We took a road to trip to see Avebury and Raglan Castle in South Wales. Avebury is the largest stone circle in the United Kingdom, much larger in circumference than Stonehenge though without the impressive trilithons. It was built about 4,000 years ago and figures in an alignment with other stone age monuments nearby such as Silbury Hill. The town of Avebury grew up right in the middle of the circle on the old crossroads. The surviving bits are the henge (the standing stones in a circle), the surrounding ditch, and some small stone enclosures inside the circle. The circle stood basically intact until about 1350 when it was systematically destroyed, probably by church authorities trying to stamp out continuing pagan worship there. In the early twentieth century, a marmalade tycoon (not making this up) moved to the town and started re-erecting as many stones as he could. About halfway through the effort, he died, and no one took up the mantle. So, it's a kind of semicircle these days.

When we arrived it started raining and was quite chilly. Here we all are decked out in our rain gear!

Ethan loves to climb!

We had lunch at a pub called the Red Lion in the town that is in the center of the stone Circle.

Raglan Castle was one of the last defensive castles built in Wales, in the late 15th century. It quickly evolved into a fancy house, mostly. Much of the castle is extant, despite the royalists' efforts to blow it up during the civil war.

Here are some interior shots of the castle remains.

Leanna takes a break to read about the castle history.

Raglan still has a moat. Here is Ethan looking out over the moat. Yes that is water - it just has lots of plant life growing in it.