The Stonehenge Stone Circle News Blog

Druid King Arthur and the quest for the ancient bones

2013-05-15T23:26:00.003-07:00

Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon's second legal bid to get ancient bones found at Stonehenge reburied may have been unsuccessful, but he tells Katie Razzall he will fight on.

Surprisingly perhaps, today wasn't the first time King Arthur Pendragon had addressed a judge at London's High Court but it was the first time I'd seen him do it.
Dressed in white flowing robes, with a tidy grey beard and shoulder-length hair, the Battle Chieftan of the Council of British Druids told Court 27 the Government was being "duplicitous" over the fate of 3000-year old human remains exhumed at Stonehenge in 2008.

The ancient dead are due as much respect as the recent deadKing Arthur Pendragon

The case seemed to be about who said what when and to whom, and the arcane nature of Britain's Burial Act of 1857.
I found my mind wandering to whether he wears his marvellous outfit to work or is being Britain's most senior Druid work enough for any man? (It turns out - after a quick bit on online research - it is).
The Druids are furious that the cremated remains of more than 40 bodies, removed from a burial site at the ancient stone circle 5 years ago, may never be re-buried.
Druids believe they could be the remains of the "founding fathers of this very nation". King Arthur Pendragon - or KAP in my notebook - says they might be members of the "royal line or priest caste".
"The ancient dead are due as much respect as the recent dead," he told me.
Respect was due to the King himself today, for appearing on behalf of the remains in front of a judge, without legal representation. But he's used to that. He already lost a High Court bid to have the bones reburied in 2011.

Bones 'on licence'

The Druids argue the law says the remains are only out "on licence". The bones were excavated from one of the Aubrey holes at Stonehenge by Professor Mike Parker Pearson.
The judge ruled against them in their latest legal effort today, but outside court a group of self-dubbed "Loyal Arthurian Warriors", looking part crusader part Gandalf, cheered on the King as he emerged, vowing to fight on.
"We want the Guardians back in the ground, where they belong", he told me. "Let those we lay to rest, stay to rest."
What I wanted to know was how you get to be King Arthur Pendragon. Election is the answer. By a number of arch druids, the King says.
And a little deedpoll change - KAP changed his name from John Rothwell after reading a book about the legendary King and reportedly being astonished at the similarities between them, I wish I'd asked him what they were now.

Artcle by: Katie Razzall Reporter
Channel 4: http://www.channel4.com/news/king-arthur-pendragon-druid-high-court-case-bones-Stonehenge

Stonehenge Tour Guide

King Arthur Pendragon, Druid Leader, Objects To Display Of Human Remains At Stonehenge

2013-05-09T01:16:00.002-07:00

A druid leader, who changed his name by deed poll to King Arthur Pendragon, has criticised Stonehenge for "macabre" plans to put real human remains on display.

King Arthur, who styles himself the Battle Chieftain of the Council of British Druid Orders and

Druid King Arthur Pendragon conducts a
ceremony at Priory Crescent, Southend

Titular Head and Chosen Chief of the Loyal Arthurian Warband Druid order, has sent a stern letter of criticism to English Heritage over the plans.

The cremated remains of more than 40 bodies, thought to be at least 5,000 years old, were removed from a burial site at the ancient stone circle five years ago.

In 2011, King Arthur lost a High Court legal battle to have bones, which were discovered in 2008, returned to their original resting place at the popular Wiltshire attraction.
English Heritage said the remains were not from the 2008 excavation and their "presentation, treatment and storage" would follow strict UK guidelines.
But King Arthur maintains the bones were the remains of members of the "royal line" or "priest caste" who could have been the "founding fathers of this great nation".

In an open letter, he said: "It is with sadness and regret that I recently learned of English Heritages plans to put on display in 'their' new visitor centre at the World Heritage site of Stonehenge, ancient skeletal and cremated human remains excavated from the environs of the World Heritage site.
"This is not only out of step with the feelings of many of the peoples and groups that I represent who would rather the ancient dead were reburied and left to rest in peace and where appropriate samples kept for research and 'copies' put on display, but is surely against the driving cultural principles of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"English Heritage has missed an opportunity to be world leaders in this field but instead have opted to display the ancestral remains in such a macabre manner.
"We shall not take this development lightly and will oppose any such intention by English Heritage at Stonehenge."
The £27 million project to build a new visitor centre and close the road alongside the ancient monument, near Salisbury, is due to be completed by the end of the year.
A spokeswoman for English Heritage said visitor research showed the "vast majority of museum visitors are comfortable with, and often expect to see, human remains".
"Stonehenge is the focus of a ceremonial and ritual landscape shaped by prehistoric people for over 1,500 years," she said.
"The exhibition in the new visitor centre will provide an introduction to the story of the monument and its landscape, and puts at its centre the people associated with it.
"The remains of three human burials found in the landscape will be displayed with ample explanation along with archaeological objects, providing visitors with a direct connection to the people who lived and worked there.

"As such, we believe they have a rightful place in the exhibition and their presentation, treatment and storage will follow strict guidelines set out by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
"Visitors will be made aware of the display before they enter the exhibition.
"Visitor research also shows that the vast majority of museum visitors are comfortable with, and often expect to see, human remains as part of displays.
"The three sets of human remains on display do not include any of those recently excavated by Professor Mike Parker Pearson from one of the Aubrey Holes at Stonehenge.
"The reburial of this set of remains, a separate issue being championed by King Arthur Pendragon, is a decision that rests with the Ministry of Justice.
"More details about the new exhibition at the Stonehenge visitor centre, including information about three sets of remains and the individuals to whom they belong, will be unveiled at a later stage."

Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/08/king-arthur-pendragon-dru_n_3237012.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Neolithic huts built at Old Sarum by English Heritage

2013-05-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

Three Neolithic-style huts have been built at Old Sarum to learn more about how the builders of Stonehenge lived.

The aim is to build these Neolithic huts at
the Stonehenge visitor next year

The huts, made of chalk and straw daub and wheat-thatched roofing, have been based on archaeological remains found at Durrington Walls, near Stonehenge.

Project leader Luke Winter said: "What we're trying to do is get a sense of what these buildings looked like above-ground."

The hope is to re-build the huts at Stonehenge visitor centre next year.

