Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, about two miles west of Amesbury. The monument consists of large sarsen standing stones, smaller bluestones and surrounding earthworks, and was constructed in several stages between about 3100 BC and 1600 BC. Its present ruins are aligned with the sunrise at the summer solstice and the sunset at the winter solstice, while the surrounding landscape contains a dense concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments, including hundreds of burial mounds.
The best-known part of Stonehenge is its outer circle of vertical sarsen stones, each originally around 13 feet high and about 7 feet wide, with individual stones weighing approximately 25 tons. Horizontal lintels were placed across the standing stones and secured using mortise-and-tenon joints, an unusual feature among monuments of the same period. Within the sarsen circle are smaller bluestones and a group of larger trilithons, each consisting of two upright sarsens supporting a horizontal lintel.
Stonehenge is now a legally protected scheduled monument and forms part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1986. The monument is owned by the Crown Estate and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.
The Meaning Of The Name Stonehenge
The origin of the name Stonehenge has been interpreted in several ways. The Old English element stān means "stone", while the second part has been connected with words meaning hinge, to hang, gallows or a related idea of suspended stones. The arrangement of the lintels resting upon the upright stones has been suggested as one possible explanation.
The word "henge" subsequently became the name for a particular type of prehistoric monument. Archaeologists use the term for earthworks consisting of a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch. The terminology originated in antiquarian usage and was later adopted into archaeological language.
Before Stonehenge
Human activity in the Stonehenge landscape began thousands of years before the monument itself was constructed. Archaeologists have identified four, and possibly five, large Mesolithic postholes dating from around 8000 BC beneath the area formerly occupied by the tourist car park. These postholes held substantial pine posts that were eventually left to decay in place.
Three of the posts, and possibly a fourth, were arranged along an east-west alignment that may have had ritual significance. A settlement that may have been contemporary with these posts has also been identified at Blick Mead, a reliable spring about one mile from Stonehenge.
During the earlier Neolithic period, the surrounding landscape changed as people cleared woodland and established monuments. A causewayed enclosure was built at Robin Hood's Ball, while long barrow tombs appeared in the surrounding area. Around 3500 BC, the Stonehenge Cursus was constructed about 700 metres north of the later monument.
Other possible stone or wooden structures and burial mounds may date as far back as 4000 BC. Evidence from Blick Mead has also been dated to this period, suggesting that the Stonehenge landscape had already been used for a considerable time before construction of the main monument began.
Stonehenge 1 The First Monument
The earliest generally recognised phase of Stonehenge dates to about 3100 BC. It consisted of a circular enclosure formed by a bank and ditch, approximately 110 metres in diameter. The enclosure had a large entrance to the north-east and a smaller entrance to the south and stood in open grassland on a gently sloping site.
The ditch was dug in sections, with chalk removed from it and piled up to create the surrounding bank. Deer and ox bones were placed in the bottom of the ditch, together with worked flint tools. Some of the animal bones were considerably older than the antler picks used to dig the ditch, indicating that they had been retained before being deposited.
Within the enclosure was a circle of 56 pits, each roughly one metre across. These are known as the Aubrey holes, after the antiquarian John Aubrey, who was thought to have identified them in the seventeenth century. They may originally have held standing timbers forming a timber circle, although no excavated evidence of such timbers has survived.
Excavations and later analysis have shown that the Aubrey holes were also associated with cremation burials. More than 50,000 cremated bone fragments representing 63 individuals were excavated in 2013. The remains had originally been buried separately in the Aubrey holes before being removed during twentieth-century excavation and later placed together in Aubrey Hole 7.
Analysis showed that the cremated individuals included men, women and children. Evidence beneath the graves suggested that substantial weight had been placed upon the chalk, leading researchers to conclude that the earliest bluestones brought from Wales may have served as grave markers. Radiocarbon dating placed the activity at around 3000 BC, approximately 500 years earlier than previously estimated.
Analysis of strontium in the human remains also indicated that many of those buried at Stonehenge around the time of its construction probably came from near the source of the bluestones in Wales and had not spent much of their lives around Stonehenge.
Stonehenge And Waun Mawn
Research between 2017 and 2021 examined the possibility that some of the Stonehenge bluestones had previously formed part of a stone circle at Waun Mawn in the Preseli Hills of Wales. Evidence indicated that Waun Mawn had contained a stone circle approximately 110 metres in diameter, comparable in size to the earliest known Stonehenge circle.
One stone at Waun Mawn showed an unusual pentagonal shape and evidence suggested that it had subsequently been reused at Stonehenge. Dating of the filled stone sockets indicated that the Welsh circle had been erected around 3400–3200 BC and dismantled roughly 300–400 years later.
The cessation of human activity at Waun Mawn around the same time has been interpreted as possible evidence for migration. However, the evidence also suggests that stones from other sources may have been used at Stonehenge. Further work in 2021 concluded that the Waun Mawn circle had never been completed and that no more than 13 of the stones that might once have stood there had been removed in antiquity.
Stonehenge 2 Timber Structures And Cremation Burials
The second phase of construction took place approximately between 2900 and 2600 BC. Numerous postholes from the early third millennium BC indicate that some form of timber structure was built inside the original enclosure.
Additional standing timbers were placed near the north-eastern entrance, while a parallel line of posts extended inward from the southern entrance. These postholes were smaller and less regularly spaced than the Aubrey holes, and the surrounding bank was deliberately reduced in height as the ditch continued to fill with silt.
During this phase, at least 25 Aubrey holes received later cremation burials. Another 30 cremations were placed in the ditch and elsewhere within the monument, particularly in its eastern half. Stonehenge therefore appears to have functioned during this period as an enclosed cremation cemetery, described as the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles.
Fragments of unburnt human bone were also found in the ditch fill. Late Neolithic grooved ware pottery associated with the features of this phase provides dating evidence for the activity.
Stonehenge 3 And The Arrival Of The Stones
Around 2600 BC, the builders moved away from timber construction and began working with stone. Two concentric groups of holes, known as the Q and R holes, were dug in the centre of the monument. These may represent the remains of a double ring, although their full arrangement is uncertain.
The holes could have held as many as 80 standing stones, of which 43 can be traced today. The bluestones, including examples made of dolerite, are generally considered to have been transported by people from the Preseli Hills in modern Pembrokeshire, around 150 miles from Stonehenge.
Another proposed explanation was that the stones were transported by glacial action, but evidence for glacial deposition in southern central England is lacking. Discoveries of megalithic quarrying at Welsh sites have instead provided evidence that at least some of the bluestones were quarried and moved by people.
Some bluestones may have originated at Craig Rhos-y-felin near Crymych in Pembrokeshire. Other stones may have been small sarsens that were later used as lintels.
The approximately two-ton stones could have been transported by lifting and carrying them on rows of poles and rectangular pole frameworks. It remains uncertain whether the stones travelled directly from their quarries or whether they were taken from an existing stone circle and moved to Salisbury Plain.
The Altar Stone And Northern Scotland
The Altar Stone was once believed to have come from the Senni Beds, perhaps in the Brecon Beacons east of the Preseli Hills. Research announced in 2024 produced a different result. Chemical analysis of fragments from the Altar Stone identified the closest match in the Orcadian Basin, which includes areas of north-eastern Scotland.
The research indicated that the stone had travelled approximately 430 miles, or 690 kilometres. This provides evidence of cultural connections between southern England and northern Scotland during the period in which Stonehenge was constructed.
The Heel Stone And Stonehenge Avenue
During one phase of construction, the north-eastern entrance was widened so that it closely matched the direction of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset. This phase was abandoned before completion, and the small standing stones were apparently removed while the Q and R holes were deliberately filled.
The Heel Stone, a sandstone standing outside the north-eastern entrance, may have been erected during this period, although its precise date is uncertain. It was originally accompanied by another stone that is no longer visible. Two or possibly three large portal stones were also placed inside the entrance, of which only the fallen Slaughter Stone remains.
Four Station Stones were another feature associated loosely with this phase. Two stood on mounds that are called barrows, although they contain no burials. Stonehenge Avenue was also constructed as a parallel pair of banks and ditches extending for about two miles towards the River Avon.
The Great Sarsen Circle
Between about 2600 and 2400 BC, the builders brought approximately 30 enormous sarsen stones from a quarry at West Woods, around 16 miles north of Stonehenge. The stones were shaped and prepared with mortise-and-tenon joints before being erected in a circle about 30 metres across.
A ring of 30 lintel stones rested on top of the uprights. The lintels were joined together with tongue-and-groove joints, using a method comparable to woodworking. Each standing stone was about 13.5 feet high, seven feet wide and 3.5 feet deep, with a weight of approximately 26 tons.
The stones were carefully shaped for their visual appearance. The upright stones become slightly wider towards their tops, helping maintain a consistent perspective when viewed from ground level. The lintels were slightly curved so that the circle retained its visual continuity.
The inward-facing surfaces were more finely worked than the outer surfaces. The average thickness of the standing stones was about 3.6 feet, while the average gap between them was about 3.3 feet. A complete arrangement would have required 75 stones for the circle and the central trilithon horseshoe.
The lintels were each about 10 feet long, 3.3 feet wide and 2.6 feet thick, with their upper surfaces approximately 16 feet above ground level. Evidence from an exceptionally dry summer in 2013 suggested that some patches of parched grass might mark the positions of missing sarsens.
The Trilithons
Inside the great sarsen circle was a horseshoe arrangement of five trilithons. Together, the ten upright stones and five lintels formed a symmetrical structure about 45 feet across, with its open end facing north-east.
The largest stones weighed as much as 50 tons. The smallest pair of trilithons was about 20 feet high, the next pair was slightly taller, and the largest single trilithon stood in the south-western part of the horseshoe.
Only one upright of the Great Trilithon remains standing. About 22 feet of it is visible above ground, with a further 7.9 feet below ground.
Carvings on the sarsens include an image resembling a dagger and numerous axeheads. Stone 53 contains a dagger and 14 axehead images, while further axehead carvings occur on stones 3, 4 and 5. Their exact dates are difficult to establish, although their forms resemble late Bronze Age weapons, an interpretation supported by early twenty-first-century laser scanning.
Stonehenge And Durrington Walls
The construction of the great sarsen monument took place during a period when large gatherings also occurred at Durrington Walls, about two miles away. Analysis of animal teeth suggests that as many as 4,000 people may have gathered there during mid-winter and mid-summer festivals between about 2600 and 2400 BC.
Some of the animals had been brought from considerable distances, with strontium isotope analysis indicating that some came from as far away as the Scottish Highlands. The animals had been slaughtered around nine or 15 months after their spring births.
At approximately the same time, Durrington Walls contained a large timber circle and another avenue leading towards the River Avon. The timber circle was aligned with the rising Sun at the midwinter solstice, while its avenue was aligned with the setting Sun at the summer solstice.
Large fires found along the banks of the Avon between the two avenues suggest that the circles may have been connected. One interpretation proposes that Durrington Walls represented a "land of the living", while Stonehenge represented a "land of the dead", with the River Avon forming a route between them.
Later Construction Phases
Between about 2400 and 2280 BC, the bluestones were apparently re-erected within the outer sarsen circle. Some may have been shaped, and several contain cuts resembling woodworking joints, suggesting that they might have supported lintels as part of a larger structure.
Between about 2280 and 1930 BC, the bluestones were rearranged again. They formed a circle between the two sarsen rings and an oval within the inner ring. Some archaeologists believe that some of these stones came from a second group transported from Wales.
The Altar Stone may have been moved and raised vertically during this period. The newly arranged bluestones, however, were not firmly supported and some began to fall over. Only relatively minor changes followed.
Between about 1930 and 1600 BC, the north-eastern part of the bluestone circle was removed, producing a horseshoe-shaped arrangement known as the Bluestone Horseshoe. Its form mirrored that of the central sarsen trilithons.
After The Monument
The Y and Z holes are the last known construction at Stonehenge. They were created around 1600 BC and were probably used for the last time during the Iron Age. Roman coins and medieval objects have been found in and around the monument, but it is not known whether Stonehenge remained in continuous use throughout British prehistory or beyond, or precisely how it was used after its main prehistoric phases.
The Iron Age hillfort known as Vespasian's Camp stands beside Stonehenge Avenue near the River Avon. Despite its name, it is not a Roman site. A decapitated seventh-century Saxon man was excavated at Stonehenge in 1923.
The Purpose Of Stonehenge
Stonehenge was built by a culture that left no written records, so many questions about its construction and purpose remain unresolved. The monument's alignments provide clear evidence of a relationship with the movements of the Sun, particularly the summer and winter solstices.
The great trilithon, the horseshoe formed by the five central trilithons, the Heel Stone and the embanked avenue all relate to the opposing sunset and sunrise directions of the winter and summer solstices. A natural landform at the site followed this line and may have influenced the monument's design.
One proposed interpretation is that Stonehenge functioned partly as a celestial observatory, allowing its builders to observe or predict eclipses, solstices, equinoxes and other celestial events. Another interpretation is that it served as a religious site.
The excavated remains of animal bones suggest that people may have gathered at the monument during winter rather than summer. The proposed functions are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and the site may have served several purposes.
