Stonehenge Overview
Stonehenge is probably the most famous stone circle in the world.
It is estimated that this amazing structure began about 3000 BC and was developed and added onto for about 1500 years. The actual numbers seem to vary from source to source – wouldn’t you love to have a time machine about now?
It seems silly for me to repeat all sorts of facts and figures that you can find in any book on Stonehenge, especially if you visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site page for “Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated sites”. Other excellent web sites of facts include: History Extra’s 10 Facts About Stonehenge and Mental Floss’ 15 Monumental Facts About Stonehenge.
Instead, I wish to take you on a personal and photographic tour around Stonehenge.
My Experiences
I have visited Stonehenge five times in total. Three of those times, I was privileged enough to be with a group of local druids and participate in the solstice ceremonies inside Stonehenge’s inner circle.
I’m not talking about those hugely public events where throngs of people (along with heavy police and drone presence) the equivalent to half the population of the city of Salisbury invade the stone circle, desecrating it with trash and worse… The druids shudder and find this sort of behavior highly-offensive.
I’m talking about a small group of about 100 people whose main purpose is to respect and celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year. You can occasionally find one of these smaller, more intimate groups on YouTube.
Changes and Management
I am well aware of some of the changes that have happened at Stonehenge in the past 5 years or so – including a new tourist’s center, but I my last visit was in 2011, shortly before I began to move out of the area.
The site is co-managed by English Heritage (who manage the monument) and National Trust (who manage the land) – meaning that members of either charity are able to visit Stonehenge (and other places) for free.
(The photo above was taken on my second visit in January 2009.)
Click here to read book on DBOOKS.ORG