Mr Winter added: "What makes the buildings interesting is that they were dated to about the same time as the large Sarson stones were being erected at Stonehenge.

"One of the theories is that these may have housed the people that were helping with construction of that monument."

Inside, the project team has used a variety of different daubs, made of pig soil [dung] or chalk and straw and construction techniques that would have been used by the Neolithic people.

"We've been trying a completely different way of thatching a roof. Nothing is tied onto the roof, as you would in a modern thatched building but the wheat straw that we've used is knotted and then tucked into a woven framework.

"Often people think 4,500 years ago is a long time ago, which of course to us as modern people it is, but it's well into beginnings of agriculture.

"We're looking at people that were farming, keeping cows and domesticating cereal crops, and of course houses were an important thing."

The Neolithic huts will be kept for another two months and will open to the public during the two May bank holidays.

Article Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-22424880

Stonehenge Tour Guide, Wiltshire

Wanted: manager to look after Stonehenge - the world's most famous stone circle

2013-04-20T00:07:00.004-07:00

The ancient monument presents a unique challenge, as Charlie Cooper discovers

Job seekers of an archaeological persuasion, pay attention: the holy grail of heritage jobs could be yours. Stonehenge needs a new manager and if there were ever a workplace with “a unique set of demands”, this is it. The salary is around £65,000 and the closing date is 5 May.

The new general manager, employed by English Heritage, will be the chief custodian of Britain’s oldest national monument. It is the first time the site has had an overall manager and the new man or woman at the top will be responsible for the biggest changes at the site in a generation, with a state-of-the-art visitor’s centre set to open at the end of the year.

Artcle by: Charlie Cooper http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wanted-manager-to-look-after-stonehenge--the-worlds-most-famous-stone-circle-8580897.html

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Mesolithic life before Stonehenge found at Amesbury

2013-04-18T23:11:00.001-07:00

Aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson visits Amesbury in Wiltshire where excavations have revealed that the history of people living in this location dates back much further than previously thought.

New evidence from the dig, at a site called Vespasian's Camp, has revealed traces of human settlement 3,000 years before nearby Stonehenge was built.
A team of archaeologists has uncovered evidence of sustained hunter gatherer activity which dates to 8,000 years ago - long before Stonehenge

David Jacques explains why the discovery is of international importance and what it means in terms of unlocking the secrets of Stonehenge, located less than a mile away.
The Flying Archaeologist - Stonehenge is broadcast on Friday, 19 April at 19:30 BST on BBC One West and South. The series is broadcast nationwide from Wednesday, 1 May at 20:30 BST on BBC Four
Watch a clip here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22019089

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Neolithic homes reconstructed for new Stonehenge visitor centre

2013-04-16T11:14:00.003-07:00

English Heritage recreates prehistoric houses in Wiltshire based on local excavations that will be rebuilt for outdoor gallery

Volunteers construct one of three Neolithic houses near Salisbury, Wiltshire. English Heritage is using the experiment to decide how they will construct an outdoor gallery for visitors at Stonehenge. Photograph: Chris Ison/PA

A small housing estate of deceptively spacious detached dwellings, with excellent rural views and many period features – including central hearth and convenient smoke hole – is under construction in Wiltshire.Strictly speaking it is a brownfield rather than a greenfield site, but there have been no nimbys to complain since the city of Salisbury upped sticks and moved from the windy hilltop of Old Sarum to the plain below, more than 700 years ago.
The wattle and daub reed thatched houses, based on excavations of the dwellings believed to have been occupied by the Neolithic tribes who built the later stages of Stonehenge 4,500 years ago, are being reconstructed by volunteers for English Heritage, and will be rebuilt as an outdoor gallery for the long-promised new visitor centre for the world's most famous prehistoric monument.
While fierce argument continues to rage about the purpose of Stonehenge – status symbol, astrological calendar or cemetery – most sides agree that prehistoric peoples came there on special occasions but did not live there.
The low rectangular houses being built at Old Sarum are based on hut sites excavated by Prof Mike Parker Pearson a few miles from Stonehenge, at Durrington Walls, which he believes were occupied by the monument builders and also the scene of great mid-winter and mid-summer feasts that lasted for rollicking days and nights.
Post holes give good evidence for the timber hammered into the chalky clay which formed the frames of the houses, and also indicate the door openings. Scorched marks of hearths remain, but the building materials, probably willow woven between the posts and then made wind and watertight by plastering with clay, rotted away millennia ago – except for the base of one wall, believed to be the earliest example of chalk cob as a building material.
The upper levels, and the shape of the roofs thatched with straw or sedge, are conjecture, so several different styles are being tried out, included thatching over steeper ridges and shallow curved hazel hoops.
Susan Greaney, a buildings historian with English Heritage, said the evidence from Durrington Walls allowed them to try something special at the visitor centre. "The reconstructed houses will be an immediate and sensory link with the distant past."
The 60 volunteers started work, using flint axes, 12 tonnes of chalk and 2,500 bundles of hazel and willow rods, in the coldest March in a lifetime.
They expect to finish in May, and their work will be open to the public on 5-6 and 25-27 May.

Full article: Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk,

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Could Mid Wales have been home to a 'neolithic theme park' used for rituals and feasts?

2013-04-12T00:02:00.002-07:00

A dig at a site in Mid Wales is lending weight to the theory that there may have been a Neolithic tribal centre based in the area.

Mid Wales could have been home to a “Neolithic theme park” used for gatherings, religious rituals and feasts, archaeologists suggest.

