Stonehenge News and Visitor Information.
Monday 29 July 2013
Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Stonehenge incomplete
Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Stonehenge incomplete: You know that big book called "Stonehenge Complete"? Well, maybe there should be another now, taking account of some modern th...
Thursday 4 July 2013
National Trust Stonehenge Landscape Events - Summer 2013
Ancient ceremonial landscape of great archaeological and wildlife interest
Within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, the National Trust manages 827 hectares (2,100 acres) of downland surrounding the famous stone circle.
Walking across the grassland, visitors can discover other prehistoric monuments, including the Avenue and King Barrow Ridge with its Bronze Age burial mounds.
Nearby, Winterbourne Stoke Barrows is another fascinating example of a prehistoric cemetery. While Durrington Walls hides the remains of a Neolithic village.
The best approach to the famous stone circle is across Normanton Down, a round barrow cemetery dates from around 2600 to 1600BC. Must be booked in advance
Wings over Stonehenge
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 4 dates between 17 July 2013 and 19 October 2013
Price: Adult £5, Child £0 (under 16)
Walk in the slipstream of the early pioneer military aviators at Larkhill. See where the Bristol Boxkite made its first flight in 1910 and
where the first British military aeroplane unit was formed in 1911. These walks will cover how aviation developed on Lark Hill from
1909-1914 and how military aviation 'took off'around Stonehenge from 1914-1918. These walks aim to recreate the period with
contemporary photographs and maps and include viewing the early hangars and crash sites.
Booking Essential
Summer archaeology walk
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 5 dates between 6 July 2013 and 31 August 2013
Price: Adult £5, Child £0 (under 16)
Explore the downs in summer with an afternoon walk up on the downs to visit the ancient archaeology and varied wildlife of the
Stonehenge World Heritage Site. On this three mile walk with views of the Stone Circle, we'll visit ancient earthworks that have
revealed much about the people who once lived and celebrated here. Talking points include the Cursus, the many and varied barrows,
an ancient avenue connecting ceremonial centres, and a rich diversity of wildlife.
Booking Essential
Autumn archaeology walk
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 5 dates between 14 September 2013 and 9 November 2013
Price: Adult £5, Child £0 (under 16)
Explore the downs in autumn with an afternoon walk up on the downs to visit the ancient archaeology and varied wildlife of the
Stonehenge World Heritage Site. On this three mile walk with views of the Stone Circle, we'll visit ancient earthworks that have
revealed much about the people who once lived and celebrated here. Talking points include the Cursus, the many and varied barrows,
an ancient avenue connecting ceremonial centres, and a rich diversity of wildlife.
Booking Essential
Geocaching - give it a go!
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 15 August 2013 2:00pm and 1 November 2013 2:00pm
Price: All Tickets £3
Never tried geocaching before? You're missing out on the fun! Try your hand at treasure hunting - we'll lend you a GPS device for the
afternoon. Geocaching is about finding 'caches' that have been hidden by other 'geocachers' - some, like ours, include small toys and
trinkets. Bring something with you to swap for something from a cache!
Booking Essential
Really wild bug hunt
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 9 August 2013, 10 August 2013 and 11 August 2013
Price: Child £3 (under 16)
Come with us on a walk through the Stonehenge landscape for a hunt in Seven Barrows Field. Farmed for crops not so long ago, the
field is now chalk grassland - and full of minibeasts! Hunt for bugs and find out about the amazing lives they lead.
Booking Essential
Walkies around Stonehenge
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 7 September 2013, 5 October 2013 and 30 October 2013
Price: Adult £5
Bring your four legged friends with you for a ramble around the Stonehenge landscape. Find out about the people who built these
ancient monuments, and the wildlife that can be found here today.
Booking Essential
Go wild! with 50 Things
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 7 dates between 31 July 2013 and 4 November 2013
Price: Adult £0, Child £4 (under 16)
Get stuck in and active with the National Trust's 50 Things challenge - bug hunting, kite flying, tree climbing and birdwatching are just
some of the activities to tick off your list today!
Booking Essential
Durrington Walls to Stonehenge... and back again!
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 22 September 2013 10:30am
Price: Adult £7.50, Child £0 (under 16)
Explore the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and especially the close connections between the two great henge monuments of
Durrington Walls and Stonehenge. Your guide will take you on a circuit of around 6 miles over the downs, also exploring some of the
less visited monuments that together form the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
Booking Essential
Wildlife wonders of Stonehenge
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 20 July 2013 8:00am and 8 September 2013 10:00am
Price: Adult £6.50 (includes hot drink and cake), Child £0 (under 16)
Join the RSPB's experts to explore the ancient wonder and summer wildlife of King Barrow Ridge, on a family friendly walk of around
two miles.
