130-501: English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust ) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts, and country houses. The charity states that it uses these properties to "bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year". Within its portfolio are Stonehenge , Dover Castle , Tintagel Castle , and
260-435: A circular bank and ditch enclosure made of Late Cretaceous ( Santonian Age) Seaford chalk , measuring about 360 feet (110 m) in diameter, with a large entrance to the north east and a smaller one to the south. It stood in open grassland on a slightly sloping spot. The builders placed the bones of deer and oxen in the bottom of the ditch, as well as some worked flint tools. The bones were considerably older than
390-566: A feature unique among contemporary monuments. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones . Inside these are free-standing trilithons , two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice . The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli (burial mounds). Stonehenge
520-562: A megalithic bluestone quarry at Craig Rhos-y-felin , near Crymych in Pembrokeshire, which is the most likely place for some of the stones to have been obtained. Other standing stones may well have been small sarsens (sandstone), used later as lintels. The stones, which weighed about two tons, could have been moved by lifting and carrying them on rows of poles and rectangular frameworks of poles, as recorded in China, Japan and India. It
650-466: A natural tree throw ), which date to around 8000 BC, beneath the nearby old tourist car park in use until 2013. These held pine posts around two feet six inches (0.75 m) in diameter, which were erected and eventually rotted in place. Three of the posts (and possibly four) were in an east–west alignment which may have had ritual significance. Another Mesolithic astronomical site in Britain
780-410: A number of sites, such as Tintagel Castle . As a charitable trust, English Heritage relies on the income generated from admission fees to its properties, membership fees and trading income from (e.g.) catering, holiday cottages and shops. It also has income from fundraising and grants. To ease the transition, the government has supplied a total of £80 million in yearly subsidies until 2023 to cover
910-495: A performance based project exploring Black prisoners of War at Portchester Castle (with the National Youth Theatre and Warwick University) and 'Our House', exploring LGBTQ+ history at Eltham Palace (with the National Youth Theatre and Metro Charity); 'From Ordinary to Extraordinary', a project supporting national Young Archaeologists' Clubs to creatively explore and share their local history with new audiences (with
1040-574: A procession route on the longest and shortest days of the year. Parker Pearson speculates that the wooden circle at Durrington Walls was the centre of a 'land of the living', whilst the stone circle represented a 'land of the dead', with the Avon serving as a journey between the two. Later in the Bronze Age , although the exact details of activities during this period are still unclear, the bluestones appear to have been re-erected. They were placed within
1170-581: A religious site. In the 1960s, Gerald Hawkins described in detail how the site was apparently set out to observe the Sun and Moon over a recurring 56-year cycle. More recently, two major new theories have been proposed. Geoffrey Wainwright , president of the Society of Antiquaries of London , and Timothy Darvill , of Bournemouth University , have suggested that Stonehenge was a place of healing—the primeval equivalent of Lourdes . They argue that this accounts for
1300-411: A ring of 30 lintel stones resting on top. The lintels were fitted to one another using tongue and groove joints – a woodworking method, again. Each standing stone was around 13.5 feet (4.11 m) high, 7.0 feet (2.13 m) wide, and 3.5 feet (1.06 m) deep, weighing around 26 tons. Each had clearly been worked with the final visual effect in mind: The orthostats widen slightly towards
1430-593: A second group brought from Wales. All the stones formed well-spaced uprights without any of the linking lintels inferred in Stonehenge 3 III. The Altar Stone may have been moved within the oval at this time and re-erected vertically. Although this would seem the most impressive phase of work, Stonehenge 3 IV was rather shabbily built compared to its immediate predecessors, as the newly re-installed bluestones were not well-founded and began to fall over. However, only minor changes were made after this phase. Soon afterwards,
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#17327722360601560-520: Is Warren Field in Aberdeenshire , which is considered the world's oldest lunisolar calendar , corrected yearly by observing the midwinter solstice . Similar but later sites have been found in Scandinavia . A settlement that may have been contemporaneous with the posts has been found at Blick Mead , a reliable year-round spring one mile (1.6 km) from Stonehenge. Salisbury Plain
1690-520: Is "a growing feeling that Cornwall should have its own heritage organisation, taking over from English Heritage." He suggested that English Heritage be replaced "with a Cornish Heritage group, just like they have for instance in Wales and Scotland". The then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was called upon to give cash to a new autonomous body in Cornwall by "top slicing" English Heritage's budget. In 2006,
1820-496: Is a holdover from antiquarian use. Mike Parker Pearson , leader of the Stonehenge Riverside Project based around Durrington Walls , noted that Stonehenge appears to have been associated with burial from the earliest period of its existence: Stonehenge was a place of burial from its beginning to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C. The cremation burial dating to Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase
1950-622: Is also reflected in a general 'resurgence' of hunter-gatherer ancestry, predominantly from males, across western and central Europe in the Middle Neolithic. At the time the megalithic Stonehenge 3 II was constructed (2600–2400 BC) by Neolithic people, the Bell Beaker people arrived, around 2,500 BC, migrating from mainland Europe. They lived side by side for ca. 500 years, with the Bell Beaker people probably incorporating
2080-810: Is available at Open Plaques. In 1999 a pressure group, the Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament , wrote to English Heritage asking them to remove all signs bearing their name from Cornish sites by July 1999 as they regarded the ancient sites as Cornish heritage, not English. Over a period of eleven months members of the Cornish Stannary removed 18 signs and a letter was sent to English Heritage saying "The signs have been confiscated and held as evidence of English cultural aggression in Cornwall. Such racially motivated signs are deeply offensive and cause distress to many Cornish people". On 18 January 2002, at Truro Crown Court , after