How the Walton Basin neolithic palisaded enclosure might have looked

A dig at the Walton Basin in Radnorshire is lending weight to the theory that there may have been a Neolithic tribal centre based in the area.
The site has been dated back to between 3800 and 2300BC and shows remains of palisades, cursuses (lengths of bank) and enclosures that all bear some resemblance to monuments found at Stonehenge.
The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust has been carrying out intermittent excavations on the site for close to 40 years.
The findings show that Wales is at least home to the remains of one of the largest neolithic timber constructions in the whole of Europe.
Buried in the soil are seven monuments that experts believe could have been the sites for tribal ceremonies that were held at certain times of the year.
Among the monuments is the Walton Neolithic palisaded enclosure made from a circular perimeter of 1100-1200 four-metre-high timber logs and a similar monumental Hindwell palisdaded enclosure that would have accommodated five London Olympic stadia within its foundation.
Bill Britnell, director of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and part of the digging team at the Walton Basin, said he was stunned by the magnitude of the structures
“You look at the man power that will have gone into making them and it must have been massive because they are absolutely huge. You’ve got enormous communities of people from some kind of tribal gathering where thousands gathered to build these monuments,” he said.
“If we want to find out what people were doing in the past, the information is out there and it’s invaluable.
“It increases people’s awareness in the places they are living in and it’s interesting in terms of the changes humanity goes through.”
During the digs, pottery, flint tools and plant and food remains have all been found.
But in order to delve deeper, archaeologists must find a waterlogged area in the landscape that may well contain artifacts that have been preserved to a much greater extent.
Mr Britnell said the size of the archaeological sites means the project is unfinished and believes there could well be more to find.
He said: “There perhaps are deposits out there in the basin and if we find that it would produce an enormous amount of information.
“We will need to take stock of where we are and try and think of some of those big questions and find out how we can answer them.
“There are just so many fundamental questions to be asked about the past.”
Archaeologists in Wales have noted the similarities between sites like this and those in Stonehenge.
Mr Britnell said the basin could have been one of many places used as a neolithic meeting point by thousands of people and tribes from across the UK.
Its location on a heavily used path near to Radnor Forest and between the uplands of central Wales and the lowlands of the Midlands of England placed it in a prime spot for visits from nomadic travellers.
He said: “There has to be big gatherings of people throughout the year. It tells you something about society, that at certain times of year there was one big group of society gathering together. We just need to find out why they were gathering.

“It’s like discovering a whole new part of civilisation and it has changed our whole opinion in terms of what we thought neolithic Wales was like.
“What we’ve found here in Wales is not happening everywhere. We can say with certainty that there must have been an important tribal centre in Wales for many years.”

Full article: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/archaeological-dig-walton-basin-mid-2586816

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Pagans and druids could get time off work to celebrate solstices and equinoxes at Stonehenge

2013-04-09T23:34:00.002-07:00

Pagans and druids could be allowed time off to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes at Stonehenge and Avebury, while nurses in West hospitals could be allowed to ask to pray for their patients as well as care for them, under new guidance for bosses published yesterday.

Need time off work to celebrate the solstice? New guidance suggests this should be possible for pagans and druids

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s new document comes after a series of high-profile cases involving largely Christian workers disciplined or fired for claiming they were discriminated against because of their religion. but one lost those cases, but the new guidance follows that single victory, which involved a Christian woman working for British Airways being allowed to wear a cross. The EHRC’s guidance states that employers should respect the beliefs of their employees and “consider seriously” adapting work practices to suit those beliefs.
In practice, that could mean anything from allowing workers to wear Christian symbols to giving pagans time off at the time of the key dates in their calendars.

Thousands of pagans and druids flock to Stonehenge and Avebury for sunrise on December 21 and on June 21, with a regular turn-out at Avebury for a dozen or more pagan festivals throughout the year.
But the EHRC guidance was criticised yesterday for suggesting going even further in employers’ rights.
It states that vegetarians or vegans could legitimately refuse to handle meat, or even sit on leather chairs, while eco-warriors could refuse to fly in an aeroplane if their beliefs are that strong that they refuse on environmental grounds.
The guidance insists that such beliefs should be “more than an opinion or a viewpoint”, and should be “genuinely and sincerely held and worthy of respect in a democratic society”.
What the guidelines could also do is give greater weight to some employees requests for longer holidays – particularly Muslims to attend the Haj pilgrimage, or for other workers from around the world to return for festivals.
A recent case, which is still to be settled, involved Goan Indian workers at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon claiming, among other things, that bosses discriminated against them by not allowing them enough time off in one go to return to Goa for festivals.
The guidance document included a set of hypothetical situations, including that a Christian nurse should not be disciplined for asking a patient if they could pray for them – as long as it is made clear that there is no pressure on the patient to agree.
The EHRC says that requests for religious observance – like a Jew leaving early on a Friday or a Muslim praying five times a day – should be allowed if it does not adversely affect other team members.
Full story: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Pagans-druids-time-work-celebrate-solstices/story-18653399-detail/story.html#axzz2Q2V3xqaN

Stonehenge Tour Guide

April Fool! 'Plans' to beam advertising onto Stonehenge circle at night

2013-04-05T23:13:00.002-07:00

This morning TravelMail revealed a 'plan' for adverts to be projected onto Stonehenge in a bid to generate extra revenue for the prehistoric attraction. But of course, it was all in the spirit of April Fool's.
A new visitor centre is currently being built at the 5,000-year-old World Heritage site in a £27 million upgrade which aims to "restore a sense of dignity to the setting of one of the world’s most loved ancient monuments."
And we said advertising during the site's out-of-hours Stone Circle Access visits was one avenue officials were considering to create additional income.

Night falls: When it starts to get dark, could visitors be bombarded with adverts

The special one-hour experience occurs either early in the morning or late in the evening when a maximum of 26 people can enter the circle, set in the Wiltshire countryside. During regular opening hours visitors can only skirt the perimeter of the stone configuration.
We said proposals being discussed could see adverts projected onto the stones as night falls in a bid to take advantage of the increased footfall and joked that while talks were ongoing, officials said "nothing had been set in stone".
The clue was in our 'angry local', Allis Porof - a fictional name created from April Fool's - of the Stand up for the Stones conservation society, who 'said': "I just can't believe that a site so sacred is going to be desecrated in this way.

"A symbol of the ingenuity of our ancestors is being sacrificed on the altar of 21st century greed and consumerism."
However, it was true that the attraction's new visitor centre is set to open later this year with a raft of "environmental improvements" to follow next summer. The A344 will be closed as part of the upgrade, with traffic diverted.
A permanent exhibition will be on display to tell the story of the stones and test building work has begun on three Neolithic houses which will be part of an outdoor gallery.

