Ley Lines and Avebury Henge, the Better Version of Stonehenge

tomscott.com - / tomscott - On the winter solstice, I trekked out to a cold and muddy Avebury Henge, out in Wiltshire, to talk about two things: first, the peculiar and mostly-British belief of ley lines, and second, the fact that it's basically a hipster version of Stonehenge: bigger, cooler, and you've probably never heard of it.
Oh - and if you want to play about with ley line data yourself, I made www.tomscott.co... a couple of years ago. It still gets me occasional disappointed emails from believers.
And yes, I know that's Ben Goldacre in the by-line of the Guardian. He wrote the article about it; Matt Parker did the mathematics, but most of those references have since gone offline. (I'm willing to bet someone'll comment about that without reading the description within the first few hours after this goes up.)

[@WolfElectronicS]

Once I went to Stonehenge, and after seing that, we discovered that Avebury existed, then we drove up to that village. It was already very dark when we arrived, but we could see the stone circle up close. Also we walked around the village, the chapel, the grave. After that, we entered the only pub in the village, and we had the best fish & chips I've ever had. One of the tables of the dinning area is actually an old well, and you can have dinner while looking down to the depths. It was a day I'll never forget.

[@thomasinajefferson9971]

I’m so jealous it hurts. I hate California. SO MUCH.

[@Beelos666]

The things i'd do to experience that day just like you did

[@WolfElectronicS]

It was a nice day, to be honest, although it takes some time to arrive by car from Stonehenge.

[@morganwheeler3194]

@@thomasinajefferson9971 i've lived 10 minutes from Avebury for all 17 years of my life but I'd give a lot to go live in California, the grass is always greener i guess

[@ae1ae2]

@@thomasinajefferson9971 I'd suggest making plans to move out of CA, then spending a week or two focused on appreciating some of the amazing things about it here (weather, natural beauty, friendly people, or whatever it is that might ring your bell). Drink in a bit of what's best at the end, and then enjoy your next step wherever you're off to. :) (I'm also in California and have plans to move, but there area some wonderful things about it here that I know I will miss.)

[@legna20v]

.. can anyone picture Tom Scott as a Druid in his past life?

[@markmayonnaise1163]

*past

[@Crlarl]

Funny, he doesn't look Druish.

[@lukkyluciano]

He should narrate WW2 documentaries

[@Poppamunz]

He could've been a droid in a past life, considering his knowledge of technology.

[@jacquelinesaunders4023]

Applying this poultice of willow bark will ease the pain in the cut. That is something you might not have known. 🌲

[@Flyingcar100]

Wouldn't it be kind of funny if the only reason they built it was because it looked cool.

[@DarKnightofCydonia]

"Dude, this is going to fuck with sooooooo many peoples heads in a couple of thousand years, it's gonna be hilarious"

[@hlloyd-fs4uf]

Using stones to make Stone Age art. No wonder we're confused today, it's too simple.

[@moderfart]

That definitely is one of the reasons

[@harrycoffeynield6941]

I paid £30 to see Stonehenge but found you can go through a field at the side quite legally and stand within ten foot of the people that have just paid!!!! Avebury is much better, bigger and free.

[@user-tt5js4bh2v]

Technically that gate is for the admittance of religious observers. If you are a committed Pagan, Druid, Wican or _brother mason_ (spit!) then you should use it. Otherwise you should pony up the cash, it's the -capitalist- _British_ thing to do.

[@samiam619]

ᚱᛰUᛠӖᚱ ᚦᗩӖϻᛰᚤ If you are a Committed Pagan etc., you should be committed, to a mental institution. Just another group of people believing in fairy tales. No better than people who pray to their invisible friend in the sky!

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

There are public footpaths that cross the land where the Leeds Castle (Kent) people want to sell you a ticket, too. Scam.

[@fishhuntadventure]

Sam I am That is tragically myopic

[@harrycoffeynield6941]

We got in for free as members of English Heritage. So have paid really.

[@johnphelan7403]

Kennet Long Barrow is also worth a visit.

