Tower of London and Avebury and Associated Monuments

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Tower of London

   The Tower of London is the oldest and most layered fortress in the capital. William the Conqueror began the White Tower in the 1070s, a massive keep of Caen stone meant to show the English who was in charge. Over nine centuries it was a palace, a mint, an armoury, a menagerie and a prison, and some of the people who went in did not come out: Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey were executed here, and the two young princes of the fifteenth century vanished within its walls. Today the Crown Jewels sit in the Waterloo Block and the Yeoman Warders, known as Beefeaters, lead tours with a mix of grim history and well-polished jokes.

   Read the complete Tower of London write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tower of London is where the day begins. Next is Blenheim Palace.

2. 2. Blenheim Palace

   Blenheim is what happens when a nation decides to say thank you with stone. After John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, beat the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, Queen Anne granted him the royal manor of Woodstock, and Parliament voted funds for a palace to go on it. Sir John Vanbrugh designed it, with Nicholas Hawksmoor at his side, and the result is so theatrical, so heavy with towers, trophies and courtyards, that it still divides opinion three centuries later. Funding rows, a famous falling out between Vanbrugh and the Duchess Sarah, and decades of building followed.

   Read the complete Blenheim Palace write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Blenheim Palace comes up about 106 km into the recorded legs. Next is Avebury and Associated Monuments.

3. 3. Avebury and Associated Monuments

   Avebury is the place where a village grew up inside a stone circle. The henge, a huge circular bank and ditch enclosing the largest stone circle in Britain, was built around four and a half thousand years ago, and the village, with its church, its manor house and its pub, sits partly within it, with a road running right through the middle. You can walk among the stones, touch them, sit beside them, and watch the sheep grazing around them, which is a very different experience from the controlled visits at Stonehenge, its more famous partner on the World Heritage list.

   Read the complete Avebury and Associated Monuments write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 194 km into the recorded legs you reach Avebury and Associated Monuments. Next is back through Blenheim Palace.

4. 4. back through Blenheim Palace

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Blenheim Palace write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Blenheim Palace, late in the day. Next is Tower of London.

5. 5. Tower of London

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tower of London write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Tower of London. That is the ride.