Booking Essential
Stargazing and storytelling, meteors and myths
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 10 August 2013 8:30pm
Price: Adult £8, Child £3 (under 16)
Join our friendly team of astronomers for an adventure exploring the night sky with telescopes, alongside legends told by our own
starry storyteller, activities, and toasting marshmallows. As well as learning about the constellations, we hope the season's meteor
shower will be putting on a show! Telescopes and expertise are provided by Chipping Norton Amateur Astronomy Group, storytelling
with Lizzie Bryant.
Booking Essential
Hidden history: Nelson and the Nile Clumps
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 1 August 2013 10:30am
Price: Adult £5, Child £0 (under 16)
On the 216th anniversary of the Battle of the Nile, explore the downs to discover some surprising hidden histories. This circular walk
around the archaeologically rich downs with views of the Stone Circle offers a rare chance to see the Nile Clumps up close along the
way. These fine clumps of beech trees are said to commemorate Nelson's greatest victory.
Booking Essential
Hidden history: Stonehenge barrows
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 8 September 2013 2:00pm and 20 October 2013 10:30am
Price: Adult £2, Child £0 (under 16)
Find out about some of the Bronze Age people whose remains lie buried in the barrows around the Stonehenge landscape. This is a
gentle stroll to the Cursus Barrows and back, of less than a mile overall.
Booking Essential
Walk with an archaeologist: Durrington Walls and Stonehenge
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 23 July 2013 10:00am
Price: All Tickets £20
Join Neolithic expert and National Trust archaeologist Dr. Nick Snashall for a day in the Stonehenge landscape to explore the
relationship between Stonehenge and the great henge of Durrington Walls. We'll be walking around five and a half miles.
Booking Essential
Walk with an archaeologist: Ancient ways
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 26 September 2013 10:00am
Price: All Tickets £15
Join Neolithic expert and National Trust archaeologist Dr. Nick Snashall on this half day exploration of the Stonehenge landscape and
walk in the footsteps of the ancients along the routes of the Great Cursus and the Stonehenge Avenue. Plus, find out about the latest
exciting discoveries including recent geophysical research. We'll be walking around four miles.
Booking Essential
Stonehenge Games
Stonehenge Landscape
Dates: 22 August 2013 1:00pm
Price: Child £3 (under 16)
Can you win the 100 inch dash, throw a discus, or knock down 'Stonehenge'? Come along and see if you can win gold at our family
friendly games. There are lots of games to part in for all ages and ability - even parents can join in too! Accompanying adults free.
Stonehenge Tour Guide
Friday 21 June 2013
Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2013: 20,000 Celebrate Ahead Of Heritage Site Renovation
More than 20,000 people have celebrated the summer solstice at Stonehenge ahead of a "historic moment" in the £27 million transformation of the site. The huge gathering of people marked the event in a "positive, friendly atmosphere" as they waited for the sun to come up, but cloudy skies prevented them from basking in a beautiful sunrise.
Crowds gather at dawn amongst the stones at Stonehenge in Wiltshire for the Summer SolsticeThis year there have been a lower number of arrests compared with previous years, with 22 taken into custody mainly in relation to drugs offences, police said. Superintendent Matt Pullen from Wiltshire Police said: "Solstice 2013 has been a great success with approximately 21,000 people celebrating in the positive, friendly atmosphere as they waited for sunrise.
"The weather held but unfortunately the cloud cover was too dense to see the sun come up." He added: "The majority of people respected the conditions of entry and the amnesty bins provided were used. Approximately 70 cannabis street warnings were issued. As with previous years, the passive drugs dogs proved very effective. The success of the event depends largely on the good nature of those attending and we are pleased that people could enjoy solstice in the spirit of the event. Wiltshire Police worked closely with partners and in particular English Heritage to ensure that everyone had a safe and happy solstice."
A section of the road running alongside the neolithic monument will be permanently closed on Monday June 24 as part of a long-awaited refurbishment of the World Heritage Site. The closure and grassing over of the A344 will reconnect Stonehenge with the landscape, allowing visitors to walk between the stone circle and the prehistoric avenue from which people would have once approached the monument.
It is part of works which include the creation of a new visitor centre around 1.5 miles away from the monument, with a cafe, shop and museum showing artefacts and exploring theories about Stonehenge, as well as three replica neolithic houses. Loraine Knowles, Stonehenge director at English Heritage, said the closure of the road was "a real milestone in terms of the history of the site".
Revellers celebrate ahead of the site's 27m refurbishment
She said that although Stonehenge never failed to impress visitors, the setting of the stones had marred people's appreciation and enjoyment of the site. English Heritage had wanted to close the road since it was nominated as a World Heritage site and inscribed in 1986, she said. "It really is a historic moment," she added.
In the first stage, the road immediately adjacent to the stones will be closed, and work will begin to remove tarmac and grass it over. Once the visitor centre currently under construction opens in December, a longer section of the A344 between Stonehenge and the new facilities will be shut to traffic and become the route for visitors walking or travelling by shuttle to the stones.
