What is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United Kingdom?

Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002. It has been confirmed by archaeologists that it is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United Kingdom, having been first settled around 8820 BC.

King Alfred the Great left it in his will, a copy of which is in the British Library, to his youngest son Aethelweard (c.880-922).

Eleanor of Provence, Queen consort of Henry III of England, died in Amesbury on 24 or 25 June 1291, and was buried in Amesbury Abbey.

The parish includes the hamlets of Ratfyn and West Amesbury, and most of Boscombe Down military airfield.

The land around Amesbury has been settled since prehistoric times, evidenced by the monument of Stonehenge. Other finds in the parish point to large scale prehistoric structures and settlements in the whole area, including Bluestonehenge at West Amesbury, the numerous other monuments around Stonehenge, the discovery of a Neolithic village in the neighbouring parish of Durrington by the Stonehenge Riverside Project, and continuing excavations at Boscombe Down where Wessex Archaeology found the Amesbury Archer and Boscombe Bowmen. They are now on display at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.