A theory proposed by Geoffrey Wainwright and Timothy Darvill interprets Stonehenge as a place of healing. They associated this possibility with the large number of burials in the area and evidence of trauma and deformity in some graves. They also suggested that the monument may have been multifunctional and connected with ancestor worship.
Isotope analysis shows that some people buried around Stonehenge came from distant regions. A teenage boy buried around 1550 BC had been raised near the Mediterranean, the Amesbury Archer from around 2300 BC grew up near the Alpine foothills of Germany, and the Boscombe Bowmen probably came from Wales or Brittany.
Another interpretation, associated with Mike Parker Pearson, sees Stonehenge as part of a ritual landscape connected with Durrington Walls, its avenues and the River Avon. In this interpretation, Durrington Walls was associated with the living while Stonehenge was associated with the dead, with movement along the Avon forming a ritual journey from life to death.
Another proposed explanation is that Stonehenge represented peace and unity during a period of cultural unification among Britain's Neolithic communities.
How The Stones Were Moved
There is little direct evidence showing precisely how Stonehenge's builders transported and erected the stones. Suggestions involving supernatural or otherwise anachronistic methods have appeared over time, but experiments have shown that conventional techniques using Neolithic technology could move stones of comparable size.
One common theory is that the builders created tracks of logs and rolled the stones along them. Another proposes that the stones were transported on sledges running along tracks lubricated with animal fat.
A practical experiment near Stonehenge in 1995 demonstrated that a 40-ton stone slab could be transported using a sledge. More than 100 workers pushed and pulled the slab over an 18-mile journey from Marlborough Downs.
The Stones Of Stonehenge
Stonehenge contains two principal types of megalith: the larger sarsens and the smaller bluestones. Sarsens are silicified sandstone boulders found in the chalk downs of southern England.
The bluestones include dolerite, tuff, rhyolite and sandstone. The igneous bluestones appear to have originated in the Preseli Hills of south-west Wales, roughly 140 miles from the monument. The Altar Stone was once thought to have originated in Wales, while later research identified the Orcadian Basin in north-eastern Scotland as its closest geological match.
Chemical analysis published in 2020 showed that the great sarsens came from West Woods, approximately 16 miles from Stonehenge. Fifty of the 52 sarsens tested were found to match material from West Woods.
The bluestones also have unusual acoustic properties. When struck, some produce a loud clanging sound. Rocks with these properties are found in the Carn Melyn ridge of Preseli, and the nearby Welsh village of Maenclochog used local bluestones as church bells until the eighteenth century.
These acoustic characteristics have been proposed as one reason why particular bluestones were transported such a long distance. In some ancient cultures, ringing rocks were regarded as having mystical or healing qualities, and their presence at Stonehenge has been considered consistent with theories connecting the monument with healing and ritual activity.
The People Who Built Stonehenge
DNA research has provided evidence about the populations associated with the construction of Stonehenge. Despite the introduction of farming into Britain, cereal cultivation became less prominent between about 3300 and 1500 BC. Much of the population appears to have followed a pastoralist way of life involving hazelnut gathering and the keeping of pigs and cattle.
The people associated with the first two major phases of Stonehenge were descended from Neolithic farmers whose ancestors originated in Anatolia and brought agriculture into Europe. DNA studies indicate that these people were closely related to Early and Middle Neolithic populations of Iberia and Central Europe.
Their ancestry has been modelled as approximately 75 per cent Early European Farmer ancestry from the eastern Mediterranean and 25 per cent Western Hunter-Gatherer ancestry from western Europe. These farming populations moved through Iberia before travelling north and reaching Britain around 4000 BC.
Most of the ancestry of Britain's Neolithic farmers came through this route, with a smaller contribution from groups that moved through the Danube region into central and western Europe. The mixture of farmer and hunter-gatherer ancestry appears to have taken place mainly on the European continent before the farmers migrated to Britain.
When these farmers arrived, Britain was inhabited by hunter-gatherers who had lived there after the end of the last Ice Age. The incoming farmers replaced most of the hunter-gatherer population without extensive mixing with it.
Although the Neolithic farmers had predominantly Aegean ancestry, their paternal Y-DNA lineages were almost entirely of Western Hunter-Gatherer origin. This pattern also occurred among other megalith-building populations in north-west Europe, indicating populations descended from hunter-gatherer men and farmer women.
The Bell Beaker People
During the construction of the megalithic Stonehenge III phases, Bell Beaker people migrated to Britain from mainland Europe around 2500 BC. They lived alongside the existing population for roughly 500 years and probably incorporated henge monuments into their belief system.
