[ 290 ]
of green with occasional spots of the most brilliant white. Abury would make a pleasing picture: a wooded village, standing upon the skirt of Salis- bury-plain, with no objects in its immediate neigh- bourhood; a thatched house appearing here and there amongst the trees, and the tower of its Gothic church rising over their solemn heads. The remains of its temple are not seen till we are close upon the village, and the stones are then so irre- gular, that it would be difficult to ascertain what their original arrangement was, were we not as- sisted by the remarks of Mr. Aubrey, and the accurate Stukely; the latter of whom, animated by an unconquerable patience and a warm passion for British antiquities, examined this remain with the most minute attention, and afterwards commu- nicated the result of his observations to the public in a folio volume. From these gentlemen we learn the following particulars: The whole of Abury " is environed with an immense circular rampart or terrace of earth sixty feet broad, and a ditch within it of the same breadth; the diameter is fourteen hundred feet, the circumference four thou- sand eight hundred feet, and the area inclosed ! v.\ nty-two acres. The first circle of stones within l\ s area is thirteen hundred feet in diameter, and consisted of one hundred stones from fifteen to
�� �
