29th January 2017
Iconic symbol of Britain, a walk around the Stone Circle is the centrepiece of any visit to the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.
With a history spanning 4,500 years Stonehenge has many different meanings to people today. It is a wonder of the world, a spiritual place and a source of inspiration.
The Stone Circle is a masterpiece of engineering, and building it would have taken huge effort from hundreds of well-organised people using only simple tools and technologies. Visit Stonehenge to find out more, and use our handy glossary to understand words such as trilithon, sarsen and henge.
Wander around the Neolithic houses outside the visitor centre. Step inside to imagine how people lived 4,500 years ago.
The true meaning of this ancient, awe-inspiring creation has been lost in the mists of time. Was Stonehenge a temple for sun worship, a healing centre, a burial site or perhaps a huge calendar? How did our ancestors manage to carry the mighty stones from so far away and then, using only the most primitive of tools, build this amazing structure? Surrounded by mystery, Stonehenge never fails to impress.
About the History more
Stonehenge Phase III, sub-phase 3ii (c. 2550-1600 BCE)
The Sarsen Circle and the Trilithon Horseshoe
During Phase III the monument underwent a complicated sequence of settings of large stones.
The first stone setting comprised a series of Bluestones placed in what are known as the Q and R Holes (sub-phase 3i).
These were subsequently dismantled and a circle of Sarsens and a horseshoe-shaped arrangement of Trilithons erected (sub-phase 3ii).
The Sarsen Circle, about 108 feet (33 metres) in diameter, was originally comprised of 30 neatly trimmed upright sandstone blocks of which only 17 are now standing.
The stones are evenly spaced approximately 1.0 to 1.4 metres apart, and stand on average 13 feet (4 metres) above the ground. They are about 6.5 feet (2 metres) wide and 3 feet (1 metre) thick and taper towards the top.
They originally supported sarsen lintels forming a continuous circle around the top. Each lintel block has been shaped to the curve of the circle.
The average length of the rectangular lintels is 10 feet 6 inches (3.2 metres).
The lintels were fitted end-to end using tongue-and-groove joints, and fitted on top of the standing sarsen with mortice and tenon joints.
The Sarsen Circle with its lintels is perhaps the most remarkable feature of Stonehenge in terms of design, precision stonework, and engineering.
Part of the outer Sarsen Circle with lintels in place.
In front of them are stones of the Bluestone Horseshoe (see below)
Sarsen stones are hard-grained sandstone with a silaceous cement.
They were probably brought to the site from the Marlborough Downs, about 30 kilometres to the north of Stonehenge.
The Trilithons are ten upright stones arranged as five freestanding pairs each with a single horizontal lintel.
They were erected within the Sarsen Circle in the form of a horseshoe with the open side facing north-east towards the main entrance of the monument.
They were arranged symmetrically and graded in height; the tallest is in the central position. Only three of the five Trilithons are now complete with their lintels.
The other two both have only one standing stone with the second stone and lintel lying on the ground.
Two of the Trilithons
In front of them can be seen two of the upright bluestones, which originally formed an oval inside the horseshoe of Trilithons
Bluestones may have been added next (sub-phase 3iii) but were subsequently removed.
Stonehenge Phase III, sub-phase 3iv (c. 2550-1600 BCE)
The Bluestone Oval and the Bluestone Circle
In sub-phase 3iv, a Bluestone Oval was added within the Trilithon Horseshoe and a Bluestone Circle added outside the Trilithon Horseshoe but inside the Sarsen Circle.
The term "Bluestone" refers to various types of mostly igneous rocks including dolerites, rhyolites, and volcanic ash.
It also includes some sandstones. The Bluestones at Stonehenge are believed to have originated from various outcrops in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire in Wales.
How they were transported to the site at Stonehenge has been the subject of much speculation.
Stonehenge Phase III, sub-phase 3v (c. 2550-1600 BCE)
The Bluestone Horseshoe
In sub-phase 3v, an arc of stone was removed from the Bluestone Oval to form a Bluestone Horseshoe.
Stonehenge Phase III, sub-phase 3vi (c. 2550-1600 BCE)
The Y and Z Holes
In the final sub-phase (3vi), two circles, one inside the other, known as the Y and Z Holes were dug for the placement of stones but were never filled.
Probably also dating to Phase III are the four Station Stones (only two of which survive, and one of them has fallen).
These sarsen stones stood just inside the Bank on more or less the same line as the Aubrey Holes.
Two of the Station Stones were surrounded by circular ditches 10 to 12 metres in diameter.
These have caused the area enclosed by the ditch to appear mound-like and have lead to the erroneous identification of each mound as a burial barrow.
Assigned to Phase III are also Stoneholes D and E and the recumbent sarsen known as the Slaughter Stone located on the north-east side in a break in the bank-and-ditch in what is regarded as the main entrance of the monument.
At this time was also laid out an earthwork known as the Avenue that extends north-east from the break in the bank-and-ditch.
Located further along the Avenue, and most likely dating to this period, is the so-called Heel Stone (Stone 96).
The sarsen Heel Stone is approximately 16 feet high (4.88 metres), with another 4 feet (1.22 metres) buried below ground. The Heel Stone is surrounded by a circular ditch of approximately the same dimensions as the ditch surrounding each of the two Station Stones.
The stone now leans out of vertical but most likely once stood upright. Originally, the Heel Stone may have been paired with another stone now missing (Stonehole 97).
Heel Stone
Finally, mention should be made of the so-called Altar Stone, a large dressed block of sandstone that lies embedded in the ground within the Trilithon Horseshoe and "in front of" the central and largest Trilithon pair. Two fallen stones now lie across it.
The stone is believed to be Cosheston Beds Sandstone from south Wales, and is the only example of this type of stone at Stonehenge.
It is 16 feet long (4.9 metres), 3 feet 6 inches wide (1 metre), and 1 foot 9 inches thick (0.5 metres).
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