UP! - North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Can you spot the difference?
That’s right, no poles – thanks to a mole!
FREQUENT travellers along the A4 entering
the Avebury World Heritage Site have a
‘mole’ to thank for the removal of ugly
electricity poles and cables that were
cluttering this ancient landscape.
A giant directional drilling machine
known as a ‘mole’ was used to burrow more
than four metres deep to ensure
replacement cables could be laid
underground and well away from
internationally significant archaeology.
Scottish and Southern Electricity, who
funded the project, employed
archaeologists to monitor the work and
examine the moling entry and exit points
for archaeological evidence.
New underground cables now lie out of
sight under the Overton Hill Bronze Age
barrow cemetery and beneath the Neolithic
West Kennet Avenue, which originally
linked Avebury Stone Circle to the
Sanctuary.
The partnership project also involved
Wiltshire Council Archaeology Service, the
National Trust, North Wessex Downs AONB,
English Heritage and local farmers.
Sarah Simmonds, Wiltshire Council’s
Avebury World Heritage Site Officer, said:
“Winning private sector funding has helped
us work together to achieve really
impressive improvements at the gateway to
the World Heritage Site. The prehistoric
monuments are now returned to
prominence in beautiful open downland
and the landscape is closer to its ancient
appearance.” ■
26 | UP! On The North Wessex Downs