The Avebury Village Fair Timeslip

Avebury time slip
timeslip Avebury Wiltshire

It was a rainy October evening in 1916, when Edith Olivier was travelling from Devizes to Swindon in Wiltshire. Edith was said to have felt a little tired and wanted to find an inn, where she could rest for a while then continue her journey.

She drove off the main road and found herself driving down an avenue which had huge megalithic upright stones. She realised she was in Avebury, where large stone megaliths were abundant. As she drove nearer the centre of Avebury, she decided to pull her car over and look at these stones. She had never been to Avebury before but recognised the scenery from photos she had seen before.

She stood on the high banks and could see little cottages nearby. It was then she spotted, in between the stones, lots of people attending what seemed to be a fair, the people held flares and torches whilst they enjoyed the stalls and games at the fair. She was very surprised to see no-one was wearing outer garments despite the rain falling quite hard. She could hear the crowds shouting and laughing, whilst they were being entertained by the various entertainers.

The rainfall became heavier, and it was then Edith returned to her vehicle to resume her journey.

Edith wasn't to visit Avebury for another 9 years. On her return, she purchased a guidebook to Avebury and to her surprise, read that the last time Avebury had a fair, was in 1850! She told a local guide of what happened to her 9 years earlier but only to be told she was incorrect, and that 1850 was the last year in which it had been held so she must've been mistaken. Feeling quite perturbed by what she heard from the local guide, she told them of how she got to where the fair was being held; an avenue of tall, upstanding megaliths but astonishingly, she was told that this particular avenue had actually disappeared before 1800.

So just what had Edith experienced? Was it a time slip or just some ghostly experience? If it was just a ghostly experience, why would she have seen the upright megaliths? A very interesting account indeed!