The earliest British individuals associated with the Beaker culture were probably speakers of Indo-European languages whose ancestors had migrated from the Pontic-Caspian steppe. They resembled populations associated with the Rhine region.
A major population replacement subsequently occurred in Britain. More than 90 per cent of the Neolithic British gene pool was replaced following the arrival of the Bell Beaker people, who possessed approximately 50 per cent Western Steppe Herder ancestry.
Stonehenge In The Roman Era
Archaeological research has rejected an earlier theory that the Roman army attempted to demolish Stonehenge because it was a centre of Druidic resistance. Stratigraphic analysis instead indicated that stone fragments previously associated with Roman-period activity belonged either to the original dressing of the stones or to quarrying during the Middle Bronze Age.
Excavations and analysis have nevertheless shown substantial Roman-era activity at Stonehenge. Coins dating from the late fourth century, large quantities of Roman pottery and animal bones buried in pits indicate that the monument had significance beyond casual occupation.
A square-cut trench containing a bluestone slab and a Roman coin was interpreted as a grave.
Stonehenge In The Medieval Period
In the 1920s, archaeologists excavated the skeleton of a decapitated man within the stone circles. The individual was aged between 28 and 32 and had been buried near Y-Hole 9 on the monument's central axis.
Radiocarbon dating placed the burial between 600 and 690 AD. The grave was shallow and the body had been forced into a confined space, breaking most of the ribs, with the head placed on top.
The discovery has been interpreted as possible evidence of a sacrificial or judicial execution and as an indication that Stonehenge retained significance during the Middle Ages. Postholes near the grave have been interpreted as possible evidence of a gallows.
Early Archaeological Study
Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments attracted the attention of antiquarians and archaeologists throughout recorded history. The architect Inigo Jones believed that the monument had been built during the Roman period.
John Aubrey examined the site in 1666 and recorded the pits that later became known as the Aubrey holes. William Stukeley continued Aubrey's work during the early eighteenth century and investigated the wider landscape, including the Cursus, the Avenue and many barrows. His interpretation connected the monument with the Druids.
The most accurate early plan of Stonehenge was produced by Bath architect John Wood the Elder in 1740. His survey was made before the south-western trilithon collapsed in 1797; that structure was restored in 1958.
During the early nineteenth century, William Cunnington formally investigated the area. He excavated numerous barrows and found charred wood, animal bones, pottery and urns. He also identified the hole in which the Slaughter Stone had originally stood.
Richard Colt Hoare supported Cunnington's work and excavated hundreds of barrows across Salisbury Plain, including many around Stonehenge. Metal tokens bearing initials were left in excavated barrows to indicate who had investigated them.
In 1877, Charles Darwin conducted archaeological experiments at Stonehenge while studying how remains sink into the earth. Stone 22 fell during a severe storm on 31 December 1900.
Twentieth-Century Restoration And Research
William Gowland directed the first major restoration in 1901. Sarsen stone 56, which was in danger of falling, was straightened and set in concrete. The work moved the stone approximately half a metre from its original position and was accompanied by further excavation.
During the 1920 restoration, William Hawley excavated the bases of six stones and the outer ditch. He rediscovered the Aubrey holes and identified the Y and Z holes outside the sarsen circle. He also found a bottle of port wine in the socket of the Slaughter Stone.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Richard J. C. Atkinson, Stuart Piggott and J. F. S. Stone re-excavated much of Hawley's work and identified carved axes and daggers on the sarsens. Atkinson's research contributed to the developing understanding of Stonehenge's three principal construction phases.
The stones were restored again in 1958, when three standing sarsens were re-erected and placed on concrete bases. In 1963, stone 23 of the sarsen circle fell and was re-erected, with three additional stones also being set in concrete.
In 1966 and 1967, excavations carried out before construction of a new car park revealed Mesolithic postholes dating between 7000 and 8000 BC and part of a palisade ditch. Later aerial archaeology suggested that this ditch extended from the west to the north of Stonehenge near the Avenue.
Excavations in 1978 discovered the remains of the Stonehenge Archer in the outer ditch. In 1979, a cable-laying trench mistakenly dug beside the Heel Stone revealed another stone hole and required rescue archaeology.
During the early 1980s, the Stonehenge Environs Project studied the wider landscape and dated features including the Lesser Cursus and Coneybury Henge. In 1993, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee criticised the way Stonehenge was presented to the public.
Research commissioned in response to this criticism produced the 1995 monograph Stonehenge in its landscape, which brought together archaeological evidence from the monument and presented a revised understanding of its construction phases.
