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Map of Avebury World Heritage Site.
3d terrain map model of avebury from the GIS database Webpage for Stonehenge.
The landscape of the Avebury World Heritage Site includes ancient field systems, barrow cemeteries, and other prehistoric earthworks scattered along the rolling chalk downs. This landscape together with the major ceremonial monuments, such as Avebury Stone Circle, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, the Sanctuary, and Windmill Hill, provides a unique testament to great acts of communal endeavour and a vivid demonstration of the spirit and achievements of our prehistoric ancestors. The mystery of the landscape lies in its overlapping layers of past human activity: Neolithic stones and earthworks jostle with the medieval setting of Avebury village and its surrounding field systems.
The importance and appeal of Avebury, which for centuries has attracted numerous visitors, has been recognised by its designation in 1987, together with Stonehenge, as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. EH is the lead body for the development of management plans for World Heritage Sites in England, and is funding a two year collaborative project with the National Trust to complete a management plan for Avebury by the end of 1998. The project is being guided by the Avebury World Heritage Site Working Party, which comprises representatives from EH, the National Trust, ICOMOS, the local authorities, and local interest groups. In this way, the plan will provide a framework for co-ordinated management.
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Although the central third of the World Heritage Site is owned by the National Trust and managed for the purposes of conservation and public access, the remainder is an intensely farmed landscape with a thriving local community living in the village at the core of the site. The area within the Avebury World Heritage Site is, therefore, subject to a variety of pressures from modern life, including tourism (more than 250,000 visitors a year), agriculture, and development. The main aim will be to recommend policies to achieve the right balance between the needs of conservation, access, the interests of the local community, and economic growth within the area. Understanding the resource is vital to the production of a good management plan, requiring plenty of research, survey and consultation. As part of the project, EH has employed consultants to undertake a landscape assessment, and visitor, and traffic management assessment of the World Heritage Site. EH's CAS is also developing a GIS database for Avebury to complement that already in existence for Stonehenge, which will aid the production and implementation of plan. These three components will form some of the main building blocks of the World Heritage Site Management Plan.
The key to the success of the plan is consultation and the involvement of local people. A visitor survey and a number of local community discussion workshops have been held, and a substantial public consultation exercise is planned for early in 1998 when the first consultation draft plan will have been completed. The Management Plan, following international guidelines, will identify medium and long term objectives to be achieved within the next 5-30 years, and will aim to:
- widen public awareness of the sensitivity of the site
- guide the development of policy and good practice for its future management
- adopt the principles of sustainable tourism
- arrest the processes of decay
- keep the area as a living landscape whilst minimizing the impact of change
- maintain the special character of the area
- form a basis for future monitoring to safeguard the landscape
The Management Plan will endeavour to command widespread support and provide guidance which will lead to an increased understanding, respect and care for this World Heritage Site which is locally cherished and internationally recognised. Avebury World Heritage Site Email: wavmcp@smtp.ntrust.org.uk