Dr. _Holland_, his annotator, writes thus of it. “Within one mile of _Selbury_, (by which he means _Silbury-hill_) is _Abury_, an uplandish village, built in an old camp, as it seemeth, but of no large compass. It is environed with a fair trench, and hath four gates, in two of which stand huge stones, as jambs; but so rude, that they seem rather natural than artificial: of which sort, there are some other, in the said village.” In the time, when this was wrote, all the circles of these great stones, within the village of _Abury_, were nearly perfect; two of about 150 foot diameter, two of 300 foot diameter, and the great one of above 1000: which merited a higher notice. The largeness of the circles hinder’d an incurious spectator from discerning their purpose. I persuade my self the intelligent reader, by casting his eye over the plate in the frontispiece, being the village of _Abury_, will see enough to excite a vast idea of the place: more so, if they conceive that the two avenues of _Kennet_ and _Bekamton_, going off at the bottom, to the right and the left, extend themselves each, above a mile from the town. Dr. _Childrey_ likewise, in his _Britannia Baconica_, takes these stones about _Kennet_ to be mere rocks. Thus if our minds are not properly dispos’d for these inquiries, or we believe nothing great in art, preceded the times of the _Romans_, we may run into _Munster_’s error, in _cosmograph._ iii. 49. who believes, plain _celtic_ urns dug up in _Poland_, to be the work of nature. _Harrington_ in his notes on _Orlando furioso_ speaks likewise of _Abury_. Just before I visited this place, to endeavour at preserving the memory of it, the inhabitants were fallen into the custom of demolishing the stones, chiefly out of covetousness of the little _area_ of ground, each stood on. First they dug great pits in the earth, and buried them. The expence of digging the grave, was more than 30 years purchase of the spot they possess’d, when standing. After this, they found out the knack of burning them; which has made most miserable havock of this famous temple. One _Tom Robinson_ the _Herostratus_ of _Abury_, is particularly eminent for this kind of execution, and he very much glories in it. The method is, to dig a pit by the side of the stone, till it falls down, then to burn many loads of straw under it. They draw lines of water along it when heated, and then with smart strokes of a great sledge hammer, its prodigious bulk is divided into many lesser parts. But this _Atto de fe_ commonly costs thirty shillings in fire and labour, sometimes twice as much. They own too ’tis excessive hard work; for these stones are often 18 foot long, 13 broad, and 6 thick; that their weight crushes the stones in pieces, which they lay under them to make them lie hollow for burning; and for this purpose they raise them with timbers of 20 foot long, and more, by the help of twenty men; but often the timbers were rent in pieces.