Ancient Stones around Wiltshire

A very cold wind whipping around Stonehenge, autumn 2014.
The boundary rope has been put far enough away to reduce the impact of other visitors in your photos.

Long before the Ancient Egyptians were cutting and carting stones for their Pyramids (4-2000 BCE), the Ancient Celts were placing enormous stones or wooden poles in circles around the Wiltshire countryside (7-2500 BCE). The most famous of these arrangements is also one of the youngest - Stonehenge.

A rope line prevented us from walking within the circle and touching the stones as Barack Obama was recently allowed to do. It held us beyond the ditch that archaeologists have found a skeleton of one they believe to be a sacrificial offering - a young healthy man killed by multiple flint arrow wounds - the flint arrow heads found within the rib cage. This person has been dated to the very end times of Stonehenge's influence.

A computer generated image of how Stonehenge would have looked
upon completion 4500 years ago from the Hidden Landscape project.

Three thoughts of Stonehenge have always sprung to mind since I first knew of the standing stones as a child. First were the Druids with their spooky chants, hypnotic potions and sacrifices. Second were the wild theories of it being a stargate for aliens. It is amazing how much is still being written about its alignment with the Great Pyramid and Ley lines; the stuff of my primary school story writing and many adolescent science fiction novels. The third element is certainly the one that supersedes the others while standing in front of it; how did ancient man get those stones there and why was the effort worth it?

Petal inspecting a prehistoric round house that the settlements in the area would have been populated with.

I'm not sure that Willow and Petal would have been able to move this by themselves.
A display outside the English Heritage Center at Stonehenge.
Visits must be pre-booked and a time selected.  Visit - http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/  to do this.
A 360 degree film of the henge at midsummer solstice will be shown soon to give visitors a virtual walk through the stones.

Charlie wasn't allowed on site so he had a
long ball chase session before a sleep in the car.

The large standing stones were bought down 48km from Marlborough, probably on rope pulled sledges. Before the weathering of a couple 4000years, these stones were bright white and would have glowed in the light, reflecting the colours of sunrise and sunsets. The smaller blue stones in the center horseshoe came from Wales and there is evidence to suggest that whole families moved one stone each then settled on the plains. These smaller stones were rearranged a couple of times. A stone lined avenue lead to the henge to guide people to the entry point of the circle.

Even though we were joined by a couple of busloads of other people walking around the Henge, there was a remarkable quiet, the traffic from the nearby A road and the wind whistling over the fields was louder than the conversation. Yet still my senses were dead to the fizzy awe that I had always expected I'd feel. Any goosebumps were just a temperature thing. What I did feel though was a remarkable respect for the ancient humans that had measured, designed and laboured to create such a huge and long lasting edifice with only the basic laws of forces to assist them.

The stones had pegs carved out on the top for the matching hollows in the  lintels to sit on.

People have lived on the Salisbury plains since the stone age. Archaeologists have found settlements along the river Avon and have suggested that the area was important because of game(fossils of cow like animals 4x the size have been found in the valley) and because of an algae that grows in the river. This algae causes flint rocks taken from the stream to turn bright magenta as they dry. Such a colour would have been rare and awe inspiring according to archaeologist/anthropologist reasoning.

The ancients would have loved Willow's jumper. All they need is a mummy lintel, I don't think they would be strong enough!

The Hidden Landscape project lead by Birmingham University is using digital mapping(ground penetrating xray in conjunction with GPS tech as one example), archaeologists on quad bikes towing expensive equipment over the Wiltshire landscape. They have found 17 more henge type structures. http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2014/09/stonehenge-hlp-gallery.aspx .Circles of ditches or smaller stones have been found and ages of different towns and communities have been found.  The plains were a very busy place.  Their findings demonstrate that the Stonehenge landscape was used for grand burials and large excavations since around 7000 BCE when the Mesolithic people raised posts north west of the Stonehenge site.  The majority of stone works found were between c3600BCE and 1500BCE when farming seemed to replace trade and ritual on the site. Even with all this new data explaining why Stonehenge was built is still hypothetical.

This map shows the landscape around Stonehenge - about 6km across.
Go to http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/stonehenge-the-larger-landscape, hold your mouse over the green spots and it will explain what each site is. Stonehenge is the one at the end of the long white path from the river.