[@Gilboron]

I'm certainly glad that during my recent trip through that part of England, we decided to take a small detour to visit Avebury. It was certainly worth it.

[@Aumscuba]

I almost bought the lease to the red lion back in the 90's. I only regret the things I didn't do.

[@NitroIndigo]

RIP Woolworths.

[@kalebbruwer]

I say the same thing about constellations: If you give someone enough dots, they can draw any picture they like.

[@samiam619]

Kaleb Bruwer I have always said that the Arabs or whoever came up with those pictures superimposed on stars, MUST have been on drugs to connect those stars and say they look like anything!

[@Voello]

In my village, it was all over the tabloid press a few years back that it could be the ancient home of Camelot. This was after a book claimed that two lay lines met here near the site of an old theme park called "Camelot"...

[@EmporioZuagroast]

happy winter solstice to you too! and keep being awesome! thank you for giving us hours of entertainment and tons of knowledge for free!

[@johntoffee2566]

Fair play. I thought I was going to be taking that mickey out of another deluded ley liner. But this short piece was well illustrated and presented.

[@chegeny]

AI sent me here.

[@darkless60]

Thanks AI!

[@FamusJamus]

It's been in double-figures all week in Norfolk. Quite warm for a Winter Solstice.

[@notascoobyreally7520]

Go to the West Kennett Long Barrow!! It’s a Neolithic barrow that’s been excavated and you can go inside!! I know it’s a couple days late but, happy winter solstice everybody! ☺️ x

[@ELWest1000]

I've been to Avebury Henge! I thought it was really cool. Watch out for the cow plop when you trek through someone's pasture to get close to a stone, however, ha ha. Hope everyone had a lovely Solstice! :)

[@JulieAnnGrasso]

Happy Winter Solstice Tom!

[@Caveras]

Was never sure if those things were a real thing after seeing them in the later Shadowrun RPGs. You can never learn enough!

[@EXPHunterForce]

I absolutely love you're videos. I hope to make educational videos similar to yours someday.

[@woodrobin]

There's a little bit of me that, as a Pagan, wants to get wrankled and snarly about Tom charitably not begrudging me having a set of religious beliefs he doesn't happen to share. Then again, I imagine that is a fair bit of a stretch for someone raised in a country that still officially has a state religion. And, of course, I take it in the spirit of goodwill in which it was intended. That said, if I didn't already think highly of Tom Scott, or if I heard a similar statement from someone I didn't know, I might (depending on my mood) be tempted to tell them that their begrudging could be be folded until it was bedecked in sharp corners, then be stowed in their behind.

[@Mr_badjoke]

U kno wut....Whatever!😜🤙🇺🇲

[@cmdfarsight]

My brother took me there when I was little. An amazing place.

[@erato1]

I have been to both Avery and Stonehenge and prefer Avery. Less touristy and you get a better feel for the place.

[@austinb797]

Hottest I've been in was 121 F which is around 50 C when I was maybe 8 or so. I do remember it was somewhere in the deserts in California. I know it was a record, and I can only imagine I was headed to Palm Desert, which is where we had our yearly family vacation. Generally only Death Valley gets temperatures that hot, which is like 150 miles to the north of the Palm Springs area, sorta near the closest you can get to Vegas without leaving the California border into Nevada. Heheh. I remember going to Wendy's and getting a little squirt gun toy with my kid's meal.

[@AronBezzina]

Tom, I love your videos

[@PaulThronson]

"Well, we will never know the reasons... " is not going to end well.

[@RichardB1983]

You definitely can't draw lines between Woolworth stores anymore - not in the UK anway. They form an empty set as far as I know. I think the name persists as an online-only website! Happy Solstice.

[@RoyWiggins]

Technically, for every subset of 3 Woolworth stores, you can draw a line through all of them! :D

[@RichardB1983]

I think the point I was making was that Woolworths went bust during the downturn in 2008, and now have 0 stores in the UK. I think it's impossible to draw a (non-degenerate?) line through 0 points!

[@RoyWiggins]

I was just asserting a vacuous truth: you can assert anything at all about all members of the empty set!