English Heritage, which manages the site near Salisbury, says that the scheme "fulfils a long standing ambition to improve the facilities on offer to the many hundreds of thousands who visit each year."
Stonehenge is shrouded in mystery and its original meaning has been invariably attributed to a place of sun worship or burial, among other theories.
Experts have long tried to deduce exactly how these gigantic stones were brought to the site.
Despite the building work, the attraction is still open to visitors.

By Sebastian Lander http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Stonehenge tour Guide

Stonehenge Neolithic House Project

2013-03-28T22:28:00.003-07:00

Gain exclusive access to the prototype Neolithic Houses currently under construction at Old Sarum Castle. Once mastered these houses, based on evidence recently discovered at Durrington Walls, will be reconstructed at Stonehenge as part of the new interpretation and visitors centre.

Meet Luke Winter, Manager of The Ancient Technology Centre and the volunteers taking on this challenge to discover the techniques and secrets of constructing these unique buildings.

Welcome drinks will be served on arrival. This event has been graded Moderate Access as there are some uneven paths on site. This event will take place mostly outdoors.

English Heritage Members' Only Event

Date: Fri 24 May 2013
Property:
Old Sarum

Time: 10am-12pm
Suitable for: Adults

How to Book

Ticket are available to book from 10am on Tuesday 26 March by calling our dedicated ticket sales team on 0870 333 1183. (Mon-Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm & Sat 9am - 5pm)

Prices

Welcome refreshments are included.

Visit the English Heritage website: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events/stonehenge-neolithic-house-project-os-24-may/
Stonehenge Tour Guide

Virtual cinema for Stonehenge

2013-03-25T07:31:00.001-07:00

English Heritage has come up with a novel idea to let people experience standing in the Stone circle without actually being there and damging the ancient site.

They are considering developing a 360 degree cinema which will be incorporated into the new £27 million centre.

The stones were roped off in 1977 due to problems with erosion. The new centre is being built one and a half miles away from the stones

Link and Video here: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2013-03-24/virtual-cinema-for-stonehenge/

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Skeletons, Secrets, Stonehenge and Skulduggery

2013-03-12T00:48:00.001-07:00

Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Skeletons, Secrets, Stonehenge and Skulduggery: I have been taking another look at the Channel 4 programme called "Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons" and have paused it in ...

Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Stonehenge laser scan

2013-03-12T00:45:00.001-07:00

Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Stonehenge laser scan: Isn't this wonderful? thanks to Dave Maynard for drawing it to my attention -- it is an EH laser scan creation, as reproduced in...

Stonehenge was product of first 'team building exercise'

2013-03-08T23:33:00.002-08:00

Stonehenge may have been the result of the world's first team-building exercise which unified the people of ancient Britain, according to researchers.

Findings suggest the site was only occupied for about a decade, and that Stonehenge was built in a matter of years Photo: Alamy

The vast stone structure has long been the subject of the debate among historians, who have variously described it as a pagan temple, or an astronomical calendar or observatory.

Now experts claim the monument was built as part of an annual winter solstice ritual which resembled "Glastonbury festival and a motorway building scheme at the same time".

Researchers from University College London said as many as 4,000 people may have gathered at the site each year, at a time when the entire population numbered only tens of thousands.

Tests on remains found at the site reveal that people came to the site from as far as the Scottish Highlands at the same time every year to feast, and built the monument together.

But analysis of bones, tools and ancient houses in a primitive workers' village near the site suggests it was only occupied for about a decade, and that Stonehenge was built in a matter of years.

The evidence also indicates that the homes lay unoccupied for most of the year, meaning the site was unlikely to have been a place of worship.
It was more likely the product of a unification ritual with people travelling across the country to build it around the solstices, particularly in winter, and then dispersing.
Prof Mike Parker Pearson, who led the study, explained: "What we have discovered is it's in the building the thing that's important. It's not that they're coming to worship, they're coming to construct it.
"It is not so much a temple, it is a monument and it seems the big theme is unification ... Stonehenge gets visited at certain points, people build and then go away.
"It's something that's Glastonbury festival and a motorway building scheme at the same time. It's not all fun, there's work too."
Dating tests on historic artefacts revealed that Stonehenge was built about 4,500 years ago, during a brief window when all societies across Britain had begun to share a common culture.
A few hundred years later the arrival of the "Beaker People" in Britain, who brought new material goods including metals and the wheel, ended the pan-British culture and could explain why the monument was abandoned, Prof Parker Pearson said.

: Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons is being shown on Channel 4 at 8pm on March 10th

Stonehenge, Wiltshire

Stonehenge may have been used as 'elite graveyard'

2013-03-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

The site of Stonehenge may have been used as a graveyard for an elite community of families hundreds of years before the construction of the monument that stands today, according to archaeologists.

The research, carried out by a team of academics from around the UK and led by Mike Parker Pearson from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, analysed 63 sets of human remains buried around the site. The results suggest that the bodies would have been interred over a period of more than 200 years.
Tests on cattle teeth found at the site, meanwhile, point to its use for massive communal gatherings in the years around 2,500 BC. As documented in Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons, a documentary to be broadcast in the UK at 8pm on Sunday 10 March on Channel 4, the fact that the animals were apparently killed in winter suggests their use for mid-winter feasts.
Professor Pearson said: "Stonehenge was a monument that brought ancient Britain together. What we've found is that people came with their animals to feast at Stonehenge from all corners of Britain — as far afield as Scotland."
Image credit: Channel 4
Source: http://www.historyextra.com/news/stonehenge-may-have-been-used-elite-graveyard

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Stonehenge visitor centre will be a "tremendous boost"

2013-02-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

CONSTRUCTION of the long-awaited, £27million Stonehenge visitor centre is well underway.
The centre, which will create 35 new jobs and be used by around 1.25 million tourists each year, is set to open this winter.

Work on the new Stonehenge visitor centre

Two buildings have been constructed at Airman’s Corner to house an exhibition, a cafe, shop and education centre, from where they will take a passenger transit vehicle the 1.5 miles to the stones.
The vehicles will be able to carry up to 900 people an hour from the visitor centre to the stones, along the route of the existing A344, which will be closed to all other traffic except farm access. On the way the vehicle will stop at Fargo Plantation where there will be a viewing point for tourists to get their first glimpse of the ancient monument.