2210-448: Is likely just one of many from this later period of the monument's use and demonstrates that it was still very much a domain of the dead. Stonehenge evolved in several construction phases spanning at least 1500 years. There is evidence of large-scale construction on and around the monument that perhaps extends the landscape's time frame to 6500 years. Dating and understanding the various phases of activity are complicated by disturbance of
2340-407: Is no evidence of glacial deposition within southern central England. A 2019 publication announced that evidence of Megalithic quarrying had been found at quarries in Wales identified as a source of Stonehenge's bluestone, indicating that the bluestone was quarried by human agency and not transported by glacial action. The long-distance human transport theory was bolstered in 2011 by the discovery of
2470-539: Is no excavated evidence of them. A recent excavation has suggested that the Aubrey Holes may have originally been used to erect a bluestone circle. If this were the case, it would advance the earliest known stone structure at the monument by some 500 years. In 2013, a team of archaeologists, led by Mike Parker Pearson , excavated more than 50,000 cremated bone fragments, from 63 individuals, buried at Stonehenge. These remains were originally buried individually in
2600-477: Is not known whether the stones were taken directly from their quarries to Salisbury Plain or were the result of the removal of a venerated stone circle from Preseli to Salisbury Plain to "merge two sacred centres into one, to unify two politically separate regions, or to legitimise the ancestral identity of migrants moving from one region to another". Evidence of a 110-metre (360 ft) stone circle at Waun Mawn near Preseli, which could have contained some or all of
2730-472: Is supported by an executive board of eight directors. In 2013/14, prior to becoming a charity, English Heritage employed 2,578 staff. English Heritage has administered the blue plaque scheme in London since 1986. The plaques mark buildings in the capital that were the homes of (or otherwise associated with) people of historical significance. The scheme remains the responsibility of English Heritage following
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#17327722360602860-472: The Crown Estate . In 2013–14 there were 5.73 million visits to staffed sites, with 713,000 free educational visits to sites, collections and tailored learning activities and resources. In February 2024, English Heritage reported that the previous year had seen record numbers of families visiting their sites, with numbers up 50% over the past decade. 2023 also proved to be a record-breaking year for
2990-613: The Historic England Archive . The Ordnance Survey had always endeavoured to mark visible antiquities on its maps, and in 1920 had appointed its first archaeology officer: the role had subsequently developed into a department of specialists maintaining a national record of archaeological sites. In 1983 the responsibilities of the Archaeology Division were transferred to the three Royal Commissions for England, Wales and Scotland. The Survey of London ,
3120-478: The Isle of Man and Heritage New Zealand . In 2014/15 there were 1.34 million members. However, membership does not convey voting rights or influence over the way English Heritage is run. Participation in consultations and web-based surveys by English Heritage is not restricted to its membership. It invites various groups and members of the public to give views on specific issues, most notably in recent years about
3250-482: The Middle Ages and since then it has been studied and adopted by numerous groups. Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge, such as how it was built and for what purposes it was used, remain subject to debate. A number of myths surround the stones. The site, specifically the great trilithon, the encompassing horseshoe arrangement of the five central trilithons,
3380-722: The Ministry of Public Building and Works (1962–1970), then to the Department of the Environment (1970–1997), and it is now with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The state's legal responsibility for the historic environment goes back to the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 . The central government subsequently developed several systems of heritage protection for different types of assets, introducing listing for buildings after
3510-462: The River Avon . The timber circle was orientated towards the rising Sun on the midwinter solstice , opposing the solar alignments at Stonehenge. The avenue was aligned with the setting Sun on the summer solstice and led from the river to the timber circle. Evidence of huge fires on the banks of the Avon between the two avenues also suggests that both circles were linked. They were perhaps used as
3640-740: The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales in August 1908; and, finally, by Royal Warrant dated 27 October 1908, the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England). Under the terms of its warrant, the Commission's remit was "to make an inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions connected with or illustrative of the contemporary culture, civilization and conditions of life of
3770-556: The Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Society of Arts also lobbied for action to be taken. Brown had explicitly proposed that the issues should be addressed by a Royal Commission , comparable to the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts . His suggestion bore fruit, and led to the establishment in turn of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland on 14 February 1908;
3900-682: The Second World War , and for conservation areas in the 1960s. In 1983, Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine gave national responsibility for the historic environment to a semi‑autonomous agency (or " quango ") to operate under ministerial guidelines and to government policy. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission was formed under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983 on 1 April 1984. The 1983 Act also dissolved
4030-540: The Secretary of State at the DCMS issued a certificate of exemption from listing for Fortress House , the then English Heritage headquarters. In 2009, it was demolished and the site redeveloped for a commercial office building. In 2010 the organisation sent an email to open access photograph agency fotoLibra , attempting to ban the unauthorised commercial use of photographs of Stonehenge . A subsequent statement of regret
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4160-905: The Senni Beds , perhaps from 50 miles (80 kilometres) east of the Preseli Hills in the Brecon Beacons. Work announced in 2024 by a team from Curtin University , who analysed the chemical composition of fragments of rock that had fallen off the Altar Stone, and dated them, found that the best match was with rocks in the Orcadian Basin (which includes Caithness , Orkney , and the Moray Firth regions of north-eastern Scotland). The researchers stated that this implies
