47 Monuments to Explore in England

An 'avenue', originally of around 100 pairs of prehistoric standing stones, raised to form a winding 1 1/2 mile ritual link between the pre-existing monuments of Avebury and The Sanctuary. Part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. Excavations by Stuart Piggott and Alexander Keiller in the 1930s indicated that around 100 pairs of standing stones had lined the avenue, dated to around 2200 BC from finds of Beaker burials beneath some of them. Many stones have fallen or are missing, however.

One of the largest, most impressive and most accessible Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain. Built in around 3650 BC, it was used for a short time as a burial chamber, nearly 50 people being buried here before the chambers were blocked. Part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. Archaeologists have established that the monument was built by pastoralist communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to Britain from continental Europe.

Westbury College Gatehouse is a 15th-century gatehouse that once controlled access to a College of Priests. The gatehouse served as the main entrance into a complex of buildings based around a quadrangle. The gatehouse was built from 1459-1469 by John Carpenter, the Bishop of Bath and Wells as part of his ambitious plan to extend the earlier college. it is now one of the important monuments here and is visited by many tourists.

Westgate was built during the One Hundred Years’ War to defend Canterbury from foreign incursion. It was the largest and arguably the finest of the country’s surviving medieval gateways. The 60-foot high stronghold did not stand alone, as it does now, but was approached vero a drawbridge across the River Stour, and flanked by impressive walls. It is the last survivor of Canterbury's seven medieval gates, still well-preserved and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks.

This 14th century gatehouse belonged to the nearby Cistercian abbey, which was once the second wealthiest monastery in Lancashire. The abbey was founded in 1296 by the De Lacy family for monks from Stanlow Abbey in Cheshire and grew to become the second most powerful abbey in Lancashire. The ruins of the abbey are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

White Sheet Hill is another fine example of elevated chalk grassland which has evidence of ancient history at its summit. It has a neolithic enclosure dating back to 3,000 BC, and an Iron Age hill fort at the top. There are also Bronze Age barrows, some of which are clearly visible. It is incredible to think they have survived for 3 to 4,000 years. The Roman road which runs along the hill was at one time the main route through the Selwood Forest. The hill is part of the Stourhead estate and has

Woodhenge is a Neolithic henge and timber circle monument near Stonehenge. It is part of the UNESCO Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, 2 miles north-east of Stonehenge. Woodhenge was identified from an aerial photograph taken by Squadron Leader Gilbert Insall, VC, in 1926, during the same period that an aerial archaeology survey of Wessex.