There is evidence that some Christian sites in Britain and Ireland have been in continuous use as sacred meeting places from before the Roman occupation. Such sites may have started with people meeting in groves, or close to springs, ponds and other water courses. The remains of a stone circle, either near or actually beneath the church itself, are sometimes found at such sites. Often an Anglo-Saxon, and then a Norman church, were built on these older pre-Christian sites. The churches at Alton Priors, Cliffe Pypard, Pewsey and Winterbourne Monkton, to name but a few within the Avebury area, appear to be examples of this continuity.
This feature on the Winterbourne and Christianised sites within the Avebury area is under construction. Meanwhile please see the November 20, 2008 feature in Thelma Wilcox's Poems, paintings and photos blog here -
http://thelmawilcox.blogspot.com/2008/11/winterbourne-monkton.html