4290-639: The Stonehenge Archer , discovered in the outer ditch of the monument in 1978, and the two sets of burials, known as the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen , discovered three miles (5 km) to the west. Analysis of animal teeth found two miles (3 km) away at Durrington Walls , thought by Parker Pearson to be the 'builders camp', suggests that, during some period between 2600 and 2400 BC, as many as 4,000 people gathered at
4420-593: The Stonehenge road tunnel project proposals. The organisation welcomes volunteers. Roles range from room stewarding, running education workshops and gardening, to curatorial cleaning and research. In 2014/15 the number of regular volunteers reached 1,872, up from 1,473 in 2013/14. In 2016, to mark the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of 1066, English Heritage organised
4550-579: The Wiltshire Museum . In 1877, Charles Darwin dabbled in archaeology at the stones, experimenting with the rate at which remains sink into the earth, for his book The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms . Stone 22 fell during a fierce storm on 31 December 1900. William Gowland oversaw the first major restoration of the monument in 1901, which involved the straightening and concrete setting of sarsen stone number 56 which
4680-410: The paternal (Y-DNA) lineages of Neolithic farmers in Britain were almost exclusively of Western Hunter-Gatherer origin. This was also the case among other megalithic-building populations in northwest Europe, meaning that these populations were descended from a mixture of hunter-gatherer males and farmer females. The dominance of Western Hunter-Gatherer male lineages in Britain and northwest Europe
4810-667: The stanenges or Stanheng "not far from Salisbury " recorded by 11th-century writers are "stones supported in the air". In 1740, William Stukeley notes: "Pendulous rocks are now called henges in Yorkshire ;... I doubt not, Stonehenge in Saxon signifies the hanging stones." Christopher Chippindale 's Stonehenge Complete gives the derivation of the name Stonehenge as coming from the Old English words stān ' stone ' , and either hencg ' hinge ' (because
4940-501: The surrounding land is owned by the National Trust . Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another 500 years. The Oxford English Dictionary cites Ælfric 's 10th-century glossary, in which henge-cliff is given the meaning ' precipice ' , or stone; thus,
5070-533: The " Amesbury Archer " grew up near the Alpine foothills of Germany; and the " Boscombe Bowmen " probably arrived from Wales or Brittany, France. On the other hand, Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University has suggested that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. He suggests that the area around Durrington Walls henge
5200-455: The 'Blick Mead' camp 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Stonehenge (near the Vespasian's Camp site) has been dated to 4000 BC. The University of Buckingham 's Humanities Research Institute believes that the community who built Stonehenge lived here for several millennia, making it potentially "one of the pivotal places in the history of the Stonehenge landscape." The first monument consisted of
5330-533: The 1066 March from Clifford's Tower in York to Battle Abbey in East Sussex. A team of volunteers led by Nigel Amos and composed of Dominic Sewell, Brian Mahoney, Joshua Powell , William Ballance, Lucy Amos, Karlos Moir, Clive Hart and Matthew Clarke, completed the journey over 3 weeks, arriving at Battle Abbey on 14 October 2016. English Heritage is governed by a trustee board who set the strategic direction of
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5460-427: The 18th century. According to the team, these acoustic properties could explain why certain bluestones were hauled such a long distance, a major technical accomplishment at the time. In certain ancient cultures, rocks that ring out, known as lithophonic rocks , were believed to contain mystic or healing powers, and Stonehenge has a history of association with rituals. The presence of these "ringing rocks" seems to support
5590-474: The Aubrey holes, but were exhumed in 1920 during an excavation by William Hawley , who considered them unimportant and in 1935 re-buried them together in one hole, Aubrey Hole 7. Physical and chemical analysis of the remains has shown that the cremated were almost equally men and women, and included some children. There is evidence that the underlying chalk beneath the graves was crushed by substantial weight, so
5720-678: The BBC, The National Archives, Netflix, Warner Brothers and the National Trust. Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire , England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury . It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones , each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones, held in place with mortise and tenon joints,
5850-433: The Commission's terms of reference, were granted in 1963 and on 15 April 1992. The Commission was merged with English Heritage on 1 April 1999. The Commission determined from the outset to publish its inventories of monuments, and to compile them on a county -by-county basis. The first county selected for survey was Hertfordshire : the resultant volume was published in 1910. Some 40 inventory volumes were published over
5980-578: The Council for British Archaeology). Shout Out Loud was awarded the 2019 UK Heritage Award for Best Event, Festival or Exhibition for 'Our House' and shortlisted for the 2022 Museums and Heritage Award for Community Engagement Programme of the Year for the programme as a whole. Young People are able to get involved with the ongoing youth engagement programme via online mass participation projects, creative residency or participation opportunities (often shared on
6110-468: The Council for British Archaeology, National Youth Theatre and Sound Connections. A number of high-profile projects were delivered with these partners including: Reverberate, a project aimed at connecting grassroot youth organisations with their local heritage (with Sound Connections); England's New Lenses, a photography project resulting in new bodies of work connected to English Heritage sites from four emerging photographers (with Photoworks); 'The Ancestors',
6240-675: The Eastern Mediterranean, travelling west from there, and 25% ancestry coming from Western Hunter-Gatherers from western Europe. These farmers moved to Iberia before heading north, reaching Britain in about 4,000 BC. Most of the ancestry of British Neolithic farmers came from the people who followed this route, with a minor contribution from groups who followed the Danube into Central and Western Europe. Their agricultural techniques seem to have come originally from Anatolia , and their mixture appears to have happened primarily on
