Stonehenge

Morning sunrise through the sarsen stones with lintel

 Stonehenge is a world heritage site that includes 6,500 acres.  The stone circle that is Stonehenge is in the middle of an area of the most dense Neolithic and Bronze age monuments in the world. We went on a private tour of 30 people with English Heritage that allowed us to walk between the stones in the early morning, a remarkable sight.  In addition we were taken to Woodhenge,  Durrington Walls, Kings Barrow Ridge, the Curcus, saw innumerable burial mounds (there are over 500 in the area), and we walked the Avenue to Stonehenge from the Kings Barrow.

Us between the sarsen stones

Stonehenge was built about 3000 BC as were Woodhenge, Durrington Walls, and the Cursus.  No one knows why or what was the original use, but we do know it marks the summer and winter solstices.  There are cremated remains at Stonehenge in its outer barrow that date from a much newer period than its construction.  There are over 300 stone circles in Britain that also mark the movements of the sun and stars, but Stonehenge is the only one with lintels and stones that have been sculpted to a smooth finish and similar size.

View from center of the circle looking North to the Heal stone that marks the Summer Solstice.
The Larger Sarsen stones with their lintels and the smaller  Blue stones in front.

 Stonehenge was originally 2 circles with 2 inner U’s.  The outer circle and outer U have lintels and are made of sandstone blocks.  These outer blocks are called the sarsen stones and weigh between 45 and 25 tons, and the lintels weigh about 7 tons. These sandstone blocks are local from about 20 miles away.  The inner circle and inner U are made of blue stones that are shorter about 6 ft. and only weigh 6 tons. These are from the south coast of Wales about 240 miles away. 

The "Lego" nipple on the sarsen that matches an indentation on the lintel and holds it in place

View from the outer circle toward the inner circle.

Stonehenge is built on the site where 6 Ley lines intersect.  Thus it had spiritual power for the ancients.  A Ley line is a magnetic of spiritual line that crosses our globe.  If given metal divining rods, you can pinpoint the exact place the lines cross or are strongest.  I’ve done it at another stone circle, and it was quite amazing.

View in center of circle. Some lichens on the rocks are very rare and unusual.

 Woodhenge is a site of 6 concentric ellipses(ovals).  The long axis of the ellipses aligns with the solstices. The ellipses were made using wooden poles each 25 feet high and weighing 5 tons.  A baby was found buried in the center of them.  The remains were taken to London, but were destroyed during a WWII blitz before they could be examined extensively. 

Outer rings of Woodhenge.  Concert posts show where the wood ones once stood.

Center of woodhenge where the body of an ancient baby was found.

 Durrington Walls are next to Woodhenge.  These walls look like a cake pan 500 meters in diameter with a wide relatively flat bottom and short wall around the perimeter.  The remains of Neolithic homes have been found here.  It is estimated that 1000 homes were here and 4000 people lived in this enclosure.  Because of Woodhenges proximity to the houses, it has been theorized that Woodhenge was for celebrating life and Stonehenge celebrated death.

Depression that is Durrington walls. Air force officers housing in background.

 The Cursus is a rectangular ditch or depression that runs east and west for 3 km (1.8 miles) and varies from 100m wide at the east end to 150m (175 yds) wide at the west end. It sits about ½ mile north of Stonehenge.  It lines up with the Spring and Autumn equinoxes. It got its name because the Victorians though it was a Roman race course and Cursus is race course in Latin. The area around the Cursus has burial mounds but they are 2000 years newer than the Cursus itself.

Cursus from the Kings Barrows. The western end is the opening between the trees.

 

West end of cursus in background with burial mounds along its south side.

King’s Barrow Ridge is an area with a high concentration of burial mounds the most notable one is an oval ½ mile long.  Most of these have not been excavated but are being left for future exploration when better techniques exist.

The length of the King's Barrow is the area covered by the trees. Under the trees is a rounded mound making up the barrow.

 

End of the King's Barrow

 

View of Stonehenge from the King's Barrow

 

From the King’s Barrow Ridge you can walk down the Avenue which is the ceremonial approach to Stonehenge that the ancient would have taken. 

Stonehenge rises from the ground as you walk up the avenue toward it.

As you approach, Stonehenge slowly rises from the ground until it stand before you as a very impressive site.

Walking up the Avenue to Stonehenge.