[@user-tt5js4bh2v]

@@RoyWiggins A vacuous truth is what we are being offered in this content. Of course one can draw a line between any set of random dots. However, to plot a line (only visible from space) intersecting the greatest land mass of the country and somehow conjure forth 'holy wells' along it, is not something one could achieve with an rnd(ley) function. The St Michael line (as featured in this video for a couple of seconds) is 100% real. If anyone thinks that the roman catholic church decided to build St Michael and St Mary churches all along it just for a laugh, then they're clearly hitting the communion wine too heavily.

[@TitiniusAndronicus]

The Ley Line you show is the St Michael’s Ley Line, aligned with the setting sun on Samhain, like the Carnac Stones in France. Free wisdom...

[@EddieGilliland-m3v]

A defensive barrier around a last stand for a settled landscape.

[@ae1ae2]

Ley Lines are important. I know the new Ghostbusters didn't come out until after this movie but watch it and learn about their importance. /s (

[@IoEstasCedonta]

The Woolworths thing was Matt Parker? I didn't realize he'd been around that long...

[@ajade0017]

Would love to see Richard Gansey III chart the ley lines between phone boxes. Thanks for this video!

[@trustwithin7188]

I used to live near there and its definitely a magical place...just a shame there's a road going through the middle of it!

[@memoryfoam2285]

A while ago my father and I went to stonehenge for a solstice, but the queues were so long we would've missed the sunrise so we diverted to Avebury instead, saw a pagan circle and joined in. Great time, felt very connected to nature.

[@SuperAngryPacman]

Your viewers in the southern hemisphere share the sentiment but likely resent the bias. Happy Summer solstice.

[@fulgursagitta5049]

Their are some great places like this in Scotland, Callanish stones and the Clava cairns to name a few

[@joeyhardin5903]

is this where they made that really weird tv show from the 70s or 80s

[@tamfuwing1]

Yes. Cool series. Children of the Stones. Still worth watching.

[@joeyhardin5903]

@@tamfuwing1 i watched it once. its was weird but an interesting insight into 70s british culture

[@oscarbergqvist1519]

That place is an absolute nightmare to drive through

[@jonraggett4093]

What are you talking about the roads are fine there

[@jmillardwilson]

Hey. I have watched a few of tom's videos and noticed he needs a wind shield for the mic. love the videos

[@annabellej9429]

YES! I grew up near Avebury and I have always said that it is way better than Stonehenge

[@courtney-ray]

They buried radioactive material under the ground there and the rocks are warning people to keep away--but you know what happens when you mark something...

[@SharpblueCreative]

Somebody who called Avebury by the right name.

[@pieter1102]

Happy Winter Solstice - which is something you might not have known.

[@kevster2171]

Great video Tom. Yes ley lines are nonsense. Watkins actually thought they were prehistoric highways and Michell came up with the idea of mystical paths of energy in the 1970s (when else!). Nothing to do with the ancient world. If you walk the avenues of Avebury you see that they had no interest in syraight lines! 😊

[@russcrawford3310]

A better place to spend the winter solstice is in a small fishing boat on Lake Gutun along the Panama Canal ... warmer than England's summer ... the worst place to spend the summer solstice in San Francisco, California ... colder than England's winter ...

[@shaunhilts9113]

"Ley lines" in the west, "dragon tracks/lines/paths" in the east. Due to the belief that spirits can only travel in straight lines. These criss-cross the globe.

[@DJWESG1]

Some say it goes back to old Greek mythology, then into the philosophy of Aristotle who proposed viewing the earth as a series of connected triangles , each of which would be a controlled region. Some millennia later these ideas would be embraced by medieval kings and queens and later adopted by modern sciences and thinkers.

[@MK-ex4pb]

nah the Romans just made roads perfectly straight

[@tenmillionaliens9393]

Nice one.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

So it’s the better version because you can touch it....

[@wixic111]

I like the bumper sticker :)

[@dummy_64]

POV: you came from the video where ask AI for ideas

[@shashankkollaje5640]

I read somewhere that the stone circles inside the main circle marks the foot print of Hindu God Vishnu( Vishnu's pada) . Hindus are pagan , so it may be connected.