6370-504: The Historical Monuments of England The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England ( RCHME ) was a government advisory body responsible for documenting buildings and monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical importance in England. It was established in 1908 (shortly after the parallel commissions for Scotland and Wales ); and was merged with English Heritage in 1999. The research section and
6500-400: The Q and R holes purposefully backfilled. The Heel Stone , a Tertiary sandstone, may also have been erected outside the north-eastern entrance during this period. It cannot be accurately dated and may have been installed at any time during phase 3. At first, it was accompanied by a second stone, which is no longer visible. Two, or possibly three, large portal stones were set up just inside
6630-631: The United Kingdom (1896) and Gerard Baldwin Brown in his Care of Ancient Monuments (1905), had argued that, for the legislation to be effective, a detailed list of significant monuments needed to be compiled, and had made unfavourable comparisons between the policies of Britain and its European neighbours. Learned societies including the British Archaeological Association , the Society of Antiquaries of London ,
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#17327722360606760-407: The antler picks used to dig the ditch, and the people who buried them had looked after them for some time prior to burial. The ditch was continuous but had been dug in sections, like the ditches of the earlier causewayed enclosures in the area. The chalk dug from the ditch was piled up to form the bank. This first stage is dated to around 3100 BC, after which the ditch began to silt up naturally. Within
6890-427: The archive are now part of Historic England . The Royal Commission was established in 1908, twenty-six years after the passage of the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 , which provided the first state protection for ancient monuments in the United Kingdom, and eight years after the passage of the wider-ranging Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 . Critics, including David Murray in his Archaeological Survey of
7020-504: The arrival of the Bell Beaker people, who had approximately 50% WSH ancestry. Throughout recorded history, Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments have attracted attention from antiquarians and archaeologists . John Aubrey was one of the first to examine the site with a scientific eye in 1666, and, in his plan of the monument, he recorded the pits that now bear his name, the Aubrey holes . William Stukeley continued Aubrey's work in
7150-480: The backlog of maintenance to the sites in English Heritage's care. Previously, when English Heritage was a non-departmental public body and included the functions of planning, listing, awarding grants, heritage research and advice, most of its funding came from government. In 2013–2014, English Heritage had a total income of £186.55 million, of which £99.85 million came from grant-in-aid , with
7280-540: The base of six stones and the outer ditch. He also located a bottle of port in the Slaughter Stone socket left by Cunnington, helped to rediscover Aubrey's pits inside the bank and located the concentric circular holes outside the Sarsen Circle called the Y and Z Holes . Richard Atkinson , Stuart Piggott and John F. S. Stone re-excavated much of Hawley's work in the 1940s and 1950s, and discovered
7410-604: The best-preserved parts of Hadrian's Wall . English Heritage also manages the London blue plaque scheme, which links influential historical figures to particular buildings. When originally formed in 1983, English Heritage was the operating name of an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government , officially titled the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, that ran
7540-628: The bluestone in Wales and had not extensively lived in the area of Stonehenge before death. Between 2017 and 2021, studies by Professor Parker Pearson (UCL) and his team suggested that the bluestones used in Stonehenge had been moved there following dismantling of a stone circle of identical size to the first known Stonehenge circle (110m) at the Welsh site of Waun Mawn in the Preseli Hills . It had contained bluestones, one of which showed evidence of having been reused in Stonehenge. The stone
7670-576: The bodies that had previously provided independent advice – the Ancient Monuments Board for England and the Historic Buildings Council for England – and incorporated those functions into the new body. Soon after, the commission was given the operating name of English Heritage by its first chairman, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu . A national register of historic parks and gardens , (e.g. Rangers House , Greenwich)
7800-422: The builders abandoned timber in favour of stone and dug two concentric arrays of holes (the Q and R Holes ) in the centre of the site. These stone sockets are only partly known (hence on present evidence are sometimes described as forming 'crescents'); however, they could be the remains of a double ring. Again, there is little firm dating evidence for this phase. The holes held up to 80 standing stones (shown blue on
7930-399: The builders' belief system. The excavated remains of culled animal bones suggest that people may have gathered at the site for the winter rather than the summer. There is little or no direct evidence revealing the construction techniques used by the Stonehenge builders. Over the years, various authors have suggested that supernatural or anachronistic methods were used, usually asserting that
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#17327722360608060-477: The carved axes and daggers on the Sarsen Stones. Atkinson's work was instrumental in furthering the understanding of the three major phases of the monument's construction. In 1958, the stones were restored again, when three of the standing sarsens were re-erected and set in concrete bases. The last restoration was carried out in 1963 after stone 23 of the Sarsen Circle fell over. It was again re-erected, and
8190-474: The chalk downs of southern England). The bluestones are composed of dolerite, tuff, rhyolite, or sandstone. The igneous bluestones appear to have originated in the Preseli hills of southwestern Wales, about 140 miles (230 km) from the monument. The sandstone Altar Stone may have originated in east Wales. Analysis published in 2020 indicates the sarsens came from West Woods , about 16 miles (26 km) from
8320-436: The circle (60 stones) and the trilithon horseshoe (15 stones). It was thought the ring might have been left incomplete, but an exceptionally dry summer in 2013 revealed patches of parched grass which may correspond to the location of missing sarsens. The lintel stones are each around 10 feet (3.2 m) long, 3.3 feet (1 m) wide and 2.6 feet (0.8 m) thick. The tops of the lintels are 16 feet (4.9 m) above
8450-524: The continent before the Neolithic farmers migrated to Britain. At the time of their arrival, Britain was inhabited by groups of hunter-gatherers who were the first inhabitants of the island after the last Ice Age ended about 11,700 years ago. The farmers replaced most of the hunter-gatherer population in the British Isles without mixing much with them. Despite their mostly Aegean ancestry,
