There is a distinct magic to the English countryside in July. The hedgerows are thick with wild roses, the wheat fields turn a brilliant, shimmering gold, and the days stretch out long and lazy into the late evening. For anyone raised on British history, literature, or period dramas, Wiltshire and Berkshire are two areas that represent a kind of pastoral holy land. On a recent midsummer escape from the capital, I set out on a five-day itinerary to check two massive, monumenta