Ground Report – Avebury, Wiltshire, 01/08/12

This crop circle feels somehow intimate.  Visitors are drawn together in the larger circles and the obvious proximity to Avebury adds to this feeling of togetherness. This is despite a design which doesn’t, in fact, allow easy access to all its elements. To see every part, each visitor must follow the curves of diminishing circles to reach the narrow pathways, then walk all the way back and follow the next and so on.

Unfortunately, only the most committed will make this journey correctly, others, of course, taking a more direct route through standing crop.

Alongside the intriguing overall design of this formation we are presented with an equally fascinating collection of tufts, layers and multi-directional flows.

The main central circle of this formation measures 66ft in diameter. It contains three standing tufts of wheat, each one surrounded by a swirl of laid crop. These are positioned in a vague line, one very close to the outer edge of the circle, one about a quarter of the way across and another more centrally.

The rest of this circle displays an amazing and almost chaotic variation on the simple clockwise or anticlockwise flow. Here there are whole sections of crop flowing one way, which suddenly change direction. There are areas where opposing flows meet, creating a brilliantly raised effect.

The image below, still from the largest circle, shows a small standing tuft of wheat which appears to have not been laid, while the rest of the crop has fallen all around it.

One of the most interesting parts of this formation at ground level is where the lines of diminishing circles are at their largest. Rather than being enclosed like the others, these are ‘open’ being overlapped by the laid ‘eye’ shape at the point of each line of circles.

Here, the crop laid within each circle is overlapped at right angles. In the largest circle this happens some 12 times!

There are three small diamond shapes forming part of the ‘point’ of each section. The largest of these shows some serious damage due to visitor numbers, however, in the smaller examples there is good evidence of the lightness with which the crop has been laid. At one end, the crop is swept beautifully into a point (see image below).

Another great example of the beauty and intrigue this phenomenon presents us with, both from the air and, of course, on the ground.

Thank you again to the farmer at Avebury for kindly allowing visitors to access the formation.

Crop Circle Summary

New Circles

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