The Cove

Nearest town:
Marlborough (9km E)
OS reference:
SU1014970079
OS sheet:
173
Latitude:
51° 25' 44.7 N
Longitude:
1° 51' 14.4 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by hamish

I like the Cove from this angle,sorry about the fence. Took this on the Megameet day.

Image credit: Mike Murray
hamish
hamish Aug 11, 2011
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by thesweetcheat

The Cove in the rain. The stone in the centre of the picture is a survivor of the largely destroyed central circle.

Image credit: A. Brookes (8.6.2010)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jul 4, 2010
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Arcturus

The cove;could be the male and feamle forms respectively?Female being the diamond,womb shape as the complex itself suggests from above and the male phallic form.

Image credit: Arcturus
A
Arcturus Dec 3, 2009
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Chance

Close up of the curious marks on the Cove Stone.
Created by the roots of palm trees or are they the marker lines for astrological events?

Image credit: Chance
Chance
Chance Apr 30, 2009
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Chance

The cove viewed from the East looking West showing the curious marks either left by the roots of palm trees or by the creators of Avebury. If this stone was one of the first erected, than did the same people leave their mark?

Image credit: Chance
Chance
Chance Apr 30, 2009
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Chance

The Cove looking south eastwards to Norris’ Farm in 1922

Image credit: unknown tourist
Chance
Chance Apr 11, 2009
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Chance

The Cove from the car park of the Red Lion.

Kodak Black and White Infra Red with R25 red filter. Rated at 1600 ASA dev in D76 for 10 mins at 20 degress Centigrade

Image credit: Chance - Aug 1987
Chance
Chance Jul 28, 2008
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Chance

Plan of the Northern sector of the circle showing stones, numbers 30 to 50 in the outer circle and the remaining stones of the northern or moon circle, numbers 201 to 210.

The postion of Cove is also shown in relation to the northern or moon circle.

Image credit: H. St. George Gray - 1935 Revised 1965
Chance
Chance Apr 12, 2008
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by hamish

I haven’t till now realised how much the large Stone leans.

Image credit: Mike Murray
hamish
hamish Jan 1, 2007
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by hamish

The Cove Stones, the one under the tree and the Barn which is probably built from destroyed Stones.

Image credit: Mike Murray
hamish
hamish Jan 1, 2007
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by jimit

The giant Cove Stone lit by the morning sun after Samhein.

Image credit: Jimit Nov05
jimit
jimit Nov 2, 2005
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by photobabe

The Sun piercing through the Solstice mists, with ancient and modern awaiting alike...

Image credit: Photobabe
photobabe
photobabe Jun 22, 2005
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by photobabe

Sunrise at the Summer Solstice.. this picture just about says it all...

Image credit: Photobabe
photobabe
photobabe Jun 22, 2005
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Kammer

10th May 2003: Viewed from the east, the Cove post-concrete, but pre-tidy up.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jun 2, 2003
Image of The Cove (Standing Stones) by Kammer

10th May 2003: After all the exciting stone moving and concreting had taken place, here is the Cove in the latter stages of being part of a building site.

Image credit: Simon Marshall
Kammer
Kammer Jun 2, 2003

Articles

The Cove

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 12, 2010

I start at the Cove. Even by Avebury standards these stones are gigantic. I am drawn to these stones more than any others here and I will return twice more during the course of the visit today. It takes until the third time before I actually touch the stones, perhaps it needed building up to! As with the Cove at Stanton Drew, its function is not clear but these two megaliths exert great power.

The Cove

C
CARL Jun 18, 2010

This is something obviously seen on every visit to Avebury. The one time that sticks in the mind for me was when I was on a guided tour of the site and someone was meditating or something next to the stones. He wasn’t doing any harm but the guide quickly moved us along!!

The Cove

hamish
hamish Jan 1, 2007

I came here on New Years Eve 2006, it was very windy but dry.There had been some sort of ceremony near the Obelisk when I arrived but they had dispersed when I got to that area, wonder what they were doing.

Miscellaneous

The Cove
Standing Stones
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Nov 19, 2003

It is thought that the stones of the Cove were the first stones erected inside Avebury’s circle. There were originally three stones, arranged to form an open-topped, three sided structure. Aubrey Burl explains in ‘Prehistoric Avebury’ how coves are ‘monumental versions of tomb forecourts and entrances’ – which makes sense when you think of Lugbury, which is quite local. When the cove was built the chambered tombs were no longer being used. It’s possible that bones of ancestors were brought to the cove instead as part of rites there. About a dozen coves are known countrywide, which are similarly upstanding and are open in one direction, usually the east. Avebury cove faces NE, towards the fairly bland skyline of Hackpen Hill, perhaps symbolically facing the general direction of the midsummer sunrise?

The third, northernmost stone of the Avebury cove fell in 1713. The other two were becoming more wobbly and have recently been made safe, as you can read about on Pete and Alison Glastonbury’s website. Their hugeness surprised the archaeologists, as you can see here: themodernantiquarian.com/post/13206
As Burl says, such enormous stones must have been carefully searched for, required huge effort to transport, and in fact they required sarsen blocks and cobbles in their trenches to provide extra support for their huge weight. Because of their size they had to be set reasonably far apart, to leave enough room to lift and position them.

Stukeley reported that “The vulgar call them the devil’s brand-irons from their extravagent bulk, and chimney-like form”

Topics

The monster stone 4
Littlestone
Littlestone
Dec 2010

Sites within 20km of The Cove

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