Woodhenge - so called because the post holes were arranged in concentric circles similar to Stonehenge, was investigated by Maud Cunnington in the 1920's. Piles of carefully place pottery and animal remains were found at the bottom of the post holes and the skeleton of a three year old child was found in the very center. Some have said that it is just a likely that this may have been the structure of a large building. It was built around the same time as the large sarsen (a very hard type of sandstone) stones were raised at Stonehenge.

Computer generated image of what the Woodenhenge may have looked like when in use.
Image from: http://www.pasthorizons.tv/henges-stonehenge-woodhenge-avebury-stanton-drew/

Patterned pottery and the use of copper, gold and later bronze indicate that the area was a trade hub around the time the Great Pyramid was being built. English bronze was stronger than European bronze because of the tin they added to the copper. Traders came from Europe to get it. Perhaps Stonehenge was a giant market place?  The obvious alignment with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset would suggest that the careful circle maths of its surveyors meant it for more than a shopping arcade. Although today there are many more people in shops than churches on weekends, the mysteries of the world were still deep enough to demand a deity or two in the bronze age.

Avebury is the largest of any of the stone circles in Britain. Computer image from the same site as above.
The white is from the chalk common in the area.

Walking around Avebury - stiles and paths allow the public to walk through several properties built within the circle.

These stones at Avebury are made of the same stuff as Stonehenge but we can touch them - yay.

A fallen stone proves to be an excellent
squirrel lookout point

These circles with raised banks around the outside are different to Stonehenge which has a bank sloping down from the lower ridge of the ditch around the outside. The academics are wondering if the raised banks were for spectators to sit on and if games or trials - similar to the Roman ampitheatres were held within. It has even been suggested that the Stanton-Drew wooden circle, west of Avebury, may have been an arena for blood sport - hunters surrounded by 2x1 meter wooden pillars hunting down a beast released. There is a ridge running around the foot of the bank much like our modern arenas to be able to look for your allocated seat. The ditch would have prevented the animal escaping - image below.

Stanton-Drew  Buy the Film Standing with Stones: A journey through megalithic Britain Sosken and Bott.  The book is published by Thames and Hudson. Both available on Amazon.

Further south is Old Sarum is on the edge of the Salisbury Plains, half way between the River Avon and the River Bourne and where seven major roads running across England converged. The Romans enlarged the natural hill into significant earthworks and called it Sorbiodunum. The Britons inherited it, the Saxons took it and refortified it, Alfred added an outer entrenchment, Edgar lead Britain's defense against the Danes from this safe haven and William the Conqueror organised his new Feudal System in the south from here. 

A model of what the settlement looked like in Medieval times and the ruins now.
In the photo on the right: left foundation stones of the Old Sarum Cathedral, right I'm standing in the dungeon of the Castle.

The first stone Cathedral in the British Isles was completed on a lower terrace beside the Sarum Royal Castle in 1092. This pile of sacred stones began to disintegrate, dusting off its congregation, in only a Century. This and the lack of housing for religious orders, conflict with the townsfolk and the local garrison and lack of water saw the establishment of 'New Sarum' - now Salisbury, two miles away. The new Cathedral was consecrated there after only thirty eight years of work in 1258 and unlike its predecessor, is still standing.

Left: From the defenses of Old Sarum looking down to the New Cathedral.  Right: Salisbury city walls.

A tall spire was added to the Cathedral in the last binge of renovations and additions in 1380, it is the tallest stone spire built in Medieval times. Because the Cathedral only has 4ft foundations the supports of this new tower are now bowed by about 10in.

Salisbury Cathedral, the first Stone Cathedral in Britain.

Taking advantage of a very good Cafe in the Refectory

 The Chapter house holds Salisbury's copy of the Magna Carter which is on display. King John conceded 63 points of liberty to his Barons upon the field of Runnymead in 1215. King John instantly requested that Pope Innocent III have it annulled to return complete power to the throne. His stony heart was determined to maintain ultimate power for the throne and to bleed his enemies dry. He died the following year from dysentery whilst traveling to meet his foreign military backers. He left a 9yr old Henry III under the guardianship of William Marshal who had the Charter reissued.

