A line of huge megaliths that once acted as a site for rituals carried out during the building of Stonehenge has been discovered. Here is how to visit the site
Why go
Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a massive stone monument buried under the bank of a stone-age enclosure known as Durrington Walls, just two miles from Stonehenge.
A new line of stones has been found under Durrington Walls super-henge
Using powerful ground-penetrating radar, investigators from Birmingham and Bradford universities, alongside an international team of experts, have uncovered a 330m-long line of more than 50 massive stones, buried under part of the bank of Britain’s largest pre-historic henge.
Professor Vincent Gaffney, an archaeologist on the project, said that the discovery has significant implications for our understanding of Stonehenge and its landscape setting.
“Not only does this new evidence demonstrate a completely unexpected phase of monumental architecture at one of the greatest ceremonial sites in prehistoric Europe, the new stone row could well be contemporary with the famous Stonehenge sarsen circle or even earlier,” he said.
What is it
Gaffney said that the stones are thought to have been erected more than 4,500 years ago to form a dramatic ritual arena. The monuments were grand, built to give the impression of authority to the living and the dead.
However, as the megaliths are buried underground, visitors to the area will not be able to see them for themselves.
Yet you can still get a great sense of their majesty if you use a bit of imagination, and Durrington Walls, the village where Stonehenge’s builders lived, is itself an interesting site.
The henge at Durrington Walls has long mystified archaeologists because one side is straight while the rest of it is curved. It surrounds several smaller enclosures and timber circles, and is connected to a newly excavated later Neolithic settlement. Thousands of people travelled great distances to gather here and feast on roast pork and apples in midwinter. The area outside the ditch and bank was once a settlement, possibly housing hundreds of homes, making Durrington Walls the biggest village in north-west Europe at the time.
Durrington
The earliest phase of Durrington Walls with its line of megaliths
How to see the site on a guided walk
The National Trust is hosting a Discover Durrington Walls event on October 10. On this 3-mile walk, you’ll explore the secrets of Durrington Walls – once home to the builders of Stonehenge – and discover 6,000 years of hidden history with National Trust’s landscape guides.
To book: Call the estate office on 01980 664780 or email stonehenge@nationaltrust.org.uk
How to see the site on an independent walk
Download a National Trust map for one of the following routes and explore for yourself.
1. Ramble around on a Durrington Walls and Landscape walk and explore the connection between two of the most important henge enclosures in the country in a less-known part of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. To view the route: nationaltrust.org.uk/wra-1356324449264/view-page/item463554/
2. Go on a Durrington Walls to Stonehenge walk and discover the landscape in its full glory from the Bronze Age barrow First World War military railway track, as well as its diverse wildlife and plants. To view the route: nationaltrust.org.uk/stonehenge-landscape/things-to-see-and-do/view-page/item937063/
Join a guided tour from London or Salisbury
Stonehenge Guided Tours operate daily tours of Stonehenge and many of their small group tours explore the greater landscape including Woodhenge and Durrington Walls. Exclusive private guided tours can be arranged for individuals, families and small groups with local experts. They also specialise in Stonehenge special access tours. To view their tours: http://www.StonehengeTours.com
Local facilities
– Picnic area (not NT) and information panel at Woodhenge car park
– WCs
– Outdoor café
– Picnic area (not NT) at Stonehenge car park, 0.75 miles from this walking route.
How to get there
Bike: National Cycle Network route 45 runs south-east of the property. See sustrans.org.uk
Bus: Wilts & Dorset 5 or 6, between Salisbury, Pewsey, Marlborough and Swindon. Service 16 from Amesbury, request stop at Woodhenge
Rail: Salisbury station, 9 miles from Woodhenge car park
Road: Woodhenge car park is 1¾ miles north of Amesbury, follow signs from A345
This article was written by Trisha Andres (Telegraph Mail)
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UFO has been captured hovering above Stonehenge and a mysterious crop circle appears nearby – coincidence?