Work on the contents of the exhibition is well underway and will include an audio visual presentation, display cases, interactive features and exhibits loaned from Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, many of which have never been on display before. Stonehenge director at English Heritage Loraine Knowles said: “This visitor centre will let us tell the story of Stonehenge, how it evolved over millennia.It will also transform the whole landscape – it will be truly fantastic.”

The visitor centre will employ 78 people. The entry price for the visitor centre will be announced later this year along with the opening date.
* The opening of the visitor centre could be a huge boost to the south Wiltshire economy according to tourism bosses. Because it will take a minimum of two hours to visit Stonehenge, they say visitors are more likely to stay in the county rather than visiting area on a whistlestop tour of the south west.
“At the moment you have coaches pulling up, people spending 20 minutes taking pictures of the stones and then going on to Bath and the Cotswolds,” said David Andrews, chief executive of Visit Wiltshire. “They are not here long enough to spend any money and are taking their business elsewhere.”
Once the A344 is closed it will not be possible to stop and see the stones from the road, which English Heritage says will build up a sense of anticipation.
Other tourist attractions are also hoping they will benefit from the new visitor centre.
“We want to co-ordinate the way we are presenting information about Stonehenge,” said director of Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, Adrian Green. “At the visitor centre they will learn its history while we will have displays focussing on the excavations and more recent discoveries such as the Amesbury Archer.
“We will each tell part of the story and encourage people to visit the museums as well.
“There are tremendous opportunities for marketing and it could be a fantastic boost for the economy in this area.”
By Jill Harding: http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Prehistoric artwork uncovered on Stonehenge Stone Circle

2013-02-18T23:24:00.001-08:00

The world-famous Stonehenge has been laser scanned in unprecedented detail, revealing 71 carvings of Bronze Age axes not seen in more than three thousand years.

The task of further examining this ancient structure, to discover more about it, was awarded to ArcHeritage, part of the York Archaeological Trust in the United Kingdom, as part of a project commissioned by English Heritage.
The laser scan used point spacing of 0.5 millimetres, and resulted in an enormous data resource of 850 gigabytes. Preliminary examination of the meshed models identified individual tool marks over 5,000 years old, but it was evident that the data contained more prehistoric artwork carved onto the surface of the stones.
The team decided to visualise the original point-cloud data and created a workflow using Bentley Pointools. The use of Bentley Pointools on this project enabled large datasets to be loaded, facilitating an examination of the full resolution data. The software’s shading function was instrumental in visualising the most subtle features, which resulted in the discovery of the subtle, Bronze Age carvings.
“We needed a software solution that would handle and visualise vast quantities of survey data,” said Marcus Abbott, a member of the ArcHeritage geomatics and visualisation team. “Bentley Pointools is capable of loading both 3D mesh and point-cloud data. The discovery of unrecorded prehistoric rock art on the stones was first realised in Bentley Pointools.”
Richard Zambuni, Bentley global marketing director, geospatial and utilities, said, “Stonehenge is one of the world’s great buildings surviving from prehistory – it is not fanciful to call this amazing public building ‘infrastructure,’ and although we know very little about how this structure was designed, constructed, and used, cutting-edge infrastructure software such as Bentley Pointools can be used to give us more insight into this astonishing edifice.
“The layering and shading functions in Bentley Pointools allowed carvings of Bronze Age axe heads and daggers that were invisible to the naked eye to be visualised, and provided sub-millimetre accuracy to the archaeologists documenting Europe’s greatest Stone Age building. It is truly gratifying to see Bentley Pointools used on such an exciting undertaking.”
The discovery of the carvings at Stonehenge was realised through the team’s use of Bentley Pointools’ Plane Shading function to create a greyscale band 7.5 centimetres wide. This band was moved at 1-millimeter intervals through the data. As it moved, it created a high-quality rendering of the plane shaded image. The team repeated the process 75 times to complete a full colour-change for every point in the data. Depending on the position in relation to a pre-set camera plane, each point was assigned a greyscale value, allowing very subtle features to be visible. When the images were combined into an animation and played back, the carvings, which were invisible to the naked eye, were seen fading in and out.
It was only through Bentley Pointools’ powerful visualisation capabilities that this eroded prehistoric artwork was discovered. Once the extent of the carvings was identified, the team deployed the measuring and point location tools to accurately plot the carvings to the Ordnance Survey grid.
A case study on the ArcHeritage Stonehenge project is available from Bentley here [PDF link].

Article by schester : http://www.spatialsource.com.au/

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Heritage Centenary 2013

2013-02-01T05:05:00.002-08:00

This year, 2013, is the centenary of a landmark moment for England’s heritage.

The Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendments Act of 1913 recognised for the first time that there are physical remains of the nation’s history which are so special that the state has a duty to protect them.

English Heritage’s origins stretch back to this Act which effectively established the National Heritage Collection and created many of the powers used to safeguard the country’s unique legacy of historic buildings, monuments and landscapes. In this part of our website, you can find out more about the Act and how we are celebrating its anniversary.

The 1913 Ancient Monuments Act
This year, 2013, is the centenary of a landmark moment for England’s heritage. The passing of the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act in 1913 recognised for the first time that there are physical remains of the nation’s history which are so special and so significant that the state has a duty to ensure their continued survival.

The burial chamber at Kit’s Coty House in Kent, complete
with the 19th century railing installed by the Office of Works.
Still there today, the iron spiked railing is itself a monument to
early approaches of protecting and presenting historic sites.

In 1911, Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire, built in around 1440 by the Lord Treasurer of England and considered the finest example of medieval brickwork in the country, was sold. It passed between several owners before catching the attention of a consortium of American businessmen who removed the beautiful stone fireplaces, used as models for those in the Palace of Westminster, and planned to ship them to the USA.

There were fears that the castle would either be demolished for the value of its materials or dismantled brick-by-brick, transported across the Atlantic, and re-erected on American soil. An attempt by the Office of Works to gain control of the Castle came to nothing and the National Trust turned down the chance to buy it.

