AMESBURY

'Amesbury' is a town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, eight miles north of Salisbury. Stonehenge is in the parish of Amesbury.

Contents

Geography

History

Amesbury Abbey and Priory

Notes

Geography

Amesbury is located at (51.1667,
-1.7833)¹. The burial site of the Amesbury Archer (see below) has lent itself to the founding of a junior school and over 500 new homes. This estate will be known as the Archer's Gate, and this theme is continued to the Solstice Park development, in which many shops are named after Amesbury's historical ancestor.

History

:''See also Stonehenge''.
In 2002, the discovery of the richest Bronze Age burial site yet found in Britain was made at Amesbury. The remains of two men of apparently aristocratic rank were accompanied by over 100 objects including arrowheads, copper knives and gold earrings. The occupant of the more richly furnished grave has become known as the "Amesbury Archer"..
One mile to the west of the town is a concealed Iron Age hill fort, now overgrown by woods. This is known locally as "Vespasian's Camp" (after the Roman general, later Emperor, who campaigned through this part of the island). It has never been excavated.
Marked on 17th century maps as "Ambersbury", it has been suggested that it was so named after Ambrosius Aurelianus, leader of the Romano-British resistance against the Saxon invasions in the 5th century. Amesbury is also associated with the Arthurian legend: the convent to which Guinevere retired was said to have been the one at Amesbury. The present village was founded in 979, although the site had already been settled as the location of this convent.

Amesbury Abbey and Priory

A Benedictine abbey, the Abbey of St. Mary and St. Melor, was founded near Amesbury after 979, in memory of Elfrida.^[1] This was on the site of a previous monastery.^[2]
It was dissolved in 1177, as a result of a scandal. Its church was taken over by Amesbury Priory^[3], a refoundation by nuns from Fontevrault^[4], and is still in use^[5].

Notes

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