Stonehenge Research In The Twenty-First Century
Between 2003 and 2008, the Stonehenge Riverside Project investigated the monument and its wider landscape, including Durrington Walls. Excavations identified another avenue leading towards the River Avon and revealed a previously unknown circular feature where Stonehenge Avenue meets the river. This area probably contained four stones that may have marked the beginning of the avenue.
In 2008, further excavation inside the stone circle produced material that allowed some bluestone erections to be dated to around 2300 BC, although this may not represent the earliest use of stones at the monument. Organic material dating to 7000 BC was also discovered, supporting evidence that the site had been used thousands of years before Stonehenge itself was begun.
Excavations of Aubrey Hole 7 also recovered cremated remains that had been excavated decades earlier and subsequently reburied. The removal was carried out under a licence requiring the remains to be reinterred within two years and to be kept safely and privately during the intervening period.
In 2009, a shallow mound was identified between stones 54 and 10. Its origin remains uncertain, although its appearance in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century illustrations suggests that it was not simply the result of careless backfilling from earlier excavations.
A geophysical survey in 2010 identified a henge-like monument less than one kilometre from Stonehenge, subsequently associated with a round barrow known as Amesbury 50. In 2011, researchers announced two large pits within the Stonehenge Cursus that were positioned to align with midsummer sunrise and sunset when viewed from the Heel Stone.
Geologists also identified Craig Rhos-y-felin in Pembrokeshire as the source of some rhyolite fragments found among Stonehenge debris. The outcrop is approximately 220 kilometres from the monument.
In 2014, research around Durrington revealed evidence of stone and wooden structures and burial mounds that may date as far back as 4000 BC. Ground-penetrating radar surveyed an area of approximately 12 square kilometres, identifying as many as 17 possible new Late Neolithic monuments. Two extremely deep pits at the end of the cursus track were also identified, although their purpose remains unknown.
Recent Discoveries About The Stones
Research published in 2020 confirmed the probable origin of the sarsens at West Woods near Marlborough in Wiltshire. Fifty of the 52 sarsens analysed matched material from West Woods.
Investigations at Waun Mawn in the Preseli Hills suggested that a stone circle there had originally been about 110 metres in diameter and had been aligned with the midsummer solstice. One of its stoneholes had a distinctive pentagonal form closely matching a Stonehenge stone.
Soil dating suggested that the absent stones at Waun Mawn had stood there between approximately 3400 and 3200 BC and had been removed around 300 to 400 years later. This was consistent with the possibility that some were moved to Stonehenge before being rearranged there and combined with local sarsens.
Later work concluded that the Waun Mawn circle had never been completed and that no more than 13 stones had been removed from it in antiquity. The evidence therefore left open the possibility that stones from other sources were also incorporated into Stonehenge.
Excavations associated with the proposed road tunnel in 2021 revealed Bronze Age graves, Late Neolithic pottery and a C-shaped enclosure, along with a shale object, burnt flint and the burial place of a baby.
In 2022, an electromagnetic survey around Stonehenge revealed thousands of prehistoric pits. Researchers concluded that prehistoric people had excavated six of nine large pits identified in the study. One of the oldest was approximately 10,000 years old and contained hunting tools.
Research published in 2024 identified the Altar Stone as originating from the Orcadian Basin in north-eastern Scotland, approximately 700 kilometres from Stonehenge.
Folklore And The Heel Stone
The Heel Stone stands to the north-east of the sarsen circle beside the end of Stonehenge Avenue. It has a rough surface, rises about 16 feet above the ground and leans towards the stone circle.
It has historically been known by several names, including Friar's Heel and Sun-stone. At the summer solstice, a person standing inside the stone circle and looking through the north-eastern entrance would see the Sun rise approximately in the direction of the Heel Stone.
A folk tale explains the name Friar's Heel. According to the story, the Devil obtained the stones from a woman in Ireland and carried them to Salisbury Plain. One stone fell into the Avon, while the others were transported to the plain. When the Devil claimed that nobody would discover how the stones had arrived, a friar replied defiantly, prompting the Devil to throw a stone at him. It struck the friar's heel and remained in the ground.
The same name had also been recorded for another monolith in Dorset during the nineteenth century.
Arthurian Legends
Stonehenge has long been associated with Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century Historia Regum Britanniae describes a story in which Stonehenge was brought from Ireland with the help of Merlin.