8580-612: The country in 2009–10. In 2012, the section responsible for archive collections was renamed the English Heritage Archive. As a result of the National Heritage Act 2002 , English Heritage acquired administrative responsibility for historic wrecks and submerged landscapes within 12 miles (19 km) of the English coast. The administration of the listed building system was transferred from DCMS to English Heritage in 2006. However, actual listing decisions still remained
8710-422: The decision not to proceed with publication was taken, and these appeared in later HMSO publications or elsewhere. Dorset is the only county which was completed in its entirety to the revised 1850 date, with Cambridge and Stamford the only urban areas to be completed to the same date. The published inventories are now available to view in full at British History Online . The National Buildings Record (NBR)
8840-410: The dedicated Instagram channel @eh_shoutoutloud), via projects as part of a youth group, or by joining one of the ongoing schemes 'Young Associates' (ages 16–25, no application necessary, join at any time) or Young Producers (ages 18–25, applications open once a year). Paid six month placement opportunities are also available once or twice per year. Previous placement holders have gone on to positions with
8970-603: The early eighteenth century, but took an interest in the surrounding monuments as well, identifying (somewhat incorrectly) the Cursus and the Avenue. He also began the excavation of many of the barrows in the area, and it was his interpretation of the landscape that associated it with the Druids . Stukeley was so fascinated with Druids that he originally named Disc Barrows as Druids' Barrows. The most accurate early plan of Stonehenge
9100-410: The early third millennium BC suggests that some form of timber structure was built within the enclosure during this period. Further standing timbers were placed at the northeast entrance, and a parallel alignment of posts ran inwards from the southern entrance. The postholes are smaller than the Aubrey Holes, being only around 16 inches (0.4 m) in diameter, and are much less regularly spaced. The bank
9230-403: The ground. Within this circle stood five trilithons of dressed sarsen stone arranged in a horseshoe shape 45 feet (13.7 m) across, with its open end facing northeast. These huge stones, ten uprights and five lintels, weigh up to 50 tons each. They were linked using complex jointing. They are arranged symmetrically. The smallest pair of trilithons were around 20 feet (6 m) tall,
9360-445: The heel stone, and the embanked avenue, are aligned to the sunset of the winter solstice and the opposing sunrise of the summer solstice. A natural landform at the monument's location followed this line, and may have inspired its construction. It has been conjectured that the design of the monument included a celestial observatory function, which might allow prediction of eclipse, solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to
9490-564: The henge-structures into their belief-system. The earliest British individuals associated with the Beaker culture, most likely speakers of Indo-European languages whose ancestors migrated from the Pontic–Caspian steppe, were similar to those from the Rhine. Eventually, there was again a large population replacement in Britain. More than 90% of Britain's Neolithic gene pool was replaced with
9620-483: The high number of burials in the area and for the evidence of trauma deformity in some of the graves. However, they do concede that the site was probably multifunctional and used for ancestor worship as well. Isotope analysis indicates that some of the buried individuals were from other regions. A teenage boy buried approximately 1550 BC was raised near the Mediterranean Sea; a metal worker from 2300 BC dubbed
9750-472: The historic properties remain in the ownership of the state. Over the centuries, what is now called "heritage" has been the responsibility of a series of state departments. There was the "Kings Works" after the Norman Conquest , the Office of Works (1378–1832), the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues and Works (1832–1851), and the Ministry of Works (1851–1962). Responsibility subsequently transferred to
9880-441: The hypothesis that Stonehenge was a "place for healing" put forward by Darvill, who consulted with the researchers. There is evidence to suggest that despite the introduction of farming in the British Isles, the practice of cereal cultivation fell out of favor between 3300 and 1500 BC, with much of the population reverting to a pastoralist subsistence pattern focused on hazelnut gathering and pig and cattle rearing. A majority of
10010-600: The major phases of Stonehenge's construction took place during such a period where evidence of large-scale agriculture is equivocal. Similar associations between non-cereal farming subsistence patterns and monumental construction are also seen at Poverty Point and Sannai Maruyama . Researchers studying DNA extracted from Neolithic human remains across Britain determined that the people who built Stonehenge I and II were closely related to Iberian and Central European Early and Middle Neolithic populations, modelled as having about 75% ancestry from Early European Farmers who came from
10140-422: The monument but it is unknown if the monument was in continuous use throughout British prehistory and beyond, or exactly how it would have been used. Notable is the massive Iron Age hillfort known as Vespasian's Camp (despite its name, not a Roman site) built alongside the Avenue near the Avon. A decapitated seventh-century Saxon man was excavated from Stonehenge in 1923. The site was known to scholars during
10270-480: The monument, mostly in the eastern half. Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an enclosed cremation cemetery at this time, the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles. Fragments of unburnt human bone have also been found in the ditch-fill. Dating evidence is provided by the late Neolithic grooved ware pottery that has been found in connection with the features from this phase. Archaeological excavation has indicated that around 2600 BC,
10400-596: The monument. Researchers from the Royal College of Art in London have discovered that the monument's igneous bluestones possess "unusual acoustic properties" – when struck they respond with a "loud clanging noise". Rocks with such acoustic properties are frequent in the Carn Melyn ridge of Presili; the Presili village of Maenclochog (Welsh for bell or ringing stones) used local bluestones as church bells until
10530-729: The national record of archaeological sites from the Ordnance Survey , the National Library of Aerial Photographs, and two million RAF and Ordnance Survey aerial photographs. Those, together with other nationally important external acquisitions, meant that English Heritage was one of the largest publicly accessible archives in the UK: 2.53 million records are available online, including more than 426,000 images. In 2010–11, it recorded 4.3 million unique online user sessions and over 110,000 people visited NMR exhibitions held around
