale I have included two post refomation churches, which date from the 1800's, One is the church of St. Katherines in Savernake Forest and the othera Wesleyan chapel in Pewsey. These latter sites are probably just coincidences and only marginally detract from the statistical significance of the pattern.

Most of the churches are Norman or earlier and in some cases there is evidence that they might be built on older sites as many stone features old stone features built into the foundations, such as the church at Clyffe Pypard. Watkins believed that pre-reformation chuches were built on much older sacred sites and in so doing povided a link to a much earler archeological period.

Foundation stone - Clyffe Pypard ch	Large sarsen stone adjoining Winterbourne Monkton ch.	Foundation stone at Winterbourne Bassett ch	Foundation stone church unrecorded

If the pattern was created deliberately then the most likely explanation was that the conception and execution must have taken place at a time contemporary with the building of the Avebury henge and the East Kennett long barrow, which would be around 3000 BCE (Before Common Era).

No significant site can be found at the two centres of the two circles although in both cases these could have been removed or grubbed out by later developments. The eastern centre lies close to an old railway embankment, whilst the western centre lies in an open ploughed field. Within two hundred metres of this theoretical position lies a woodland copse containing a number of large Sarsen stones. These had obviously been removed from a field at some stage to facilitate poughing but there previous position could not be determined.

The Michael Line
In his seminal book 'View Over Atlantis' John Michell described a possible alignment, which he called a 'Dragon Path' that linked together the sites of St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, with Glastonbury Tor, Avebury and the Abbey Church at Bury St. Edmunds. The henge at Avebury is one of the principal features of this pattern, so the obvious next step was to plot onto the plan this Michael line to see where it ran in relation to circles. The diagram below shows this

Fig. 2 The Twin circles of the Marlborough Downs with the Michael Line plotted on

Careful checks were made on the accuracy of the Michael Line by mathematically calculating the alignment from OS grid data, but what became apparent was that the alignment of the centres of the two circles ran parallel to Michell's proposed alignment. For full details of the Michael alignment please click here.

If "leys" themselves have failed to be accepted by the archeological establishment the concept of long distant alignments would be even less likely to be considered a possibility. At this stage of the discovery I could make no sense of the connection between the circles and the Michael Line except this curious resonant relationship. It seemed like some great cosmic joke full of elements that should be totally impossible. For how could a Neolithic people, using only basic equipment, have set out in the landscape a vast twin circle pattern with each circle being a fraction under twelve miles in diameter and in addition have established the long distant alignment claimed by Michell.

Earth Measures
At some early stage of this discovery I decided to see whether there might be any connection with the Earth's proportions, either the equatorial circumference or the meridian line between the equator and the pole. Because of the bulge of the Earth and polar flattening these two measures are slightly different.

The mean radius of the two circles is (9588 + 9570)/2 metres = 9579 metres and the mean circumference (60.243 + 60.130)/ km = 60.187 km. (see Keys Intro Part 1).

The equatorial circumference of the Earth = 40,075.02 km
The meridional quadrant of the Earth = 10001.97 km

If we divide the mean circumference of the circles into these two figures we get the following:

• 665.847 ratio of circle circumference to equator
• 166.182 ratio of circle circumference to meridian (pole to equator)

It was the first of these figures that looked the most intriguing for it is very close to that enigmatic number 666. If we turned this equation the other way around and asked what is 1/666th part of the equatorial circumference then the answer is 40,075.02/666 = 60.1727 km. If we translate this circumference back into the radius then the answer is 60.1727/2/pi = 9577 m. In other words only two metres difference between the actual mean and a theoretic mean if the intention was to form a circle in resonance with the Earth's equatorial circumference by the ratio 666. For further discussion on the significance of this number click here.

It is fun playing with numbers and this connection between the Earth and the Marlborough Circles is probably entirely coincidental. Yet if this was the desired intention then it indicates a far higher order of understanding from our Neolithic ancestors than we could every have supposed. It implies that not only did they know the world was round but also its size!

Location Information
Click here for detailed information on the sites of the Marlborough Downs landscape circles giving OS grid references etc.

Statistical Analysis
Click here for a statistical analysis of the Marlborough Downs landscape circles.