In the legend, the stones were healing stones brought by giants from Africa to Ireland. They were raised on Mount Killaraus to create a stone circle called the Giant's Ring or Giant's Round. King Aurelius Ambrosius wanted to use the monument as a memorial to British Celtic nobles killed by the Saxons.
Merlin advised the king to use the Giant's Ring, and Merlin and Uther Pendragon travelled with 15,000 men to Ireland to obtain it. After defeating an Irish army, they were unable to move the stones until Merlin used his powers to transport them to Britain and raise them again.
Geoffrey's story became widely known and was adapted into other works, including versions by Wace, Layamon and Welsh writers. Although the legend is fictional, the possibility that Stonehenge's bluestones came from an earlier Welsh stone circle has been regarded as having a possible connection with part of the tradition.
Another legend concerns Hengist, the invading Saxon king. According to this story, Hengist invited British Celtic warriors to a feast and ordered his men to massacre them, killing 420 people. Stonehenge was then supposedly erected as an expression of remorse.
Stonehenge And The Nation
Stonehenge changed ownership several times after the Dissolution period. King Henry VIII acquired Amesbury Abbey and its surrounding lands and gave the estate to the Earl of Hertford in 1540. Ownership later passed to Lord Carleton and the Marquess of Queensberry before the Antrobus family of Cheshire purchased the estate in 1824.
In 1915, Stonehenge was offered for auction after Sir Cosmo Gordon Antrobus inherited the estate from his brother. The site formed part of a larger estate lot and included about 30 acres of adjoining downland.
Cecil Chubb purchased Stonehenge for £6,600 and gave it to the nation three years later. The source records that he bought it on a whim, believing that a local man should own the site.
Protecting The Stonehenge Landscape
The land given to the nation by Chubb covered only about 30 acres, while buildings were visible close to the monument. One of the most prominent was Stonehenge Aerodrome, built during the First World War for the Royal Flying Corps approximately 300 metres from the stones.
The aerodrome's large hangars dominated the skyline. A road junction was also built at Stonehenge Bottom between the A303 and A344, accompanied by cottages and a café.
In 1927, land around Stonehenge was offered in three plots. A subscription fund was established to protect the monument's setting and remove the aerodrome. By October that year, £8,000 had been raised, enough to purchase one plot and begin demolishing the aerodrome.
The fundraising continued to secure further land. The area was placed under National Trust management, the final large aircraft hangar was removed in 1930 and the former aerodrome had been cleared by the middle of the 1930s.
The surrounding land has subsequently been included in a grassland reversion scheme intended to restore native chalk grassland. In 2022, the National Heritage Memorial Fund provided a grant enabling the National Trust to acquire a further 170 hectares of the Stonehenge Landscape.
Neopaganism And Religious Use
During the twentieth century, Stonehenge became a place of renewed religious significance for adherents of Neopagan and New Age beliefs, including Neo-Druids.
The Ancient Order of Druids held a mass initiation ceremony at Stonehenge in August 1905, admitting 259 new members. The event attracted ridicule in the press, particularly because participants wore white robes and artificial beards.
The Stonehenge Free Festival later became an important part of the site's modern history. Loosely organised by the Polytantric Circle, it was held between 1972 and 1984, during which midsummer attendance increased to around 30,000 people.
The festival ended in 1985 after a High Court injunction closed the site to festivalgoers. The resulting confrontation between police and New Age travellers became known as the Battle of the Beanfield.
From 1985, access to the stones for religious purposes was prohibited. This exclusion policy lasted for almost 15 years and prevented visitors from entering the stones during the solstices and equinoxes.
Following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, the restrictions were lifted. Stonehenge was recognised as a place of worship for Neo-Druids, Pagans and other Earth-based or old religions. In 1998, a group of 100 people was allowed access, including astronomers, archaeologists, Druids, local people, pagans and travellers.
An open summer solstice event followed in 2000, attracting approximately 7,000 people. Attendance increased to around 10,000 in 2001.
Access To Stonehenge
When Stonehenge was first opened to the public, visitors could walk among the stones and even climb them. This changed in 1977, when the stones were roped off because of serious erosion.
Visitors are now generally kept at a short distance from the monument and are not permitted to touch the stones. English Heritage allows access during the summer and winter solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes, while special bookings can also provide access at other times.
Approximately 30,000 local residents are entitled to free admission under an agreement dating from 1921.
Roads, Visitors And The Stonehenge Landscape
Increasing motor traffic affected the setting of Stonehenge because two major roads passed close to the monument. The A344 ran close to the Heel Stone, while the A303 formed a major route between London and Devon and Cornwall.