At the eleventh hour, Lord Curzon, the former Viceroy of India and restorer of the Taj Mahal, stepped in and made an offer to buy the Castle and land around it, which the Americans accepted. Using his connections he had the ports watched so that the fireplaces could not be smuggled out of the country. After a tip-off, they were found in a mews in London. Draped in Union Jacks, they were mounted on horse-drawn carriages, and triumphantly returned to the castle in 1912

The dramatic rescue of Tattershall was taken as the prime example of the need for action when in 1912 Parliament was preparing to strengthen protection for historic buildings and monuments. Speaking in the House of Lords on 30 April 1912, Lord Curzon declared:

"The whole attitude of this country and of the civilized world in general has changed towards archaeology in recent years. We regard the national monuments to which this Bill refers as part of the heritage and history of the nation…they are documents just as valuable in reading the record of the past as any monument or parchment deed…there is the case of Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire…In these cases the government in the existing condition of affairs is absolutely helpless. All it can do is to sit still and look on while these acts happen; the only power it possesses being the limited and almost futile prerogative given it by the legislation of 1882 and 1900."

Earlier Heritage Legislation
There were two Ancient Monuments Acts before the 1913 Act. The first in 1882 included a list of 68 prehistoric monuments in Great Britain and Ireland that, with the consent of their owners, would eventually be brought into the nation’s care.

The Act also provided for the appointment of one or more Inspector of Ancient Monuments to oversee and provide advice upon the protection of monuments. An editorial published in The Times in 1882 noted that the Act in its current form would be of limited interest to the wider public: ‘England will not go mad yet on clay funerary urns, flint heads and scrapers.’

By the end of the following year Pitt-Rivers had obtained 14 more monuments. However by the late 1880s progress had significantly slowed. As the process was voluntary, Pitt-Rivers had to stand aside whilst monuments were destroyed. Among these were prehistoric cup-marked stones at Ilkley, Yorkshire, carted off ‘probably to some rockery’.
Despite its shortcomings, the first Ancient Monuments Act did set a precedent. By the turn of the century several groups were campaigning for revised legislation. Among these were the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the recently founded National Trust (1895).
The Ancient Monuments Act of 1900 resulted in a major transfer to the Office, later the Ministry, of Works (English Heritage, Historic Scotland and Cadw are the Office’s direct successors) of historic buildings and monuments in the care of other Government departments. Nonetheless there were still no compulsive measures to protect the physical remains of the nation’s history.
The 1913 Ancient Monuments Act or – to give the Act its full title – the 1913 Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act changed all that. Given Royal Assent on the 15th August 1913, the Act repealed everything so far established and started again – its provisions essentially governed protection of ancient monuments until 1979.

Preservation Orders and Scheduling

The Act did three new things. It introduced a system whereby the Office of Works could issue a compulsory ‘Preservation Order’ when a monument or building of sufficient ‘historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, or archaeological interest’ was at risk of demolition by a private owner.
Each order would need an Act of Parliament to confirm it, making it an unwieldy instrument, but the Act did at least establish the principle that some buildings in private ownership might, if they were important enough, warrant the intervention of the state to save them.
The second major innovation was the ‘scheduling’ of monuments. This involved compiling a list, or schedule, of monuments which were deemed by an expert board to be of ‘national importance’. Once a site was on the list and the owner informed, it became a crime to damage it.
Under the Act, the Office of Works could give free advice to an owner regarding the treatment of an ancient monument on their land and could oversee any works free of charge. Scheduling considerably widened the scope of protection to the thousands of monuments on private land rather than just those in Government or local authority care.
These two initiatives – the preservation order and scheduling – established the statutory protection of those parts of the nation’s heritage in private hands. It would develop in future years through the listing system and a rapidly evolving planning system.

A National Heritage Collection

Finally under the 1913 Ancient Monuments Act, the powers of the Office of Works to collect, or take into guardianship, monuments of outstanding importance were strengthened. Public access was made a right for all new guardianships.
Four historic sites were acquired under the new Act that year:

Lindisfarne Priory, an important centre of early Christianity in Northumberland;
Yarmouth Castle on the Isle of Wight, the last and most sophisticated of Henry VIII’s coastal forts;
12th century Framlingham Castle in Suffolk; and
Finally on the 19th December 1913 – the sandstone ruins of Penrith Castle in Cumbria, home of the future king, Richard III.

The 1913 Ancient Monuments Act created the idea of a great national collection of monuments for public edification. Education was one of the main motivations behind the Act, second only to preservation.
In 1912, the Education Minister Charles Trevelyan argued that the bill was not simply an antiquarian issue ‘but that it should be realised that part of the character of the nation which depends upon the appreciation of the past may really be affected by the preservation of these monuments…the nation ought to learn about its past through what is left of its monuments’. Museums, he said were important, but ‘a thing in a museum does not strike the imagination of a young person nearly as vividly as a building.’
Since 1913, the National Heritage Collection has grown considerably and is today Europe’s most ambitious outdoor museum, consisting of 880 historic monuments and properties. English Heritage looks after 413 sites as well as their contents and archives, ranging from prehistoric stone circles to a 1960s nuclear bunker and including Stonehenge, Hadrian’s Wall, Charles Darwin’s diaries and the Duke of Wellington’s boots.
The most recent addition to the National Heritage Collection was the medieval Harmondsworth Barn in west London – dubbed by poet John Betjeman as ‘the Cathedral of Middlesex’ – and rescued by English Heritage in 2012 from years of neglect and decay.

Full article: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/heritage-centenary/1913-ancient-monuments-act/

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Can British heritage sites compete on the world stage?

2013-01-12T01:05:00.001-08:00

Our expert panel (Which.co.uk) rated Avebury in Wiltshire as one of the best heritage sites in the world, beating the pyramids of Egypt and the Taj Mahal for visitor experience. Do we take our extraordinary heritage for granted?

With an expert score of 78%, Avebury came second only to the ancient Zapotec capital of Monte Alban in Oaxaca, Mexico, when rated by a panel of Which? experts against a range of criteria.

Most people know the site for its enormous stone circle, but there’s much more to this prehistoric complex, including ancient burial chambers and the vast man-made Silbury hill, dating back around 5,000 years.

Taking on the world
There’s no doubting Avebury’s importance – it is after all a Unesco World Heritage Site – but I was astonished to find that it could compete with iconic sites like Peru’s Machu Picchu or Jordan’s Petra.

