Editing Architecture of England (section)

==Prehistoric architecture==
[[Image:Stonehenge      back wide.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Stonehenge]]
The earliest known examples of architecture in England are the [[megalithic]] tombs of the [[Neolithic]], such as those at [[Wayland's Smithy]] and the [[West Kennet Long Barrow]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Davies (historian) |editor2-last=Jenkins |editor2-first=Nigel |editor2-link=Nigel Jenkins |editor3-last=Baines |editor3-first=Menna |editor4-last=Lynch |editor4-first=Peredur |editor4-link=Peredur Lynch |quote=The principal monuments of the Neolithic Age are megalithic tombs – the earliest surviving examples of architecture in Britain |title=[[Encyclopaedia of Wales|The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales]] |publisher=[[University of Wales Press]] |year=2008 |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6}}</ref> These ''[[Dolmen|cromlech]]i'' are common over much of [[Atlantic Europe]]: present day Spain; Brittany; Great Britain; and Ireland. [[Radiocarbon dating]] has shown them to be, as historian [[John Davies (historian)|John Davies]] says, "the first substantial, permanent constructions of man and that the earliest of them are nearly 1,500 years older than the first of the pyramids of Egypt."<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author-link=John Davies (historian) |title=A History of Wales |quote=Another revelation of carbon-14 is that there were fairly numerous communities of agriculturalists in Britain by 4000 BC ... There is a conflict of views concerning the relationship between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic peoples. According to one interpretation, the scanty Mesolithic population was swept aside ... According to another interpretation, the relationship was highly creative, for it was in precisely those areas where the intrusive farmers met the indigenous population that architecture was born. The western extremities of Europe – Spain, Brittany, Britain and Ireland – are dotted with megalithic structures usually known as ''cromlechi'', although it should be remembered that to the archaeologist the ''cromlech'' is only one version of such structures. It used to be assumed that the inspiration to build the ''cromlechi'' came from the Near East, but through another of the revelations of carbon-14 it has been proved that they are the first substantial, permanent constructions of man and that the earliest of them are nearly 1500 years older than the first of the pyramids of Egypt. |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1994 |page=7 |location=London |isbn= 0-14-014581-8}}</ref> The Neolithic [[henge]]s of [[Avebury]] and [[Stonehenge]] are two of the largest and most famous megalithic monuments in the world. The structure is an annual calendar, but the reason for the massive size is unknown with any certainty, suggestions include agriculture, ceremonial use and interpreting the cosmos. With other nearby sites, including [[Silbury Hill]], [[Beckhampton Avenue]], and [[West Kennet Avenue]], they form a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] called [[Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites]].<ref name="Avebury">{{citation|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/373 |title=Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

Numerous examples of [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] and [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] architecture can be seen in England. [[Megalithic]] burial monuments, either individual [[tumulus|barrows]] (also known, and marked on modern British [[Ordnance Survey]] maps, as Tumuli,) or occasionally [[cist]]s covered by [[cairn]]s, are one form. The other is the defensive earthworks known as [[hill fort]]s, such as [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] and [[Cadbury Castle, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]]. Archaeological evidence suggests that British Iron Age domestic architecture had a tendency towards circular dwellings, known as [[roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouses]].