10660-570: The national system of heritage protection and managed a range of historic properties. It was created to combine the roles of existing bodies that had emerged from a long period of state involvement in heritage protection. In 1999, the organisation merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and the National Monuments Record , bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England's historic environment. On 1 April 2015, English Heritage
10790-419: The natural chalk by periglacial effects and animal burrowing, poor quality early excavation records, and a lack of accurate, scientifically verified dates. The modern phasing most generally agreed to by archaeologists is detailed below. Features mentioned in the text are numbered and shown on the plan, right. Archaeologists have found four, or possibly five, large Mesolithic postholes (one may have been
10920-668: The next 70 years, before the project was wound down, in favour of more thematic publications, in the early 1980s. In accordance with the Commission's warrant, the inventories were initially limited to identifying constructions up to 1714, but were later extended to 1850. Several inventories were not geographically complete at the time the project was abandoned. Cities and counties covered in part are York (abandoned after 1981), Cambridgeshire (abandoned after 1972), Northamptonshire (abandoned after 1986), Gloucestershire (abandoned after 1976) and Salisbury (abandoned after 1977). In some cases research for forthcoming volumes had started after
11050-506: The next pair a little higher, and the largest, single trilithon in the south-west corner would have been 24 feet (7.3 m) tall. Only one upright from the Great Trilithon still stands, of which 22 feet (6.7 m) is visible and a further 7.9 feet (2.4 m) is below ground. The images of a 'dagger' and 14 'axeheads' have been carved on one of the sarsens, known as stone 53; further carvings of axeheads have been seen on
11180-406: The north-eastern entrance, of which only one, the fallen Slaughter Stone, 16 feet (4.9 m) long, now remains. Other features, loosely dated to phase 3, include the four Station Stones , two of which stood atop mounds. The mounds are known as " barrows " although they do not contain burials. Stonehenge Avenue , a parallel pair of ditches and banks leading two miles (3 km) to the River Avon ,
11310-767: The northeastern section of the Phase 3 IV bluestone circle was removed, creating a horseshoe-shaped setting (the Bluestone Horseshoe) which mirrored the shape of the central sarsen Trilithons. This phase is contemporary with the Seahenge site in Norfolk. The Y and Z Holes are the last known construction at Stonehenge, built about 1600 BC, and the last usage of it was probably during the Iron Age . Roman coins and medieval artefacts have all been found in or around
11440-595: The now permanent youth engagement programme continues to put young people's ideas and stories at the heart of English Heritage, engendering feelings of inclusion and relevance via increased representation and creative opportunities for involvement. Shout Out Loud was originally funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of Kick the Dust. Shout Out Loud established a successful consortium of partners between 2018 and 2022 including Photoworks,
11570-700: The opportunity was taken to concrete three more stones. Later archaeologists, including Christopher Chippindale of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge and Brian Edwards of the University of the West of England , campaigned to give the public more knowledge of the various restorations and, in 2004, English Heritage included pictures of the work in progress in its book Stonehenge: A History in Photographs . Royal Commission on
11700-407: The organisation and ensure that the organisation delivers its goals and objectives. It is led by the chairman, currently Gerard Lemos. Other trustees are Sarah Staniforth, Vicky Barnsley, Kay Boycott, Liz Bromley, Tony Cates, Tanvi Gokhale, Sir Laurie Magnus , Kunle Olulode, Sue Wilkinson and William Whyte. Operational management is delegated to the chief executive, Nick Merriman. The chief executive
11830-459: The outer edge of the enclosed area is a circle of 56 pits, each about 3.3 feet (1 m) in diameter, known as the Aubrey holes after John Aubrey , the 17th-century antiquarian who was thought to have first identified them. These pits and the bank and ditch together are known as the Palisade or Gate Ditch. The pits may have contained standing timbers creating a timber circle , although there
11960-532: The outer faces of stones 3, 4, and 5. The carvings are difficult to date but are morphologically similar to late Bronze Age weapons. Early 21st century laser scanning of the carvings supports this interpretation. The pair of trilithons in the north east are smallest, measuring around 20 feet (6 m) in height; the largest, which is in the south-west of the horseshoe, is almost 25 feet (7.5 m) tall. This ambitious phase has been radiocarbon dated to between 2600 and 2400 BC, slightly earlier than
12090-475: The outer sarsen circle and may have been trimmed in some way. Like the sarsens, a few have timber-working style cuts in them suggesting that, during this phase, they may have been linked with lintels and were part of a larger structure. This phase saw further rearrangement of the bluestones. They were arranged in a circle between the two rings of sarsens and in an oval at the centre of the inner ring. Some archaeologists argue that some of these bluestones were from
12220-508: The people of England, excluding Monmouthshire , from the earliest times to the year 1700, and to specify those which seem most worthy of preservation". A revised warrant of 29 November 1913 extended the terminal date to 1714 (the death of Queen Anne ). A new warrant of 29 March 1946 gave the Commissioners discretion to undertake recording beyond 1714, and an informal terminal date of 1850 was adopted. Further royal warrants, revising
12350-477: The plan), only 43 of which can be traced today. It is generally accepted that the bluestones (some of which are made of dolerite , an igneous rock), were transported by the builders from the Preseli Hills , 150 miles (240 km) away in modern-day Pembrokeshire in Wales. Another theory is that they were brought much nearer to the site as glacial erratics by the Irish Sea Glacier although there
12480-714: The portfolio of over 880 historical places across the UK amassed by the British Government between the 1880s and the 1970s to form the National Collection of built and archaeological heritage. (The balance is in the care of Historic Scotland and Cadw .) These sites represent a deliberate attempt by the state in the 19th and early 20th century to take the nation's most significant prehistoric sites and medieval sites, which were no longer in active use, into public ownership. This national property collection performs