But our experts were adamant. On every single aspect that we judged to be important for a great heritage visit, Avebury scored highly. While the stone structures may not be as well preserved as say,Machu Picchu, they are considerably older. Up to 5,000 years older, in fact.

And unlike at its sister site, Stonehenge, the visit is not sanitised. You can turn up at any time, day or night. You can walk freely among the stones and try and imagine how on earth these 40-60 tonne monoliths were moved into place by manpower alone. You can even hug the stones if you feel so inclined.

And where else in the world would monuments of such historic importance be left alone to gently integrate with the landscape and become a feature of everyday life for subsequent generations?

A heritage site without the hassle
So many world heritage sites are ravaged by commercialism and mass tourism. Visitors face overpricing, queues and hawkers, as they are rushed around a site that is mostly fenced off and inaccessible. Not so Avebury. Visitor numbers are intentionally kept low, the site is clean, quiet, free to visit and ecologically and culturally sustainable.

Still not convinced? Nor was I. So I visited on a crisp November morning and I must admit there is something magical about the place. It may not be perched on a mountain-top, but the setting has its own quintessentially English charm. As the world gets smaller and we regularly jet off in search of the exotic, are we becoming blasé about the historic wonders of our own green and pleasant land?

Have you visited Avebury or other British prehistoric monuments? How do they compare to other major heritage sites around the world?

Which magazine link: http://conversation.which.co.uk/transport-travel/avebury-can-british-heritage-sites-compete-petra-pyramids-stonehenge/

Stonehenge Tour Guide

2013 STONEHENGE CYCLE CHALLENGE

2013-01-01T00:55:00.004-08:00

Join the Stonehenge Cycle Challenge and pedal into history. In September 2013 members of English Heritage will be able to take part in an exclusive sponsored cycle ride, which traces the route of the Stonehenge bluestones from Wales to Wiltshire.

Starting at the Preseli Hills in the Pembrokeshire National Park and ending inside the stone circle at Stonehenge with a celebratory glass of champagne, this really is a monumental ride of a lifetime.
When is it and who can get involved?
This three day event, which runs from 13-15 September 2013, is ideal for keen cyclists with a love of history. The journey will cover:
Preseli Hills to Llandovery on day one (approx. 50 miles)
Llandovery to Chepstow via Brecon Beacons on day two (approx. 60 miles) and finally
Chepstow to Stonehenge on day three (approx 65 miles).
Cyclists will be able to take in some of the most beautiful Welsh and English countryside with plenty of water stops along the way, as well as much-deserved pub lunches.

Why cycle Stonehenge?
This sponsored ride, open to both individuals and teams, will raise much needed money to help fund improvements to the unique prehistoric landscape surrounding Stonehenge. These improvements include:
A new environmentally sensitive visitor centre 1.5 miles away at Airman's Corner
Removing the current car park and facilities at the Stones and returning these areas to grass
Closure of the A344 with the section from Stonehenge Bottom to Byway 12 reverting to grass, allowing Stonehenge to be reunited with its ancient processional way
Find out more about our ambitious plans to transform Stonehenge. Please note: a registration fee will be charged to cover the cost of the safe running of this event.

How to get involved
If you would like to take part in the Stonehenge Cycle Challenge, you can register your interest by emailing: cycle.stonehenge@english-heritage.org.uk Or why not support Stonehenge without breaking out into a sweat by donating online.

Stonehnege Tour Guide (in training now)

Give Sighthill’s Stonehenge a sporting chance say campaigner

2012-12-29T22:50:00.002-08:00

The Sighthill Stone Circle – hailed as a mini Stonehenge – was completed in 1979 and is the first of its kind in the UK for 3,000 years.

Sighthill Elspet Gibson and Thurston Cherry came to celebrate

the winter Solstice at the Stone circle, they broght a candle

torch 21st December 2012 pic: Roberto Cavieres

But Glasgow City Council want to transform Sighthill into an athletes village if it wins its bid to host the Youth Olympic Games in 2018.
The £250million regeneration will go ahead regardless of whether the city wins the games bid.
That means the astronomically-aligned stone circle in Sighthill Park is under threat.
A petition has so far attracted 500 signatures – with backing from well-known faces including writer and artist Alasdair Gray andGlasgow musician Stuart Braithwaite, founder of Mogwai.

Duncan Lunan, who created the Sighthill Stone Circle, said: “My wife Linda and I were asked to a meeting with the council and were told to our complete shock that the ‘circle is going and there’s nothing you can say to change it’.

“There’s definitely a lot of people that don’t want it to go. So many people in signing the petition have gone on to say why they go there.

“We’re not saying there shouldn’t be development in the area, but the stone circle is the first of its kind for 3,000 years. The plans could be easily modified.”

The Sighthill circle was designed by Duncan and erected by the Glasgow Parks Department Astronomy Project between 1978-79. It’s dedicated to four prominent experts in the field of ancient astronomy, all with close connections to Glasgow.

Following the change of Government in 1979 the circle was never completed, and it has never become the local and visitor attraction which was intended. Four unused stones lie there to this day.
Duncan added: “As well as signing the petition, we would ask people to write to the council and tell them why they support it.”
Duncan organised a mid-winter solstice at the stone circle last Friday.
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The 2018 Youth Olympic Games bid is a very exciting opportunity for the city.
“The redevelopment of Sighthill is a key component of our bid. Even if we do not win the bid, Sighthill will be transformed 20 years earlier than it would otherwise have been.

“At this stage of the development of the proposal, it is too early to comment on what will be done with the standing stones at Sighthill Park in terms of their location or incorporation into the masterplan for the area.”

Sighthill History

The circle was built in 1979 and it is dedicated to four outstanding researchers in the field of ancient astronomy: the late Professor Alexander Thom and Dr. Archie Thom, Prof. Archie Roy and Dr. Euan MacKie, all of whom are closely connected to the city of Glasgow. For more details please see the Brief History section

If you want to sign the petition, visit www.sighthillstonecircle.net
News Source: http://www.kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Celebrating the winter solstice at Stonehenge - picture of the day

2012-12-21T22:39:00.002-08:00

A photographic highlight selected by the picture desk. Revellers celebrate the pagan festival of winter solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK

Ben Stanshall/AFP/Getty Images

Revellers celebrate the pagan festival of winter solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK. And this year the photographers among them are rewarded by a clear view of the sun in a cloudless sky

Stonehenge Tour Guide

New External Gallery at Stonehenge. Neolithic Houses Project

2012-12-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

One of the most exciting features of the new visitor centre will be an external gallery which will include three reconstructed Neolithic houses. Using archaeological evidence and authentic materials, these buildings will provide a real and tangible link for visitors to the distant past. People will be able to walk into these houses and see how people may have lived 4,500 years ago.