[@themightywrighty]

Thats something I did not know!

[@buizelmeme6288]

Hello!

[@buizelmeme6288]

I came from the ai video as well!

[@sayittomyfaceidareyou8629]

I don't know why they built houses and buildings over this site.

[@Arclight3983]

Yay!

[@joecooper3360]

I prefer the one on Lewis

[@lamprohonx4581]

Some troll raising stones up to confuse us 5000 yrs later....

[@vespelian5769]

Mole Toe/Baeun Caeuned.

[@CaptainKirk007]

Perhaps people were sacrificed to appease the gods here...Maybe they were picked up and taken to other worlds? Other dimensions?

[@illegitimatecrepe1990]

Genshin impact players where you at

[@missionDan]

i cant but help wonder what kind of car tom uses to go from site to site? im thinking he drives a 3 series bmw..

[@maxximumb]

He strikes me as more of a second hand Volvo driver. A brown one with with a tow bar from the previous owner.

[@missionDan]

...or maybe a pimped out corsa with cracked bodykit, saggy wooden parcel shelf and 6x9's, checker flag seatbelt covers and a flashing pink and green stereo.

[@RiverHamDA]

i live near here

[@nikitamalikov6683]

I remember going there when I was in Year 6. Didn't see any pagans, but perhaps I was just not that perceptive.

[@nmotschidontwannagivemyrea8932]

Don't the oils of your skin damage the stones over time? Does it not damage them to touch them?

[@kruks]

Almost certainly, but as he said, there's a lot of them, they're not as known as some other rocks in the UK, and they're restored from time to time. Nothing lasts forever.

[@LucasNott]

Yes they do, however weathering from wind and rain has done much more damage over the centuries and millenniums.

[@Smoneey]

I've always wondered if you were old or young, then you called weed "pot" and I knew

[@LikelyToBeEatenByAGrue]

Both terms are about as old as each other, dating from the late 1920's

[@TexasTimeLord]

They look too much like Ogri for comfort

[@CaptainKirk007]

Cough cough Moab monolith

[@callie7603]

"There've been a lot of new age pagans around, some drumming, some just smokin' pot" lmao

[@annasanders35]

That bit made me laugh 😂

[@maxximumb]

My guess, the stone circles were built after several particularly successful drinking sessions. The general thinking behind them was, 'This will confuse the hell out of people in a few thousand years...' and 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'

[@andhewonders115]

The pot smoking Hippy's probably had some input as well.

[@lazerbeamlightningstorm5844]

Alchohol is called spirits for a reason.

[@japphan]

That is why I write totally incomprehensible comments on youtube. Like this one.

[@SymbioteMullet]

There's a stone circle near where i used to live, on top of a hill... It was made when the local clay quarry was being worked, it's on top of a now overgrown spoil heap. Someone who didn't know the local history of the area (or couldn't figure it out from the giant pit nearby) might think it was a legit old circle. But in maybe a hundred years, it's creation will be far beyond living memory, and the landscape will have weathered, so something a bored guy with a JCB did one day might get taken seriously...

[@bhante1345]

A friend and I have often used to burry things, or create sculptures with natural materials in obscure enough places most likely not to be found solely for the purpose that one day in 100s of years, some one will find it and be confused forever.

[@ArchaicMuse]

Its the first time I've been wished a "Happy Winter Solstice". I like that. So Happy Winter Solstice to everyone !

[@Rwededyet]

And a pleasant Festivus to you.

[@johnbenton4488]

+ArchaicMuse It's Summer Solstice next, so make sure yours is a great one.

[@johnbenton4488]

+ArchaicMuse It's Summer Solstice next, so make sure yours is a great one.

[@blarg2429]

+ArchaicMuse It's Summer Solstice next, so make sure yours is a great one.

[@spiffor]

+ArchaicMuse It's Summer Solstice next, so make sure yours is a great one.

[@tomm.ymacleod9347]

Tom looks so excited to touch the ancient stones and that’s just so pure.