12610-510: The precedent set by the transformation of the nationally owned British Waterways into the Canal & River Trust ). The national portfolio of historic properties remain in public ownership, but the new English Heritage will be licensed to manage them. The change occurred on 1 April 2015 with the statutory planning and heritage protection functions remaining an independent, non-departmental public body , rebranded as Historic England . The care of
12740-581: The properties in the National Collection and the visitor experience attached to them were transferred to the new English Heritage Trust, although the English Heritage name and logo remains. The new trust has a licence to operate the properties until 2025. English Heritage is the guardian of over 400 sites and monuments, the most famous of which include Stonehenge , Osborne , Iron Bridge and Dover Castle . Whilst many have an entry charge, more than 250 properties are free to enter including Maiden Castle, Dorset and St Catherine's Oratory . The sites are part of
12870-498: The prosecution successfully applied for a Public Immunity Certificate to suppress defence evidence (these are normally issued in cases involving national security), three members of the group agreed to return the signs and pay £4,500 in compensation to English Heritage and to be bound over to keep the peace. In return, the prosecution dropped charges of conspiracy to cause criminal damage. In 2011, Conservative MP George Eustice stated that Cornish heritage "is not English" and that there
13000-524: The public are encouraged to join English Heritage as "members". Membership provides benefits such as free admission to its properties and member-only events as well as reduced-cost admission to associated properties. Members also get access for free or reduced cost to properties managed by Cadw in Wales , Historic Scotland , the Office of Public Works in the Republic of Ireland , Manx National Heritage on
13130-604: The public. Recent acquisitions include Harmondsworth Barn in west London, close to Heathrow airport, in late 2011 and Carrawburgh Roman Fort in January 2020. The properties are held by English Heritage under various arrangements. The majority are in the guardianship of the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , with the freehold being retained by the owner. The remaining properties are owned either by English Heritage, other government departments or
13260-426: The remaining £86.7 million from earned sources. This included £17.47 million from property admissions, £14.96 million from catering and retail, £22.91 million from membership and £26.39 million from donations and grants. The trust's financial plan saw the annual requirement for subsidy being cut from £15.6 million in 2015/16 to £10.1 million in 2020/21 and zero in 2022/23. Members of
13390-585: The responsibility of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who was required by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to approve a list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. Following the Public Bodies Reform in 2010, English Heritage was confirmed as the government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, and the largest source of non-lottery grant funding for heritage assets. It
13520-674: The same function as pictures in the National Gallery and the archaeological material in the British Museum . Unlike the National Trust , English Heritage holds few furnished properties, although Charles Darwin's home at Down, Kent (where he wrote On the Origin of Species ) and Brodsworth Hall , South Yorkshire are major exceptions to this. New sites are rarely added to the collection as other charities and institutions are now encouraged to care for them and open them to
13650-493: The site as early as 3000 BC. One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. It has been a legally protected scheduled monument since 1882, when the Ancient Monuments Protection Act was passed in the UK. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO 's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage ;
13780-513: The site for the mid-winter and mid-summer festivals; the evidence showed that the animals had been slaughtered around nine months or 15 months after their spring birth. Strontium isotope analysis of the animal teeth showed that some had been brought from as far afield as the Scottish Highlands for the celebrations. At about the same time, a large timber circle and a second avenue were constructed at Durrington Walls overlooking
13910-476: The stone lintels hinge on the upright stones) or hen(c)en ' to hang ' or ' gallows ' or ' instrument of torture ' (though elsewhere in his book, Chippindale cites the ' suspended stones ' etymology). The "henge" portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as henges . Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch. As often happens in archaeological terminology, this
14040-429: The stone was transported some 430 miles (690 km), and thus demonstrates cultural links between Southern England and Northern Scotland. The north-eastern entrance was widened at this time, with the result that it precisely matched the direction of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset of the period. This phase of the monument was abandoned unfinished, however; the small standing stones were apparently removed and
14170-552: The stones and discovered charred wood, animal bones, pottery and urns. He also identified the hole in which the Slaughter Stone once stood. Richard Colt Hoare supported Cunnington's work and excavated some 379 barrows on Salisbury Plain including on some 200 in the area around the Stones, some excavated in conjunction with William Coxe . To alert future diggers to their work, they were careful to leave initialled metal tokens in each barrow they opened. Cunnington's finds are displayed at
14300-460: The stones in Stonehenge, has been found, including a hole from a rock that matches the unusual cross-section of a Stonehenge bluestone "like a key in a lock". Each monolith measures around 6.6 feet (2 m) in height, between 3.3 and 4.9 ft (1 and 1.5 m) wide and around 2.6 feet (0.8 m) thick. What was to become known as the Altar Stone was believed to have been derived from
14430-425: The stones were impossible to move otherwise due to their massive size. However, conventional techniques, using Neolithic technology as basic as shear legs , have been demonstrably effective at moving and placing stones of a similar size. The most common theory of how prehistoric people moved megaliths has them creating a track of logs which the large stones were rolled along. Another megalith transport theory involves
14560-408: The team concluded that the first bluestones brought from Wales were probably used as grave markers. Radiocarbon dating of the remains has put the date of the site 500 years earlier than previously estimated, to around 3000 BC. A 2018 study of the strontium content of the bones found that many of the individuals buried there around the time of construction had probably come from near the source of