Plans to improve the visitor facilities and alter the roads developed over several decades. In 1985, English Heritage recommended closing the A344 and creating a new visitor centre on Army land north of the monument.
The condition of the setting continued to attract criticism. In 2006, conservation and tourism experts surveyed leading World Heritage Sites and placed Stonehenge 75th out of 94 destinations, describing it as being in moderate trouble.
A proposed road tunnel and permanent visitor centre were cancelled in 2007 because of cost. In 2009, approval was given for a smaller visitor centre and the closure of the A344. Planning permission followed in 2010 for a centre about 1.5 miles west of the monument, supported by funding including a Heritage Lottery Fund grant.
The A344 was closed in 2013, allowing the relevant section of road to be removed and replaced with grass. The new visitor centre, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, opened to the public in December 2013.
The Stonehenge Road Tunnel
Plans for a four-lane tunnel beneath the Stonehenge landscape were approved in 2020 with the intention of removing the section of the A303 that runs close to the stone circle. The proposal faced opposition from archaeologists, environmentalists and modern-day Druids, while supporters argued that it would restore the historic landscape and improve the visitor experience.
Opponents were concerned that archaeological remains could be lost and that excavation might destabilise the stones. In 2023, the Transport Secretary approved plans for a two-mile tunnel despite the original planning application having been overturned by the High Court in 2021.
A further challenge was rejected by the High Court in February 2024, followed by another legal challenge in July. Although that action was dismissed in October 2024, the incoming Labour government had already announced in July that the tunnel would not proceed.
On 17 March 2026, the Department for Transport announced that the Development Consent Order had officially been revoked. The development had cost £179.2 million. The Secretary of State stated that the scheme no longer aligned with strategic policy objectives and that revocation would remove the planning blight affecting the area.
The decision also left open the possibility of alternative infrastructure or development proposals that better reflect current needs.
New Visitor Facilities
In March 2025, English Heritage announced that planning permission had been granted for two buildings near the visitor facilities. One is a Learning Centre planned for the east of the shuttle bus turning circle, while the other is a Neolithic classroom near the existing recreated Neolithic village.
Both buildings are due to open in autumn 2026.
Vandalism At Stonehenge
Stonehenge has experienced intermittent vandalism for centuries. Until the seventeenth century, stones were removed from the monument for use in building work. During the nineteenth century, tourists used chisels to remove pieces of stone as souvenirs.
Although the first years of the Free Festival saw little vandalism, the monument was fenced off from 1978. Repeated vandalism during the 1980s and 1990s resulted in large police deployments, barriers around the monument and exclusion zones extending as far as six kilometres from the archaeological site.
An incident in 1984 involved the monument being marked with purple spray paint. The government temporarily closed Stonehenge to protect it from vandalism but reopened it following public opposition.
In 2008, two men used a hammer and screwdriver to remove a small piece from the Heel Stone. The fragment was approximately the size of a 10p coin, and the incident was described by authorities as the first vandalism in decades.
Stonehenge As A Cultural Landmark
Stonehenge is one of the best-known landmarks in the United Kingdom and is regarded as a British cultural icon. Its construction took place over many centuries and involved changing arrangements of earthworks, timber structures, bluestones and massive sarsens.
Its surviving stones preserve evidence of sophisticated prehistoric engineering, including carefully shaped uprights, fitted lintels and complex joints. The monument's astronomical alignments, association with burial, surrounding ritual landscape and evidence of long-distance movement of stones have all contributed to continuing archaeological study.
The site also has a long history beyond its prehistoric construction. Roman activity, medieval burial, antiquarian investigation, archaeological excavation, restoration, modern religious use, tourism, conservation and debates about its surrounding roads have all formed part of its recorded history.
Stonehenge remains a monument whose precise original purpose cannot be established with certainty because the people who built it left no written explanation. Its construction, stone sources, astronomical alignments, burial evidence and relationship with the wider landscape continue to shape archaeological interpretations of the site.
Stonehenge therefore represents a prehistoric monument constructed in successive phases over roughly 1,500 years, from the first bank and ditch around 3100 BC to the final known prehistoric construction around 1600 BC. Its sarsens, bluestones, trilithons, earthworks and avenues preserve evidence of communities, movements and practices extending across Britain and beyond. From its earliest association with burial to its later archaeological, religious and cultural history, Stonehenge remains one of Britain's most significant prehistoric monuments, and its continuing discoveries ensure that its story remains an active subject of study.
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