The cramped existing car parking and visitor facilities, first built in 1968, next to the monument will be removed and the area returned to grass. Knowles said: "When you are in Stonehenge in the future, when grass is established, you will be able to make the link between the monument and the rest of the heritage landscape to the north, accessing the avenue, the route by which the monument was approached when it was used as a place of great ceremony."
Closing the road was "absolutely fundamental to all the improvements we're making to the setting of the monument and all the improvements we are making to the visitor experience ", she said. The site gets more than one million visitors a year. Barb and Rick Oddy, from Vancouver, Canada, visiting on a coach tour just before the solstice, agreed that closing the road to link up the landscape was a good thing.
Oddy said of the monument: "It's amazing. I can't decide which theory I believe and I think it's amazing how they (the stones) got here from Wales." But concerns have been raised that the changes to the site will adversely affect coach tours, which come to Stonehenge as one of a series of destinations, with suggestions operators may bypass the site because of the extra time involved in transferring groups from a more distant visitor centre by shuttle to the monument.
The busy A303, which runs on the other side of Stonehenge, will remain as plans to put the road into a tunnel proved too expensive. The refurbishment was due to be finished in time for the London Olympics, but was delayed as a result of Government cuts which left English Heritage seeking to fill a £10 million funding gap. It was met by an increased grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources.
PA/Huffington Post UK: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/21/susummer-solstice-at-stonehengemmer-solstice-at-stoneh_n_3476668.html
Stonehenge Tour Guide
Crowds gather at dawn amongst the stones at Stonehenge in Wiltshire for the Summer SolsticeThis year there have been a lower number of arrests compared with previous years, with 22 taken into custody mainly in relation to drugs offences, police said. Superintendent Matt Pullen from Wiltshire Police said: "Solstice 2013 has been a great success with approximately 21,000 people celebrating in the positive, friendly atmosphere as they waited for sunrise.
"The weather held but unfortunately the cloud cover was too dense to see the sun come up." He added: "The majority of people respected the conditions of entry and the amnesty bins provided were used. Approximately 70 cannabis street warnings were issued. As with previous years, the passive drugs dogs proved very effective. The success of the event depends largely on the good nature of those attending and we are pleased that people could enjoy solstice in the spirit of the event. Wiltshire Police worked closely with partners and in particular English Heritage to ensure that everyone had a safe and happy solstice."
A section of the road running alongside the neolithic monument will be permanently closed on Monday June 24 as part of a long-awaited refurbishment of the World Heritage Site. The closure and grassing over of the A344 will reconnect Stonehenge with the landscape, allowing visitors to walk between the stone circle and the prehistoric avenue from which people would have once approached the monument.
It is part of works which include the creation of a new visitor centre around 1.5 miles away from the monument, with a cafe, shop and museum showing artefacts and exploring theories about Stonehenge, as well as three replica neolithic houses. Loraine Knowles, Stonehenge director at English Heritage, said the closure of the road was "a real milestone in terms of the history of the site".
She said that although Stonehenge never failed to impress visitors, the setting of the stones had marred people's appreciation and enjoyment of the site. English Heritage had wanted to close the road since it was nominated as a World Heritage site and inscribed in 1986, she said. "It really is a historic moment," she added.
In the first stage, the road immediately adjacent to the stones will be closed, and work will begin to remove tarmac and grass it over. Once the visitor centre currently under construction opens in December, a longer section of the A344 between Stonehenge and the new facilities will be shut to traffic and become the route for visitors walking or travelling by shuttle to the stones.
The cramped existing car parking and visitor facilities, first built in 1968, next to the monument will be removed and the area returned to grass. Knowles said: "When you are in Stonehenge in the future, when grass is established, you will be able to make the link between the monument and the rest of the heritage landscape to the north, accessing the avenue, the route by which the monument was approached when it was used as a place of great ceremony."
Closing the road was "absolutely fundamental to all the improvements we're making to the setting of the monument and all the improvements we are making to the visitor experience ", she said. The site gets more than one million visitors a year. Barb and Rick Oddy, from Vancouver, Canada, visiting on a coach tour just before the solstice, agreed that closing the road to link up the landscape was a good thing.
Oddy said of the monument: "It's amazing. I can't decide which theory I believe and I think it's amazing how they (the stones) got here from Wales." But concerns have been raised that the changes to the site will adversely affect coach tours, which come to Stonehenge as one of a series of destinations, with suggestions operators may bypass the site because of the extra time involved in transferring groups from a more distant visitor centre by shuttle to the monument.
The busy A303, which runs on the other side of Stonehenge, will remain as plans to put the road into a tunnel proved too expensive. The refurbishment was due to be finished in time for the London Olympics, but was delayed as a result of Government cuts which left English Heritage seeking to fill a £10 million funding gap. It was met by an increased grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources.
PA/Huffington Post UK: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/21/susummer-solstice-at-stonehengemmer-solstice-at-stoneh_n_3476668.html
Stonehenge Tour Guide
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