A MYSTERIOUS crop circle has appeared in a field just off the A303 around 1km from Stonehenge. A group who go around the country capturing the phenomenon sent up a drone to get a shot from the sky. View the footage here
Worldwide media have reported UFO sightings above Stonehenge (see links below). Many of our Stonehenge tours visit this mysterious area and we have local expert guides specialising in crop circle tours. (Our exclusive crop circle tours have been featured on Sky TV, The Times and Telegraph newspapers”)
Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, is one of the most famous prehistoric construction sites in the world. It consists of a circular formation of erect stone slabs set within an earth bank and ditch. The structure is believed to have gone through various stages of construction between 3000 B.C. and 2000 B.C
Links:
Mysterious crop circle appears near Stonehenge
Black ‘flying saucer’ UFO is pictured hovering over Stonehenge
UFO’ snapped hovering over Stonehenge being probed by alien investigators
Mysterious crop circles appear near Stonehenge (VIDEO)
This ‘disc-shaped’ UFO was snapped at Stonehenge hovering over the stones – Mirror.co.uk
Black ‘Flying Saucer’ UFO Photographed Hovering Over Stonehenge – The Inquisitr
Does this look like an alien ship? ‘Flying saucer’ UFO is captured hovering over Stonehenge, claim … –Daily Mail
Stonehenge Guided Tours
The Stonehenge and Crop Circle Experts
At first it was a blur on the horizon, a small, grey silhouette rising softly into the haze. Grassy meadows dotted with cowslips and grazing sheep rolled around me.
As this prehistoric monument prepares for the summer solstice, Ellie Ross joins a new tour offering an authentic view of the site
The silence was broken only by birdsong and the occasional scuff of our boots. The path dipped down into a valley before veering left – and the blur came into focus as that familiar stone circle and one of Neolithic man’s most astonishing achievements, Stonehenge.
Standing proud on the skyline, it was magnificent to behold as I followed the remnants of a parallel pair of ditches and banks. I was walking up The Avenue, the ancient ceremonial approach which once connected Stonehenge to the River Avon and which is aligned with the sunrise of the summer solstice. This is the view people would have seen more than 4,000 years ago, when they trekked up here on the final leg of their journey.
My own journey on foot had begun eight miles south, in the Woodford Valley, where the River Avon criss-crosses verdant wheat fields and dense forest. I had arrived with a group of four other walkers accompanied by David Howell, guide and local historian from the walking specialist Foot Trails.
“We’re out here to enjoy the countryside,” he said, hoisting on a hefty backpack as we prepared to embark on Journey to the Stones, a new monthly guided walk. “Please switch off your phones.”
Within moments my surroundings seemed to burst into life – the smell of wet nettles, the chirrup of skylarks, a butterfly flitting next to my elbow. We crossed a footbridge over the Avon, a tranquil, blue-black stretch that flows from Salisbury Plain to Christchurch in Dorset, 38 miles away.
“The river was an important transport route for ancient man, and played a vital role in the construction of Stonehenge,” David explained.
Not only was the Avon a highway for transporting fish, it is believed the river was used to carry the dolerite bluestones of the inner ring, which came from Wales. Although the exact origins and purpose of Stonehenge have been lost, theories as to why it was built range from human sacrifice to astronomy. But what remains is not what the original builders would have seen, as it is at least the third monument that has stood on this site.
Around 2150BC, it changed from a henge – a ditch and bank of earth – to a monument of growing importance, featuring the bluestones and later huge Sarsens from the Marlborough Downs. Work stopped around 1500BC, leaving the stone circle roughly as it is today.
Shadowing the river, we dropped into dense forest peppered with wild garlic, crossed Lower Woodford with its pretty cottages and thatched cob walls, then paused beside a field of flint.
“There was something special about the position of Stonehenge,” David said, offering around a tin of barley sugars. “We are in a chalk landscape – the flint in these fields is compressed chalk. In prehistoric times, it was easier to travel on the chalk downs than in dense valleys. Stonehenge is a natural junction for England’s chalk downs, where you can move in all directions, but remain high. Being at the heart of this superhighway meant it was an ideal meeting point for people who were dispersed around the landscape.”
We pressed on, taking in views of Lake House, the Elizabethan home of Sting, who recorded “Fields of Gold” there after apparently being inspired by the surrounding barley fields. Climbing steadily, we entered what David called the “sacred heart of the landscape”, punctuated with barrows, or burial mounds, which would once have been white.
As we climbed, a dozen grassy lumps rose out of the downs around us, expanding and contracting as our perspective shifted. Then, a gap on the horizon opened to reveal the distant but unmistakable outline of Stonehenge, bathed in sunlight, about half a mile away. The monument is false-crested, set slightly below the summit, to make it visible both from the valley and from afar.
fter half a day on David’s route, avoiding the busy national trails, we had passed no other walkers, and now I felt like we had the stones all to ourselves. It was the perfect spot for a picnic.
