Stonehenge, an ancient who-done-it

By J.S. Fletcher and Kathy Newbern © 2009

Druids, Romans, Priests, Goddesses, extra terrestrial aliens, prehistoric people. Who built Stonehenge and why?

Nearly everyone appreciates a good mystery. If you fit into those who do, then Stonehenge is for you.

This ancient earthwork near the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire captivates. We are visiting our second time, this time as part of a group of North American journalists who had been invited to attend the “naming” ceremony of Celebrity Cruises’ new Equinox. Part of our post tour is a stop at these mystical ruins, and we consider how appropriate it is that we have come from a ship in the new “Solstice Class” of vessels built by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., since the placement of the pillars at Stonehenge accurate predict the summer and winter solstices and equinoxes.

Likely the most important prehistoric monument in all of Britain, Stonehenge has attracted visitors from as far back as 5,000 years ago. Today, an estimated 800,000 tourists visit annually, proving the site’s ageless drawing power.

What is odd is how close Stonehenge is to roadways and passing vehicles: A344 to Shrewton on the north side, and A303 to Winterbourne Stoke to the south. Our tour bus approaches on a holiday Friday in a traffic snarl, and it is an amazing moment when the stones become visible from the coach windows. Even those who have squirmed in their seats the last hour draw a breath when they first catch a glimpse of the site.

Along the way, our tour guide had told us of the archaeological digs and the scientists’ speculations as to who built the site and what it means.

As to how Stonehenge was built, she explains that a henge is a large earthwork comprised of a ditch and a bank, and that Stonehenge literally means “hanging stones.” Scientists have found holes dating to around 3100 BC that were dug into the chalky soil forming a circle some 284 feet in diameter. Likely, the area was used for religious purposes, but for some reason was abandoned.

Stonehenge is situated at a crosspont between two vortexes, natural lines of power, which leads some to believe that mighty healing powers flow through it.

Around 2150 BC, the second stage of Stonehenge began. Some 82 bluestones, each weighing up to four tons, from the Preseli mountains in southwest Wales were transported to the site. Scholarly thinking suggests these stones were dragged on rollers and sleds to the headwaters on Milford Haven and transported by rafts on a journey of almost 240 miles. At the site, these bluestones form an incomplete double circle, but when they were placed, it was perhaps complete.

Around 2000 BC, the Sarsen stones were placed. They likely came from the Marlborough Downs near Avebury in north Wiltshire, about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. Some weighed as much as 50 tons, and transport by water was not possible. Sleds, ropes, huge rollers and hundreds of men would have been used to move them to their outer circle and inside horseshoe formations.

The standing stones and horizontal stones  were linked together in a mortise-and-tenon system - a recess cut into the horizontal stones to precisely match a projection, or tenon on the standing stone.

Over the next thousand or so years, the stones were arranged and rearranged until they came to be in shape that now exists, sans a few stones here and there that were removed for various unknown reasons. Some of the stones remain in broken states underground.

Theories as to why Stonehenge was built range from its being a religious site to a burial ground, and from being a healing center to a massive calendar device, and even a road marker of sorts, for travelers ranging from nomadic clans to, some say, extra-terrestrials.

Regardless of who, how or why, it is the now we are concerned with, and again Kathy and I are taken by the might of man and spirit. There is no doubt that these stones and their arrangement are purposeful, if for nothing else than for us humans to question our purpose.

If You Need a Guide: We recommend Rosamund Forester, a Blue Badge Guide and Institute of Tourist Guides member. Reach her at info@bluebadgeguide.com, or phone +44 (0) 20 8871 2862 or +44 (0) 7802 721 864 by cell.

(All Photos J.S. Fletcher © 2009)

If you liked this story, then check out the first stop on our tour: Salisbury.

Also, here is a story by Kathy Newbern on a great place to stay in London: Stafford.

International Travel Examiner J.S. Fletcher and spouse, Kathy M. Newbern, report on luxury destinations, spas and cruising around the globe. They are award-winning members of the Society of American Travel Writers and operate their personalized romance novel business.