[@DougRatmanLMAO]

I'd be more excited to touch a new stone

[@sporkafife]

Stonehenge is so mainstream, Avebury henge is much better. Stonehenge isn't even a real henge! #RealHengesHaveCircularBanksWithInternalDitchesWhereasStonehengeIsTheOtherWayAround #HengeHipster

[@TomScottGo]

sporkafife There is another take where I described Avebury as "like a hipster Stonehenge", but it didn't quite work as well!

[@TechyBen]

***** "Bigger, Better and in 93 rocks per hendge HD quality!" The new iHenge?

[@lenchewbacca]

Check your privilege.

[@hornylink]

+sporkafife YOU'RE NOT EVEN A REAL HENGE! poser!!

[@Dasmaster1]

"Well.. we dont really know what a henge is but we are quite certain that we have built THE BIGGEST HENGE IN THE WORLD! Oh yeaaaah!"

[@DarKnightofCydonia]

You can touch the stones of Stonehenge on the solstices. I did this summer solstice in June, and some guy climbed onto the top of them, danced for a while and then fell asleep. He got jumped by 12 police officers and subsequently arrested when he got down.

[@ELWest1000]

***** Haha, I must agree.

[@samiam619]

Serves him right for doing that.

[@tompw3141]

You're politely asked not to climb on the stones at Avebury. If you fall off, there's a good chance you'll land in sheep droppings.

[@dielaughing73]

So you *can* dance on the stones then. Don't let anyone tell you you can't!

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

Nice I told you thats what I was for seeing.

[@IPete2]

Avebury is to Stonehenge what a Cathedral is to a church

[@johnbenton4488]

+IPete2 What a superb analogy.

[@Foxglove963]

You like talking nonsense.

[@FirstnameLastname-vf9rp]

Hello fellow latecomers from the AI video

[@josh_final]

Nice to see you here

[@kingoffifa]

never been to the video but been to the actual stone site before. do I blame the ai for that too ? :)

[@Skraeling1000]

I've an odd story about Avebury - wife and I visited years ago, and I went back to the car while she was still wandering the village. I stopped to take a pic of the stones on the way. Anyway, we got back from our trip there, and eventually got the photos back from whoever developed film back then (yup, many years back!). Turned out we'd both taken a shot from the same place, same angle, etc. Weird.

[@hotelmario510]

Tom Scott saying "smokin' pot" is the most hilariously white thing I've ever seen

[@derkateramabend]

It's a phrase I never expected Tom to say

[@TheHorseOutside]

“Engaging in a spot of recreational mind-altering activity”

[@howardchambers9679]

Why white? Just curious, I'm not criticising in any way, just seems "white" is out of place in that sentence

[@mohit_panjwani]

@@howardchambers9679 f

[@Codsworth_]

@@howardchambers9679 i think just because the only people who ever call it pot would be old white people or police

[@paulqueripel3493]

In the 1970s we had a school trip to Stonehenge (still able to walk up to the stones), Avebury, Silbury Hill (we could still climb it then) and West Kennet Long Barrow, which you can still go in.

[@TheBanana93]

Been to all of these with my family as a kid! The barrow was awesome!

[@DJ-gq1xu]

We were at Silbury Hill last weekend. People were climbing up still, despite the signs saying not to - erosion / damage of the monument, etc., which you could see via all the footpaths worn in around the structure. Still a lot of selfish, thoughtless people out there. Rather than just enjoy the sight of a prehistoric monument and pay due respect, they have to 'conquer' it for their selfies.

[@randomjasmicisrandom]

I love Avebury and have been several times, including the twice I walked the Ridgeway Long Distance Footpath that starts nearby. I took my wife there once. She described it as a bunch of stones standing around not doing very much.

[@casperes0912]

I reckon she's right, you know

[@sujimtangerines]

I'm American but that sounds so very British to me!!

[@SharpblueCreative]

Stonehenge doesn't have a henge, oh and I live near here as well. Plus you've got West Kennett Long Barrow and Silbury Hill nearby, and a plethora of chalk white horses in the area. The yearly smattering of crop circles, and the Ridgeway for me is why I love being a Wiltshire boy.