The Charter became law in 1297. Nine of the sixty three liberties remain in UK law to this day. Those that were agreeing to the riddance of foreign soldiers fighting against the rebelling barons, freeing Welshmen and limiting the amount citizens were expected to pay towards providing a Kings' ransom, a Princess's marriage or a Prince's knighthood are probably unnecessary now. Liberties guarding free movement in and out of the country, city freedoms and widows' rights possibly still exist. The Magna Carter (Grand Charter in English) also influenced the United States Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. One of the 1297(Edward III) copies was given to Australia and is on display in Parliament House at Canberra.

Salisbury Cathedral Chapter House where a 1215 copy of the Magna Cater is displayed.

The idiom - Heart of Stone - has always meant someone who would not give into the pressure of empathy or entreaty, but after seeing how stone was pulled and marked into submission by a flint armed workforce I'm not sure that this heart is the unmovable force I visualised before. It is true that stone will stand longer in the corrosive elements but it can be shaped with the right tools. I wonder how many of today's iconic buildings will still be standing or even known about in another 5000 years.

Two books have the stones of Wiltshire at their heart.

A popular TV series was made of Follet's 'Pillars'. It took a close look at the engineering and politics of Cathedral building in England. I recently really enjoyed 2 of his Century trilogy - Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, the third - Edge of Eternity was a b-day pressie and will be consumed in the near future. I'll keep my eyes peeled in Cambridge's charity shops for a copy of Pillars.


Sarum was Rutherfurd's first dynastic novel, a spell binding read from prehistoric times through to the 20thC. This and Russka are my favourites, although London, Paris and The Forest were really good too. I have New York sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.








During my Googling I came across this strange site - would love to know if it is real and if it really serves any serious astronomical purpose. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0502/S00048.htm

NZ Stonehenge?!

Stonehenge Aotearoa, an open-sky observatory, inspired by and built on a similar scale to the famous Stonehenge on England’s Salisbury Plains has been built in the Wairarapa countryside (1.5 hours from Wellington). Unique in New Zealand and internationally as a place of science and wonder this stunning new attraction officially opened on 12 February 2005. The story of and background to remarkable astronomical project is told in Awa Press’ exclusive/quintessential guide book Stonehenge Aotearoa: The Complete Guide.

A modern day version of the 4000-year-old English monument as it might have been, had it been built in the Southern hemisphere, Stonehenge Aotearoa, is backed by the New Zealand Government and Royal Society of the New Zealand, and is the brain child of members of the Phoenix Astronomical Society.

Taking well over 1000 hours of surveying and astronomical calculation plus a year of construction, Stonehenge Aotearoa combines Celtic and Babylonian astronomy, Polynesian navigation, and Maori starlore with modern scientific knowledge. It can be used to study the turning of the seasons – Nagaa huri o te waatu and the turning of the stars – Ngaahuri o ngaa whetu and to find equinoxes and solstices, eclipses and constellations.

The project manager of Stonehenge Aotearoa, Richard Hall with fellow astronomers Kay Leather and Geoffrey Dobson have written Stonehenge Aotearoa: The Complete Guide to explain the how, why, what’s and when’s of the New Zealand’s own Stonehenge. It takes you on a tour around the henge explaining: the significance of the giant stones and other features such as the central obelisk; how to use Stonehenge Aotearoa to observe the sun, moon and stars, eclipses and many other wonders of the night sky. In addition the guide book also includes fascinating information about the ancient original Stonehenge in England and other prehistoric stone circles around the world.

Richard Hall is one of New Zealand’s leading astronomers. He is also senior public programmes officer at Wellington’s Carter Observatory, founding member of the Phoenix Astronomical Society and author of the bestselling How to Gaze at the Southern Stars. Kay Leather has co-written The Work of the Gods with Richard/ Kay and Geoffrey Dobson are also both fellow astronomers and members of the Phoenix Astronomical Society. 

Stonehenge Aotearoa: The Complete Guide by Richard Hall, Geoffrey Dodson and Kay Leather
1st February. RRP $? Available from all good bookstores andwww.awapress.co.nz