Ancient Norman church at Knowlton was built in the middle of a prehistoric sacred site, a circular neolithic earthwork or henge. Dorset, UK.
Knowlton Church: This ruined Norman church in Dorset was built within the circle of a Neolithic henge monument. The henge consists of an oval enclosure surrounded by a ditch within a grassy embankment. There are two entrances on opposite sides of the ring giving access to the area enclosed within. It was constructed about 2,500 BC and is the best preserved of a group of several henges in the area which probably had a ceremonial and ritual function. It is thought by some, that the wider sacred, pagan landscape, of which Knowlton was a central part, was in use for thousands of years until displaced by Christianity with the building of the Norman church, right in the middle of the ring, in the 12th century AD. The site of the original ancient village of Knowlton lies about 50 yards west of the church but there is very little to be seen of it on the ground today. However aerial photographs reveal the layout of the extinct village and it is believed that it may have been a victim of the Black Death of 1485, when so many villages and communities were wiped out by bubonic plague. Vestiges of numerous barrows or burial mounds and other circles and rings are also visible, from the air, in the surrounding fields.
Size: 2848px × 4287px
Location: Knowlton, Gussage All Saints, near Wimborne, Dorset, England, United Kingdom, UK, Great Britain, GB.
Photo credit: © Andrew Wood / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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