Amesbury

History

The land around Amesbury has been settled since prehistoric times, evidenced by the monument of Stonehenge. In 2014, archaeologists from the University of Buckingham found Amesbury had been continually occupied since 8,820BC, causing The Guardian to write that Amesbury was "in effect where British history began". Other finds in the parish point to large-scale prehistoric structures and settlements in the area, including Bluestonehenge at West Amesbury, the numerous other monuments around Stonehenge, and the discovery of a Neolithic village in the neighbouring parish of Durrington by the Stonehenge Riverside Project. Excavations in 2002 and 2003 at Boscombe Down by Wessex Archaeology found the Amesbury Archer and Boscombe Bowmen. It is likely that there was a large Romano-British settlement overlooking the River Avon at this point. It is possible that an order of monks established a monastery in the area, that was destroyed by the Saxons before they settled the area in the 7th century. King Alfred the Great left Amesbury in his will, a copy of which is in the British Library, to his youngest son Aethelweard (–922). In 1086, Domesday Book recorded a settlement named Amblesberie or Ambresberie with 111 households and eight mills. The largest estate was held by Wilton Abbey, and other land was held by Edward of Salisbury. In 979 AD, a Benedictine abbey, the Abbey of St Mary and St Melor, was founded on what may have been the site of a previous monastery, by Dowager Queen Ælfthryth. In 1177 the abbey was dissolved by Henry II Henry III visited the priory several times, and his widow Eleanor of Provence retired there in 1286, leading to visits by her son, Edward I; his daughter Mary of Woodstock and niece Eleanor of Brittany had already entered the convent when…

Geography

Amesbury is located in southern Wiltshire, north-northeast of Salisbury on the A345. It sits in the River Avon valley on the southern fringes of Salisbury Plain and has historically been considered an important river crossing area on the road from London to Warminster and Exeter. This has continued into the present with the building of the A303 road across the Avon next to the town. Originally the town developed around the water meadows next to several bends in the river, but in time has spread onto the valley hillsides and absorbed part of the military airfield at Boscombe Down.

Most-observed species

• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  30
• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  22
• Red-eyed Vireo

  Vireo olivaceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  19
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  18
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  17
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  15
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  14
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14