| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Wiltshire, United Kingdom |
| Part of | Avebury Section of Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites |
| Criteria | Cultural: (i), (ii), (iii) |
| Reference | 373bis-002 |
| Inscription | 1986 (10th Session) |
| Extensions | 2008 |
| Coordinates | 51°26′30″N 1°52′34″W / 51.44153°N 1.87622°W |
  Location of Windmill Hill, Avebury in Wiltshire | |
Windmill Hill is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure in the English county of Wiltshire, part of the Avebury World Heritage Site, about 1 mile (2 km) northwest of Avebury. Enclosing an area of 21 acres (8.5 ha), it is the largest known causewayed enclosure in Britain.[1] The site was first occupied around 3800 BC, although the only evidence is a series of pits apparently dug by an agrarian society using Hembury pottery.[citation needed]
During a later phase, c. 3700 BC,[2] three concentric segmented ditches were placed around the hilltop site, the outermost with a diameter of 365 metres.[citation needed] The causeways interrupting the ditches vary in width from a few centimetres to 7 m. Material from the ditches was piled up to create internal banks; the deepest ditches and largest banks are on the outer circuit. In the same period there was also a rectangular mortuary enclosure.[3]
The site was designated as a scheduled monument in 1925.[3] It came into the ownership of the National Trust in 1942[4] and is under the guardianship of English Heritage.[5]
- ^ "History of Windmill Hill". English Heritage. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ Historic England. "Windmill Hill Causewayed Enclosure (19191)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ a b Historic England. "A causewayed enclosure, the core of a round barrow cemetery, part of a prehistoric field system and an associated mortuary enclosure on Windmill Hill (1008446)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ Smith, Isobel (1959). "Excavations at Windmill Hill, Avebury, Wilts, 1957-8". Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. 57: 149–162 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ "Windmill Hill, Avebury". English Heritage. Retrieved 20 February 2021.