It was a real ‘let’s do it’ moment,” said Mr Rodger-Sharp. “Ironically, Glenn was visiting Stonehenge on the day I rang him so felt he had to accept — it was as though it was fate. At Stonehenge several monuments have retained their alignment on the Solstice sunrise and sunset, including the Stone Circle, the Avenue, Woodhenge, and the Durrington Walls Southern Circle and its Avenue. The small town of Amesbury is likely to have been established around the 6th century AD at a crossing point over the Avon. A decapitated man, possibly a criminal, was buried at Stonehenge in the Saxon period. [15] From this time on, sheep husbandry dominated the open downland around Stonehenge. [16] The earliest surviving written references to Stonehenge date from the medieval period, and from the 14th century onwards there are increasing references to Stonehenge and drawings and paintings of it. The smaller bluestones, on the other hand, have been traced all the way to the Preseli Hills in Wales, some 200 miles away from Stonehenge. How, then, did prehistoric builders without sophisticated tools or engineering haul these boulders, which weigh up to 4 tons, over such a great distance?

This survival and the huge potential of buried archaeology make the property an extremely important resource for archaeological research, which continues to uncover new evidence and expand our understanding of prehistory. Present day research has enormously improved our understanding of the property. This was the start of a sequence of campaigns to conserve and restore Stonehenge – the last stones were consolidated in 1964. [19] Several hundred years later, it is thought, Stonehenge’s builders hoisted an estimated 80 non-indigenous bluestones, 43 of which remain today, into standing positions and placed them in either a horseshoe or circular formation. A lot more people get tattoos these days and I’m sure when I’m 70 there’ll be plenty of other people to compare mine with.” I’ve never liked tattoos so perhaps this was a mid-life crisis. Stonehenge has always been part of me so I didn’t think there was a better way of showing it off.The ancient stone circle of Stonehenge is known around the world, surrounded by myths, folklore and speculation. But who built it and what went on there? There have been various depictions of the monument in prints, drawings and medals, and this is the first known real depiction of Stonehenge, in watercolour. In about 2500 BC the stones were set up in the centre of the monument. Two types of stone are used at Stonehenge – the larger sarsens and the smaller ‘bluestones’. The sarsens were erected in two concentric arrangements – an inner horseshoe and an outer circle – and the bluestones were set up between them in a double arc. [7] About 200 or 300 years later the central bluestones were rearranged to form a circle and inner oval (which was again later altered to form a horseshoe). The earthwork Avenue was also built at this time, connecting Stonehenge with the river Avon. Mr Rodger-Sharp was born six weeks premature during the Stonehenge Free Festival, an “underground” alternative celebration which lasted several weeks. He was named after paramedic David Nobbs, who delivered him.

He said: “It’s true what they say about them being addictive — I just want something on the other arm to balance it. I’d worried what my husband would think as he’s not a fan of tattoos but he’s fairly neutral and says it’s a nice design. From 1927, the National Trust began to acquire the land around Stonehenge to preserve it and restore it to grassland. Large areas of the Stonehenge landscape are now in their ownership. More recent improvements to the landscape – including the removal of the old visitor facilities and the closure of the section of the old A344 that ran close to the stones – have begun the process of returning Stonehenge to an open grassland setting, but there is more that can be done. English Heritage welcomes government plans to invest in a tunnel, which would remove much of the busy A303 and help reconnect the monument to its ancient landscape.From a study of the tree rings, it is known that Seahenge was built in the spring or summer of 2049 BC, at a time when stone tools and weapons were rapidly being replaced by metal as the material of choice for social and economic life and for offerings to supernatural forces. During that period, circles of wood and stone were in decline. Seahenge was constructed near the end of a religious tradition that had lasted for almost a millennium. Why did Stonehenge fall out of use? The stones were shaped and set up to frame at least two important events in the annual solar cycle – the midwinter sunset at the winter solstice and the midsummer sunrise at the summer solstice.

He drew it mostly freehand, which was pretty incredible. I was terrified that it would be excruciatingly painful but it didn’t hurt at all to begin with and even near the end it wasn’t all that bad. Probably at the same time that the stones were being set up in the centre of the monument, the sarsens close to the entrance were raised, together with the four Station Stones on the periphery. It is important to maintain and enhance the improvements to monuments achieved through grass restoration and to avoid erosion of earthen monuments and buried archaeology through visitor pressure and burrowing animals. Work began on Stonehenge about 5,000 years ago, but it was built in stages over many years. The stone circle dates from about 2500 BC, in the late Neolithic period.

International Friends – Stonehenge, Bath & Windsor

Stonehenge is one of the most impressive prehistoric megalithic monuments in the world on account of the sheer size of its megaliths, the sophistication of its concentric plan and architectural design, the shaping of the stones - uniquely using both Wiltshire Sarsen sandstone and Pembroke Bluestone - and the precision with which it was built.

The stone settings at Stonehenge were built at a time of great change in prehistory, just as new styles of ‘Beaker’ pottery and the knowledge of metalworking, together with a transition to the burial of individuals with grave goods, were arriving from the Continent. From about 2400 BC, well-furnished Beaker graves such as that of the Amesbury Archer [9] are found nearby. We can only speculate as to what Stonehenge’s purpose was. But the fact that the sun rises over the Heel Stone on the longest day of the year (summer solstice) and sets over it on the shortest day (winter solstice) suggests that it was a prehistoric temple aligned with the sun’s movements. He went to the salon with Kate Tooley, who works in his shop and was getting a smaller tattoo in memory of a loved one.The boundaries of the property capture the attributes that together convey Outstanding Universal Value at Stonehenge and Avebury. They contain the major Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that exemplify the creative genius and technological skills for which the property is inscribed. The Avebury and Stonehenge landscapes are extensive, both being around 25 square kilometres, and capture the relationship between the monuments as well as their landscape setting. When English Heritage learned of his story, they allowed him to spend an hour among the stones by himself before the 10,000 or so revellers arrived. There is a need to strengthen understanding of the overall relationship between remains, both buried and standing, at Stonehenge and at Avebury. The megalithic and earthen monuments of the World Heritage property demonstrate the shaping of the landscape through monument building for around 2000 years from circa 3700 BC, reflecting the importance and wide influence of both areas.