Things to do in Avebury Manor

The front of Avebury Manor on a sunny day, with deep blue sky behind and lawns in front. — Avebury Manor | © National Trust Images / James Dobson

Step inside the Grade I listed early 16th-century manor house and discover rooms authentically decorated to take you on a journey through time. Find out about the unusual approach taken to display the history of this manor home, situated on the edge of the stone circle in an ancient landscape.

Avebury Manor closed

Avebury Manor is currently closed following flooding in January. We will update our website with information about reopening as soon as we have it.

Highlights of Avebury Manor

Inside the 16th-century manor house, the rooms have been designed to reflect various time periods connecting with the people that have lived here over the centuries.

Furniture and objects were either recreated by modern craftspeople or genuine antique furniture was restored as part of a BBC television series called The Manor Reborn.

The rooms are a unique experience not just visually, but also enhanced with sounds and smells, reflecting the lives of a range of previous inhabitants.

The Tudor period

The Tudor Parlour has hand-crafted oak furniture and rush mat flooring. Look out for the large fireplace with painted overmantel and the large tapestries hung from the walls.

The Tudor Bedroom reflects the later Elizabethan era and was inspired by the marriage of widowed Debora Dunch to the High Sheriff of Wiltshire in the late 1590s.

This oak-panelled bedroom has a four poster bed with truckle bed underneath and original elaborate plasterwork ceiling and frieze.

The Georgian period

The large and light Palladian dining room is decorated to illustrate the Williamson family residence during the Georgian era.

A key feature are the walls covered with hand-painted panoramic wallpaper from China, which includes some images of Avebury.

The mahogany furniture and gilded mouldings reflect Williamson’s status as a high-ranking professional soldier.

The Edwardian kitchen

The kitchen has always been the heart of this home and is one of the earliest parts of the building.

Set in Edwardian times, the kitchen has been laid out as if it's just been used, having a large range and dresser, copper pots on shelves and scales and utensils on the table. There’s even a newspaper featuring the sinking of the Titanic.

A girl and a room guide playing in the Edwardian Kitchen at Avebury Manor — Getting into character in the Edwardian Kitchen | © National Trust / James Dobson

The 20th century

During the early 20th century the manor was home to Leopold and Leonora Jenner. The Billiard Room had once been the Jenners’ south library and was created out of the original services room during their renovation of Avebury Manor.

Dominated by the billiard table and the lighting over it, this room has warm oak panelling, a cosy armchair, lamps, potted palms, gramophone, and bookshelves evoking the sense of Edwardian country life and relaying the Jenners’ talents.

The Keiller Parlour

Alexander Keiller was a wealthy archaeologist living at Avebury Manor from the 1930s. The Stone Circle owes much to his careful excavations and funding.

Used by Keiller as a morning room, today you'll find the room set with easy chairs, drinks cabinet, cocktail sofa, surveying tools and commissioned carpet reflecting his interests and enjoyment of the high life, encapsulated in the decadent art deco styling.

The Keiller Drawing Office

Recently, one of the upstairs rooms has been lovingly reproduced from a photograph from Alexander Keiller's time in the 1930s, when the room was used as a drawing office for illustrating and making plans of excavations at Avebury.

1921 Census records for England on a wooden table with some conservation tools including a magnifying glass — 1921 Census records for England | © National Trust/Crown Copyright Images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England

'At home at Avebury' - New stories from the 1921 Census

In collaboration with family history website Findmypast, we've been able to explore the 1921 Census of England and Wales for the first time.

It's helped us to get even closer to life at Avebury Manor during a period of enormous social change. Come with us as we tell the stories of the people who lived and worked at Avebury Manor - some of whom are still in living memory today.

Find out what has been discovered about Leopold and Nora Jenner, who owned the Avebury Manor during this time, and their servants Agnes Chivers and her children and Martha Annie Swatton, along with details of the groundsmen who looked after the garden.

You can find out more about the 1921 Census at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/national-trust.