Stonehenge explorers

On 15th July 2021, 4 intrepid members of this History Group, namely Sara, Wendy, Vivienne and Sue visited Stonehenge to find out a little more about our ancient ancestors and their iconic ring of stones.  From recent archaeology it would seem that these stones were first erected in Wales.  The Blue stones were sourced from the Pwlheli Hills and thought to have been pulled on wooden runners to their current site.  The Sarson stones are the upright ones and were more locally sourced.  The building took place between 3000 and 2500 years BC, the Neolithic period and for the first few hundred years was likely to have been used as a cemetery.  The builders of the site lived in a settlement at Durrington Walls which is nearby.

Restoration: In 1740 many stones had fallen and by 1900 one of the tallest Sarson stones was set upright.  Further work was carried out in 1919 and 1920 but between 1959 and 1964 all the remaining fallen stones were re-erected.

A shuttle bus took us up to the stones and we could walk around them easily.  At one point we could get up quite close which was wonderful. It was a splendid time to visit as there weren’t coach loads of visitors, so we had amazing views of the stones, the surrounding countryside and time with the very knowledgeable volunteer guides.  The visitor centre was a nice way to round off our trip.