[@stephencriddleproperparano9159]

+Mark Keen Hi Mark Am always in the Village everyone knows me in Red Lion I got Florrie and all the ghosts n orbs check my Avebury vid mate please I got major captures from SH also yeah the whole Wiltshire area is awash with this things I love the place

[@tintinaus]

Stephen Criddle When I was touring Britain in 2009, The Red Lion did the best pub meal I had in the four weeks I was there.

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

Down on the chalk... I've always wanted to visit, mostly due to the later works of Sir Terry Pratchett.

[@musabthegreat]

I just came from his new video about asking ai to generate video titles

[@strictly1becca]

I loved Avebury when I trekked out to check it out - I basically had to wade through herds of sheep as I wandered around to check out the stones. It was very, very cool - and definitely more of a "real" experience than when I went to see Stonehenge years later.

[@MsRAZGRIZ1]

Happy summer solstice for me XD (south america)

[@stuartrockin]

Just coming back to this video after the AI script video...

[@hotelmario510]

This video inspired me to visit Avebury and I actually watched it on very spotty 3G on my phone while standing next to the stones. Very surreal but fun experience.

[@patriotbarrow]

I really miss your ending tagline, Tom.

[@Bigbub66]

I like to think that they just did it for a lark. Like a really difficult to setup prank that confuses everyone because no one could tell what they were trying to do by setting a tonne of rocks in a big circle.

[@thehodge168]

haha.... like "This will really fuck people over a few millenia from now, theyll think its something important but its just us all high as a kite and pissed as a nit" lol

[@keyframecreations4139]

Your show is the best by the way. I love the nice way you present everything, from silly bridges to how touching a henge stone is actually really cool :D

[@ilraeimoonstrike972]

does the kirin tor know yet?

[@gwenynorisu6883]

So what you're telling us is... Woolworths and red phone boxes were all built on the route of leylines?

[@Vinemaple]

I'm surprised nobody has answered this with a testy and condescending explanation, completely missing the joke.

[@dark0films]

And he's still wearing a red shirt and grey jumper, what is it about them?

[@AshArAis]

If you were lucky to get into newgrange for winter solstice you'd be flyin

[@eilidhxxx9115]

I went on a amazing trip to the Orkney islands to see the standing stones and burials. They are amazing

[@Foxglove963]

You saw burials? Where?

[@diggymgee]

2:13 you can totally begrudge it. You can begrudge it as much as you want. Everyone should begrudge it.

[@QuinsonHonQBB123XX]

Anyone here after Tom Scott’s AI video?

[@connorbaker2542]

Tom scott is slowly becoming cuter every video I watch

[@RhysOlwyn]

Castlerigg stone circle near Keswick in the lake district is also well worth a visit. Proper Zen.

[@barukkazhad8998]

Oh ...the memories of an old girlfriend and her hippie mother....muggins had to take them there regularly.....😴

[@HisCarlnessI]

I thought it was for astronomical reasons, perhaps mixed with religious beliefs.

[@Bloodmuffin6]

A reasonable and popular hypothesis! But perhaps he means with no written records we can never really know what they were thinking.

[@DayOldMeat]

The evidence would support this, henges often align not just with solstices and their festivities, but also other astronomical events, as do a large amount of monuments, which I believe in practical terms, since humans have almost always had some kind of calendar or orrery throughout history. There's also some evidence that standing stones played a part in burial rituals, as burial sites and evidence of wood henges or circles are often nearby. The theory is that wood represented the finite, like life, and the stone was the infinite, death. I don't see why both can't be right, I mean, religious sites today aren't just for Sabbaths, you have marriages, birth ceremonies, funerals, coffee mornings, Christmas parties etc. and churches also often conform to certain arcane principles, and most (at least in Britain) are structures of wood and stone built on the sites of older religious centres. The whole leylines thing is mostly nonsense, though, and the closest evidences to it can easily be show to just be the roads travelers used and the highest points around.

[@jzziloho]

It's amazing when you see something that you've seen in real life before. It kinda lets you connect with people on rhe internet :) nice holidays man and greets from Switzerland :)