Stonehenge...?

Question

Have you being there?
Tell me about it!

Answer 1

Stonehenge was built over a long period. If we confine ourselves to the stones the work spanned seventy generations - some 1600 years (10). But we are as far removed from the first stone works at Stonehenge, as those Neolithic masons of 3000 BC were themselves distant from the first people who raised a symbolic structure in the vicinity. True, these first artefacts were just wooden poles which have long gone, but these were raised by men in times so ancient that the glaciers were still releasing the Scottish Highlands from their icy grip(19). The timeline on the left shows this history, with a frenzy of activity from just before 3000BC through to1600BC being responsible for most of what we now gaze upon in awe. The people of the Mesolithic period who erected the pine posts near Stonehenge are unlikely to have known of the grand vision which was to come. Nevertheless, they erected three huge pine posts in the great pine forest that covered the site at the time. The 1960's car park is built over these - the large round discs you can see in the car park are the modern markers for these 10,000 year old holes... c 3100 to c 2700 BC(21)
The Great Cursus less than 1km from Stonehenge had been constructed - nearly 2.8 km long and 150 m wide, this was a ditch hewn in the chalk a couple of metres deep and wide. This will have appeared brilliant white in the green of what had now become pastureland. The hunter-gatherers of the "totem poles" had given way to farmers, who stayed long enough in one region to construct large earthworks.
Hope this helps you good luck!!!!!!!

Answer 2

I went to the French side which is more monumental, bigger, longer and higher. It's called Marianker in Brittany, France. Almost unknown by tourists. It's long lines of erected menhirs, East/West, going to a huge standing stone rock, at the time of Merlin the Enchanter (as the Crow flies). These lines are going under the sea and across the Channel to England and are related to Stonehenge. The stones were originally from Ireland. This is the past religious legend of the Celtic people of Brittany France, Scotland and Ireland.
If you go there, it's all on foot as there is no roads, no maps and it is hidden in the dense forest of Broceliandre.

Answer 3

Went there years ago just after they fenced it off. Climbed the fence and ran across to sit on the stones to take in the atmosphere, but I think there must have been cameras cos we hadn't been there for long when some officials came to shove us off.

I think it's a real shame that you can't go into the site any more because of ignorant selfish people either defacing the stones, or trying to chip off pieces to take home as souvenirs how bad is that?? Don't they realise (or not care) that this is our heritage and history?

i think places like Stonehenge and many other standing stones should be open to the public but under strict controls, anyone seen defacing them should be made to do community service like cleaning off graffiti for years!!

I've just seen a programme on the pyramids and think I'd better visit them before we get banned from going there too, due to corrosion etc., So I'm going in September as I heard they only let 150 people in a day now.

Answer 4

I went there on 21 June 2003. It was summer solstice. Just for that one day they opened it up fully. It started with people arriving on the night of the 20th (everything was well-organised, car parks, toilets etc.). It was an all-night party, lots of people (about 2000) and everybody incide the circle was jumping singing etc. Some had drums and shakers, some brave ones even climbed on top of the stones. It was an all-nighter, really good party atmosphere, though it was quite cold all night. Then just before the Sun came up, everybody got quieter and faced one direction. Then, just seconds before the Sun would appear, the whole crowd went quiet. When the Sun appeared everybody started to clap and whistle and scream. I took lots of good photos. It was very good. Once the Sun was up I made my way out. I went there on my own but I definitely didn't feel alone as I could just talk to anybody and dance with anybody (to some drum-like music). It was really good, apart from the cold night. I think I'll go again sometime in the future, when if falls on a weekend again.

Answer 5

I was proposed to by my partner there.

The price is reasonable as long as you go when its not too busy so as to avoid hordes of coaches. the staff were nice to us too.

The feeling there was not as nice and as open as some stone circles I have been to and I feel that's because of the 'hype' that surrounds it. Ignorant people leaving their ignorant imprint on the place it's caused the atmosphere to change.
It also felt very humbling, you know your somewhere important when in the presence of those stones. There are other stone circles and monuments in the same area that leave a much more powerful and imprint on you.

Answer 6

Yes, I have been there. There is a car park on the opposite side of a busy road from which you can get access to the field in which it stands...for a fee!! If you just park in the car park and cross the road you can see nearly as well for free! Which ever you choose to do, you can not get close enough to touch the stones, and I have no idea how much the fees are.

Answer 7

It's remarkable to see, though it was INCREDIBLY cold and windy the day I went. It's actually better to see from the road - though you should get fairly close to see just how big the stones are. They won't let you get too close though - as far as the boundary fence. Amazing for the feat of workmanship it involved as much as anything else.

Answer 8

Yes. I went there on honeymoon with my husband. We got there really early and it was lovely, until the american tourists showed up and started talking about how quaint it was! It's a very peaceful place, and it was awe inspiring to think it could have been built before the use of modern equipment.

Answer 9

really over rated (and thats coming from an archaeology student!) they are basically, in laymans terms, a whole load of stones in a circle, with some missing, which you cant go anywhere near in the middle of a cold wet and windy field!

Answer 10

I live near by. Its basically some large stones placed in a circle. You can't touch them either. Not that interesting really...