Of the anticinitree not Roman, the most striking are those of Stone henge and A.VEDMIT. There are some traces of a British road, or tract-way, known as the Ridgway, running across Salisbury Plain, from Ileyteabury, by John a'Gore's Cross, Itedhorn turnpike (on the road from Salisbury to Devizes), by the village of Charlton-on-the Avon, across Walker's IIill, by the village of East Kennet, over llackpen Hill and Shelbarrow Hill into Berkshire; throughout which county it may still be traced.
Wansdyke, or Wanaditch, is a vast earthen rampart, with a ditch on the north aide, which extends, though net uninterruptedly, through the county. Its length in Wiltshire, from its divergence from the Roman road to the Berkshire border, is about 19 miles, including gaps. The origin of Wansdyke is unknown, but it was probably a boundary between different kingdoms. Aubrey supposed it to have been the ancient boundary of the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercies Stukeley supposes it to have been made by the Belgre, to secure their territories from the Celtz. Sir It. C. Hoare seems to have regarded it as a Belgic work, repaired or reconstructed by the Saxons. Mr. Guest, in a paper read before the Archaeological Institute, and since published in the Journal of the Institute (viii. 143, &c.), has carefully traced the work and ascertained its present condition : he considers it to have been the boundary between the Belem and the Dobuni.
There are numerous other banks and ditches to be traced on the clowns; some perhaps for boundaries or for defence, like Wansdyke, have one rampart and a ditch ; whilst others were no doubt roads, and consist of is broad level way between two banks. Old-ditch may be traced on the downs, north of Warminster and Heytesbury, running eastward by Chittern, or Chiltem-All-Saints, and Tilshead, till it terminates in another ditch running at right angles to it ; its length is about 11 miles, including gaps or intervals; the transverse ditch, in which it terminates, can be traced for above two miles.
The most remarkable feature of the topography of Wiltshire is that extraordinary group of stoners which has received the name of Stone. Lenge. It is an assemblage of upright, horizontal, and prostrate stones situated on Salisbury Plain, about 2 miles W. from Amesbury, and 9 miles N. from Salisbury. From its singular character Stonehenge has attracted more attention than any other relic of primeval antiquity in Great Britain. Many of the stones have been squared, or hewn by
art, and the horizontal atones of the outer circle are carefully attached by mertices to the uprights, which have tenons; whereas nearly all other examples of pre-historic, or, as they are generally called Druidical circles, are composed of rough unhewn upright stones, without imposts.
The stones are surrounded by a circular vellum, or bank of earth, within a shallow ditch or fosse. Withinside this bank are three stones, two of which are In an upright position, and the other is prostrate. It has been conjectured, with some probability, that these originally formed part of a circle. In the centre of the inclosed space is what is usually called the temple Itself, which comprised originally an outer circle of 30 upright stones, at nearly equal distances apart, sustaining as many stones in a horizontal position, forming a continuous impost. Each of the upright stones bad two tenons or projections on the top, which were adapted to fit into and fill up two mortices or hollows in each imperincumbent slab. Within this was another, or second circle, consisting of about the samo number of perpendicular stones, of much smaller size, and without imposts. This circle inclosed an elliptical arrangement of largo and small stones; the former, which were divided into groups of three stones each, are called trilitbons. There were five trilithone, each of which consisted of two upright stones, and an impost, covering or extending to the extreme edges of the standing stones. Before each trilithon stood three small upright stones ; and in the central space, or adytum, of the temple (in front of the principal trilithon) was a large flat stone, known as the altar. The dimensions of the atones, and the epee° occupied by the etructure, as nearly as they have been ascertained, are—diameter of the space inclosed within the vellum or bank, 300 feet; height of the vellum, 15 feet; diameter of the outer circle, 100 feet ; diameter of the second circle, 83 feet ; height of the stones of outer circle, 14 feet (sides 7 feet by 3 feet); height of trilithons, 16 feet 3 inches, 17 feet 2 inches, 21 feet 6 inches; height of one of the small stones before the same, 7 feet 6 inches.