During excavations at Durrington Walls in 2006-7, something quite extraordinary was discovered – prehistoric houses dating to 4500 years ago. Recent radiocarbon dating has shown these houses were inhabited in around 2,500 BC; exactly the time sarsen stones were being erected nearby at Stonehenge.
The closeness of the dates raises the distinct possibility that the people who occupied the seasonal settlement at Durrington were involved in the construction of the sarsen stone settings and in celebrations at Stonehenge.
Using traditional and locally sourced building materials and following the archaeological findings from Durrington Walls, we plan to recreate three Neolithic houses.
We will attempt to answer questions such as:

What did the roof look like?
What is the best ‘recipe’ for making a hard chalk floor?
What was it like to be inside these houses?

This is an experimental archaeology project.

Neolithic House Builders (Phase 1)

Be part of an archaeological experiment and help us present the story of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. Using traditional building methods and locally sourced materials, you will help recreate a Neolithic house based on archaeological findings.

Location

Old Sarum
Castle Road
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP3 6RR

Role Description

Key Tasks

Depending on which stage of the house building project you are part of there will be the following tasks:

Stage 1 - Preparing hazel for wattling, making rope withies for securing roof and stakes, gathering materials
Stage 2 - Setting out stakes, hazel wattling, preparing chalk cob, cob wall construction
Stage 3 - Thatching, laying chalk floor, helping to make furniture and dressing house

Hours and Time Frame

It is planned that the project will run from Tuesday to Saturday during March to May 2013. We are looking for volunteers to commit to at least five days volunteering across the project. Inductions will be held each Tuesday morning and we would require all volunteers to attend an induction session on their first day of volunteering.

Skills and Qualities

An interest in working in the historic environment
An interest in working outdoors
Ability to work as part of a team
Ability to undertake physical work for a period of time
To be flexible and enthusiastic
To communicate effectively with other members of the team

Support and Training

Full training will be provided by English Heritage and it will include:

Induction with team leader
Training on construction methods and using tools
Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment

What English Heritage Expects from Volunteers

Volunteers should:

Maintain good working relationships with staff, other volunteers and members of the public
Attend appropriate training and learn about the work of English Heritage
Be reliable in attendance
Observe organisational policy and procedures
Protect English Heritage property from theft, damage or loss, within the limit of their responsibilities
Safeguard confidential information about English Heritage and refer any controversial matters relating to the work of English Heritage to their manager

Other Information

Volunteers may be reimbursed for travel costs between home and volunteering location within agreed limits
A volunteer pass allowing free access to English Heritage sites is available after a satisfactory period of 4 months and the completion of 60 hours of service
A certificate for your personal profile to demonstrate work carried out for English Heritage to show future employers or further education establishments

How to apply

To register your interest see how to apply.

Link: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/get-involved/volunteering/roles-available/8164923212

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Stonehenge Winter Solstice. 21st December 2012

2012-11-27T23:29:00.000-08:00

English Heritage will once again allow people access to Stonehenge for the celebration of the Winter Solstice, the first day of the winter season. Sunrise is at 8.09am on Friday 21 December and visitors will be able to access the monument as soon as it is light enough to do so safely. Entrance will be available from roughly 7.30am until 9am, when the site will close - before re-opening as per usual to paying visitors at 9.30am.

The exact time of the Solstice this year, when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun, is at 11.11am on 21 December, however it is generally accepted that the celebration of this special event takes place at dawn and therefore access is permitted at Stonehenge earlier that morning.

Over the last few years, the popularity of Winter Solstice has grown considerably, with many families and young people joining the druid and pagan community in the celebrations.

Peter Carson, Head of Stonehenge, said: “We are delighted to offer people a warm welcome to Stonehenge this Winter Solstice but as facilities are limited, we are not able to accommodate any more people than last year. We don't have the luxury of using nearby fields in winter for parking and encourage people to make use of the special bus service running from Salisbury. We are working very closely with the local authorities and agencies plus the druid and pagan community to ensure that access to Stonehenge will once again be a success.”

Additional notes
Access may not be possible if the ground conditions are considered poor or if it is felt that access might result in severe damage to the monument.
Public have in previous years used byway 12 for parking on the morning of 21st December. Additional car parking for approximately 800 cars will be available on the A344 (which will be closed to through traffic), plus the Stonehenge Visitor Centre Car Park.

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Explore the Bronze Age monuments of the Stonehenge landscape

2012-11-19T22:22:00.001-08:00

Explore the Bronze Age monuments of the Stonehenge landscape (24th November 2012) with Sonia Heywood ' you'll soon discover that they are much more than simple burial mounds. Investigated by curious antiquarians in the last 300 years, they have a 4,000 year history that tells us much about our past. On our four mile walk we'll be visiting the Cursus Barrows, Winterbourne Stoke Barrows and the Monarch of the Plain. We'll also have fine views of the King Barrows and Normanton Down Barrows.All walks are booking essential. Details such as start points will be sent on booking.

General Details
Meeting at the Stonehenge car park (not NT) by the bright green National Trust information panel. A car parking charge applies for non-members of the Trust or English Heritage.
Dress for the weather and wear stout footwear.
Access is by pedestrian gates; most terrain is grassland, often uneven underfoot. Cattle and sheep graze the gently sloping downs. Please note, we may be crossing the A344 road, at your own risk.
Accompanied children welcome - YACs free
Dogs on leads welcome
This walk is run in partnership with Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum - accompanying artefact handling sessions are available at the museum, priced £6, or £5 if booked alongside this walk. Contact the Museum on 01722 233151 or see www.salisburymuseum.org.uk for information and to book.

For details and to book, contact our booking office on 0844 249 1895.

Stonehenge Tour Guide