Abury, A Temple of the British Druids, With Some Others, Described

In Short

This landmark eighteenth-century antiquarian work surveys the prehistoric megalithic complex at Avebury and surrounding Wiltshire sites to prove they were constructed by ancient British Druids. Combining field measurements with scriptural analysis and classical philology, the text argues that these massive stone structures formed a grand symbol depicting a winged circle with a serpent. It asserts that the Druids practiced an uncorrupted, patriarchal faith rooted in Abrahamic traditions, retaining pure insights into the divine nature before pagan idolatry took hold. The book stands as a foundational text in British archaeology and romantic antiquarianism.

The Story

The work opens with an urgent plea to preserve Britain’s ancient heritage, dedicated to the Earl of Pembroke, a fellow lover of national antiquities. The core argument immediately takes shape: the vast stone circles and avenues at Avebury, along with sites like Stonehenge, Rowldrich, and Silbury Hill, are neither natural rock formations nor Roman military works, but the sophisticated sacred architecture of British Druids.

The investigation details the immense layout of Avebury. The central site features a vast circular portico framed by 100 enormous, unhewn stones, from which two long stone avenues extend like a serpentine body. One avenue leads south-east toward Overton Hill to form the snake's head, while another stretches toward Beckhampton to complete its tail. The author painstakingly maps these coordinates, demonstrating that the entire ground plan forms an ancient, symbolic figure—a circle combined with a serpent and wings—representing the divine essence and creation.

To explain how such monuments came to exist in Britain, the narrative traces an ambitious history of post-flood migrations. It posits that Phoenician traders, led by an Egyptian Hercules or figures descended from the patriarchs, colonized the British Isles shortly after Noah’s era. These early settlers brought with them the primordial, uncorrupted religion of Abraham. The Druids were not savage pagans, but highly educated patriarchal priests who preserved the monotheistic understanding of a supreme first cause, observed the sabbath, and anticipated the divine mediator.

Throughout the survey, a note of grief sounds for the physical destruction of Avebury. Local villagers, driven by short-sighted greed for farmland, regularly destroy these megaliths by digging pits, heating the stones over roaring fires, and smashing them with sledgehammers. Against this destruction, the text records exact measurements, orientations, and field observations to preserve the memory of the stones.

The final sections move into a philosophical defense of the Druids' intellectual sophistication. Through theological reasoning and comparisons with ancient Egyptian, Chaldean, and Platonist symbolic systems, the author demonstrates how the Druids used natural geometry to express divine truths. The work closes with examinations of earthen earthworks, such as Humbers Castle, showing how the same sacred geometric symbols were reproduced in earth where stone was scarce, before concluding its sweeping survey of Britain's ancient sacred geography.

How It Unfolds

The sacred architecture revealed The investigation begins by categorizing British stone monuments into circular, serpentine, and winged shapes. It argues these plans directly mirror ancient hieroglyphic representations of the divine nature transmitted from patriarchal times.

Mapping the grand serpent Field observations lay out the immense scale of Avebury, tracing the central circular ditch and the long avenues of Kennet and Beckhampton. The serpentine path is shown to follow natural curves, terminating at circular stone heads and coves across the landscape.

The destruction of the stones The account pauses to record the tragic, ongoing demolition of the site by local farmers. It details how destructors like Tom Robinson use fire, cold water, and sledgehammers to break up 22-foot stones for building materials and pasturage.

Traces of an oriental heritage Discoveries of ancient chariots and artifacts are linked to early Phoenician and Egyptian colonists under Hercules. The narrative constructs a chronology linking early British settlers directly to the post-flood migrations of biblical patriarchs.

Philosophical and geometric synthesis The survey shifts to a theoretical defense of Druidical theology, demonstrating how reason allowed them to grasp divine emanations. It concludes by examining earthen mounds like Humbers Castle, proving the same winged-circle symbol was executed in earth across the island.

The People

• William Stukeley: The author and dedicated antiquarian field investigator. He is driven by a desire to measure, record, and protect Britain’s prehistoric monuments before they are destroyed by local landowners, seeking to prove their deep connections to biblical history.
• The Earl of Pembroke (Henry): The author's patron, a nobleman and collector of classical antiquities. He encourages the publication of the research and validates the aesthetic and engineering grandeur of Britain's ancient monuments alongside classical Greek and Roman marbles.
• Tom Robinson: Described as the "Herostratus of Abury," he is a local villager who systematically destroys the ancient megaliths. Driven by economic gain, he devises methods to heat and shatter the colossal stones to clear pasture and harvest building materials.
• Reuben Horsall: The parish clerk of Avebury and lover of antiquity. He serves as an essential local source, remembering lost standing stones and assisting in the tracking of demolished megaliths.
• Hercules (Melcartus): The legendary Tyrian and Egyptian navigator. In the text's historical narrative, he represents the early oriental ocean farers who brought patriarchal religion, chariot craft, and advanced learning to the British Isles.

In Its Own Voice

"A symmetry and harmony of parts, an amazing grandeur in the design, the incredible force of the mechanick powers employ’d in them, the most magnificent effect produc’d, will for ever recommend the works of the Druids..."

From the dedication to the Earl of Pembroke, framing the architectural brilliance of the ancient stone structures.

"First they dug great pits in the earth, and buried them... After this, they found out the knack of burning them; which has made most miserable havock of this famous temple."

Describing the destructive methods used by Wiltshire villagers to clear the megaliths from their fields.

"They were a great and learned people... they worship’d the true God, and their ideas of religion were truly grand, sublime, magnificent."

Reflecting on the intellectual and spiritual sophistication of the ancient Druidic order.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book is an ambitious attempt to integrate national British heritage into sacred biblical history. It seeks to rescue the Druids from classical accounts of barbarism, recasting them as enlightened guardians of an original, pure monotheism. By decoding the layout of Avebury as an immense serpentine symbol (Knephtha), the argument asserts that true divine knowledge was woven into the very landscape of ancient Britain. The work is equally a defense of field archaeology against physical destruction and intellectual skepticism, insisting that tangible, spatial evidence on the ground can unlock the lost theological and historical truths of the pre-Roman world.

Why Read It Today

This volume is a foundational landmark for anyone interested in the history of archaeology, antiquarianism, and the mythology of ancient Britain. Reading it offers a fascinating glimpse into the eighteenth-century mind, where empirical landscape survey, classical philology, and biblical literalism blended into a singular, imaginative vision. The text conveys an incredible passion for field research; the author's physical delight in walking the downy turf of Wiltshire and taking precise measurements shines through every page.

It is not always an easy read for modern audiences. The prose is heavy with eighteenth-century punctuation, long sentences, and dense digressions into Hebrew etymologies, ancient genealogies, and classical citations. Yet, beneath the complex biblical scholarship lies a deeply poignant narrative of preservation. The author's outrage at the destruction of Avebury's stones by sledgehammer and fire reads with surprising modern urgency. Readers willing to navigate its period eccentricities will discover a poetic, foundational text that forever transformed how we view the prehistoric megaliths of the English countryside.