“Most people go straight to the stones or simply drive past them on the A303,” David said, producing a blanket and wonderful bread, cheeses, tea and cake from his backpack. But you don’t see the significance of these barrows without walking through them. As a monument, Stonehenge is so much about its landscape. It was designed to be seen from afar, as well as from inside the stone circle.”
Refuelled, we skirted a wide semi-circle around the stones to see them at different angles. Each time I paused and looked towards them, they appeared different, first short and fat, then tall and thin. But all the while they were mesmerising, a dramatic display of human ingenuity that took more than 30 million hours of labour to create.
After a busy but brief crossing of the unavoidable A303, we traversed a field to join The Avenue bending up from the Avon, turning south-west for our final approach.
Standing in the stone circle, as the shadows hugged the ground, I looked out towards the fields with their lumpy barrows, and down the chalk-strewn Avenue, where the sun will soon rise, marking the summer solstice.
Walking there
Foot Trails (01747 820626; foottrails.co.uk) offers ‘Journey to the Stones’ on the first Thursday of every month, until 6 October. The guided day walk costs £75, including return transfers from Salisbury railway station, picnic lunch, entrance to Stonehenge, the services of a guide – and the occasional fortifying barley sugar. Private guided tours can be organised on request.
More information
Article source: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/stonehenge-walking-tour-sunrise-and-stones-on-the-horizon-10331290.html
english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge
Stonehenge is one of the most recognized monuments in the world. We thought it would be fun to delve into the history of the place and focus on 10 interest facts and figures that people may not have known about Stonehenge.
Date Built?
Much about Stonehenge remains a mystery – the biggest unanswered question is when was it built? Archaeologists believe it was built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Radiocarbon dating done in 2008 suggested that the first stones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, whilst another theory suggests that bluestones may have been raised at the site as early as 3000 BC.
Big Visitor Numbers
Stonehenge has over 1,000,000 visitors from all over the world ever year – making it one of Britain’s most popular tourist attractions.
The Stones Are Generally Off Limits
When Stonehenge was first opened to the public it was possible to walk among and even climb on the stones, but the stones were roped off in 1977 as a result of serious erosion. Visitors are no longer permitted to touch the stones, but are able to walk around the monument from a short distance away. English Heritage does, however, permit access during the summer and winter solstice, and the spring and autumn equinox. Additionally, visitors can make special bookings to access the stones throughout the year.
Massive Weight
Some of the stones can weigh up to 60 tons. One of the biggest mysteries is how the builders managed to get them onto the site and lift them in the prehistoric era.
The Stonehenge site is more than just the iconic stones at the center – the land surrounding the henge is a massive burial ground with over 200 people buried on the site.
A Bit of Wales
Some of the stones are Welsh bluestone – which only exists in Wales. The stones have been geologically placed to have in origin in western Wales – which is very far away from Wiltshire!
Who Owns It?
Stonehenge used to be a neglected monument on some absentee landowner’s land (and much damage was done to the monument). Eventually it was decided to be too important to trust to private ownership and the British Crown now owns the site. It is managed by English Heritage and the land surrounding the site is owned by the National Trust (which has a remit to protect its properties forever).
Check Your Sums
Those who built Stonehenge had to have been extremely sophisticated in mathematics and geometry. It was aligned with the midwinter sunset and the midsummer sunset. It was also aligned with the most northerly setting and most southerly rising of the moon.
Multiple Stones
The monument is made of two major types of stone, sarsens and bluestones (mentioned above). Sarsens are the larger ones, some of them reaching 9m tall and weighing over 20 tons. They are thought to have come from the Marlborough Downs, around 20 miles from Salisbury Plain.
Building A Tunnel
You can see Stonehenge from the main road – the A303 – as you drive by. This is also a major problem for the site as it creates a lot of road noise and pollution that damage the stones. The British government has just announced that they’re going to build tunnel under Stonehenge that will make the site almost as it was when it was built – silent to the winds of the Salisbury plain
Article source:http://www.anglotopia.net/british-history/seeing-stones-10-facts-figures-stonehenge-might-now-know/
March 26, 2015 By Jonathan
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