Stonehenge

Russell and I took off this morning with a bus load of students from all corners of the world. Our first stop was Stonehenge.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard rumors that it is just a tourist trap now and not worth seeing. Others said it was well worth the trip... if it was a nice sunny day. Oh, and the forecast called for rain, rain and more rain.

As it turned out, though, the forecasts were wrong. We had a lovely sunny day (if a big humid) and I'm very glad we went. I will say that if you are expecting to hike off into the hillside and stumble upon a mystical pile of stones with an eerie mist hanging low around their base, you'll be disappointed. There are two highways that go right by Stonehenge and a huge parking lot across the highway from it. There were also (as you can imagine) many many tourists there to see this famous attraction. In order to protect the stones (and perhaps the people), the actual henge is roped off. You can walk all around it, but only at a distance. You can't get close (note the photo, that's as close as you get). This certainly detracts from the experience, but there is still plenty to learn and see.

Currently, little is known about who built Stonehenge or why they built it. What was fascinating, though, were all of the old legends about it that are completely baseless. I assume you have already discarded any rumors you may have heard of Merlyn or the Devil moving the rocks by magic as merely hearsay. But ever heard that druids were connected to Stonehenge? Thought it was somehow connected to Ireland? Could swear there were sacrifices performed there? None of these are true. In fact, the sacrifice rumor got started because the outer rocks of Stonehenge have a high iron content in them and when they are on their sides they turn a reddish color. Must be blood!

The things that are known about Stonehenge is that it was the third henge build on this location. The first was dug into the ground and had wooden posts (and you can still see a groove in the grass where it used to be - it almost seems like a mote around Stonehenge. The second henge was composed of smaller blue stones from Wales - a number of which are still standing and are essentially integrated into the third Stonehenge. This last henge refers to the largest stones around the outside that are most visible. The stones for these came from somewhere nearer by. It has also been noted that in June, the sun shines through the center "arch" of the remaining enclosure of stones. In July, the sun shines though the next arch and so on until the Winter Solstice, when it would come back around. So there does seem to be some sort of calendar connection.

Stonehenge isn't the only interesting thing to see in the area. All through the hills where Stonehenge is located there are barrows - ancient burial mounds. There is one right next to the Heel Stone at Stone Henge and there is a cluster of them about half a mile past the parking lot. You can see three of these mounds in the photograph. Apparently there is an abnormal density of barrows around Stonehenge. I think there may have been some that were communal burial sites, but most were for an individual person. The barrows you see in the photo are quite large, probably around twice the height of a person. As we drove away, Russel land I were able to spot several other barrows scattered around the countryside.