© irene waters 2015
The Stonehenge is aged at around 3100BC and found in Wiltshire near the town of Avesbury. The site was opened, according to google, in 2000BC. In those days however you did not need to arrange a tour, you could wander at will. Now tours are arranged as the site has been protected from tourists since the 1970s due to extreme erosion.
© irene waters 2015
The henge was built in three stages with the third stage the one we see today.The sarsen stones were obtained 25 kilometers to the north and it is estimated that to move the 50 ton rocks this distance the builders would have had to arrange 500 men to pull, using leather ropes and, another 100 men laying timber to act as rollers to move the stone along.
© irene waters 2015
These stones were then arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels as can be seen below in the depiction of what it would have looked like when it was intact. Arranged inside was a horseshoe of rocks. The site was both a crematorium and a place for sun worship.
© irene waters 2015
“I know this goes without saying, but Stonehenge really was the most incredible accomplishment. It took five hundred men just to pull each sarsen, plus a hundred more to dash around positioning the rollers. Just think about it for a minute. Can you imagine trying to talk six hundred people into helping you drag a fifty-ton stone eighteen miles across the countryside and muscle it into an upright position, and then saying, “Right, lads! Another twenty like that, plus some lintels and maybe a couple of dozen nice bluestones from Wales, and we can party!” Whoever was the person behind Stonehenge was one dickens of a motivator, I’ll tell you that.”
Bill Bryson, in Notes from a Small Island(1995)
“I don’t like the place at all. It’s all wrong. An imposition on the Landscape. I reckon that Stonehenge was build by the contemporary equivalent of Microsoft, whereas Avebury was definitely an Apple circle.”
This post is in response to Thursday’s Special
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
There was a great program on the history channel here on what has been discovered lately at Stonehenge with ground penetrating radar. I think you can find the information on National Geographic or Smithsonian. They found a huge causeway!
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Wow. I’ll look it up. Thanks
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How I love Bill Bryson ! If I were ever going to be a writer, I’d want to be him.
And it’s a damned good post, too, Irene: I’ve never seen that representation of the whole thing, before !
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Me too M-R. I think he has such a great turn of language. The humour makes you remember the serious stuff. He must have a research team that is huge though. I can’t imagine he does it all himself. Perhaps he does. 🙂
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I doubt that possible: but he’s the one who turns all the research into wonderful writing. 🙂
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Absolutely. I even read his book on Shakespeare and enjoyed it. Now that is saying something.
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Plus, I hope, A short History of nearly Everything ?
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That is one that I haven’t as yet read. Next year….
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It’s VERY readable, I promise !
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Great post. Love the information. 😀
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Thanks Raewyn.
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Just show you what can be achieved when all are pulling together.
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LOL Fear I think may have caused them to pull together in this case.
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Such a mysterious yet well-known site. I looked up the more recent 2014 survey and it is vast! Great photos!
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Thanks Charli. Amazing that so much has survived for so long.
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This is a fantastic response on the theme, Irene. I have two posts on Stonehenge and none of them are this informative. Thank you very much for this original and beautiful entry.
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You’re welcome Paula. I love seeing the differences we all have. Have a great Thursday.
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Makes me feel that you are a little closer when I read this post Irene, knowing you were ‘there’ once (great photos and history I might add), and now I’m living a mere hour and a half away 😉 I adore Bill Bryson (interesting what Terry Pratchet says, though definitely don’t agree!!) ❤
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No I don’t agree either although I thought it was an interesting perspective. Bill Bryson has such a great sense of humour. You live in a lovely part of the world there Sherri. 🙂
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Thanks Irene 🙂
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Great choice for Paula’s theme. Stonehenge is always awe inspiring.
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Mind boggling what men can do.
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I endorse the Bryson A Short History: truly a must read. And really interesting post and pictures. I was tickled recently by the ‘short hosepipe’ discovery that made headline news on a quiet day last year. It confirms the illustration in your post might in fact be true. http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/sep/01/stonehenge-dry-spell-grass-perfect-circle
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Thanks Geoff, Got it on my list now definitely. Thanks for adding that article. Funny but fantastic at the same time.
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