14690-474: The top in order that their perspective remains constant when viewed from the ground, while the lintel stones curve slightly to continue the circular appearance of the earlier monument. The inward-facing surfaces of the stones are smoother and more finely worked than the outer surfaces. The average thickness of the stones is 3.6 feet (1.1 m) and the average distance between them is 3.3 feet (1 m). A total of 75 stones would have been needed to complete
14820-647: The transfer to the voluntary sector in 2015. For a short period from 1998 English Heritage trialled plaques outside the Greater London area. Plaques were erected in Merseyside , Birmingham and elsewhere; but the scheme was discontinued in 2005. Many other plaques have been erected throughout the UK (including London) by town councils, district councils, civic societies, historical societies, fan clubs, companies, and individuals. These are not managed or require approval from English Heritage. An open register
14950-472: The use of a type of sleigh running on a track greased with animal fat. An experiment with a sleigh carrying a 40-ton slab of stone was successfully conducted near Stonehenge in 1995; a team of more than 100 workers managed to push and pull the slab along the 18-mile (29 km) journey from the Marlborough Downs . Proposed functions for the site include usage as an astronomical observatory or as
15080-416: Was a place of the living, whilst Stonehenge was a domain of the dead. A journey along the Avon to reach Stonehenge was part of a ritual passage from life to death, to celebrate past ancestors and the recently deceased. Both explanations were first mooted in the twelfth century by Geoffrey of Monmouth , who extolled the curative properties of the stones and was also the first to advance the idea that Stonehenge
15210-516: Was also added. During the next major phase of activity, 30 enormous Oligocene – Miocene sarsen stones (shown grey on the plan) were brought to the site. They came from a quarry around 16 miles (26 km) north of Stonehenge, in West Woods , Wiltshire . The stones were dressed and fashioned with mortise and tenon joints before 30 sarsens were erected in a circle of standing stones approximately 98 feet (30 m) in diameter, with
15340-523: Was constructed as a funerary monument. There are other hypotheses and theories. According to a team of British researchers led by Mike Parker Pearson of the University of Sheffield, Stonehenge may have been built as a symbol of "peace and unity", indicated in part by the fact that at the time of its construction, Britain's Neolithic people were experiencing a period of cultural unification. Stonehenge megaliths include smaller bluestones and larger sarsens (a term for silicified sandstone boulders found in
15470-459: Was constructed in several phases beginning about 3100 BC and continuing until about 1600 BC. The famous circle of large sarsen stones were placed between 2600 BC and 2400 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the bluestones were given their current positions between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at
15600-406: Was divided into two parts: Historic England , which inherited the statutory and protection functions of the old organisation, and the new English Heritage Trust, a charity that would operate the historic properties, and which took on the English Heritage operating name and logo. The British government gave the new charity an £80 million grant to help establish it as an independent trust, although
15730-452: Was established on a partially voluntary basis in 1940 as a survey – primarily photographic – of buildings of national importance considered to be at risk of damage or destruction through military action . Although originally independent of the RCHME, the two bodies shared premises and frequently worked in close collaboration. The NBR continued its activities after the end of the war, and in 1963
15860-569: Was identified by its unusual pentagonal shape and by luminescence soil dating from the filled-in sockets which showed the circle had been erected around 3400–3200 BC, and dismantled around 300–400 years later, consistent with the dates attributed to the creation of Stonehenge. The cessation of human activity in that area at the same time suggested migration as a reason, but it is believed that other stones may have come from other sources. The second phase of construction occurred approximately between 2900 and 2600 BC. The number of postholes dating to
15990-413: Was in danger of falling. In straightening the stone he moved it about half a metre from its original position. Gowland also took the opportunity to further excavate the monument in what was the most scientific dig to date, revealing more about the erection of the stones than the previous 100 years of work had done. During the 1920 restoration, William Hawley , who had excavated nearby Old Sarum , excavated
16120-516: Was issued, clarifying that "We do not control the copyright of all images of Stonehenge and have never tried to do so." The organisation added that they request that commercial photographers pay fees and abide by certain conditions. Since 2018, English Heritage's highly successful national youth engagement project, Shout Out Loud, has provided a platform for young people to explore heritage sites and collections across England, helping them to uncover untold stories from our past. By amplifying their voices,
16250-430: Was purposely reduced in height and the ditch continued to silt up. At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have contained later, intrusive, cremation burials dating to the two centuries after the monument's inception. It seems that whatever the holes' initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during Phase two. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure's ditch and at other points within
16380-424: Was retained on grounds of "performing a technical function which should remain independent from Government". However, the department also suffered from budget cuts during the recession of the 2010s, resulting in a repairs deficit of £100 million. In June 2013 the British Government announced plans to provide an £80 million grant to enable English Heritage to become a self-financing charity (roughly following
16510-540: Was set up in 1984, and a register for historic battlefields (e.g. the Battle of Tewkesbury ) was created in March 1995. 'Registration' is a material consideration in the planning process. In April 1999 English Heritage merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) and the National Monuments Record (NMR), bringing together resources for the identification and survey of England's historic environment. By adoption, that included responsibility for
16640-534: Was taken over by the RCHME. At this point it was renamed the National Monuments Record (NMR) to reflect the fact that its remit was archaeological as well as architectural. In 1999, with the rest of the Commission's activities, it was absorbed into English Heritage, and in 2012 was renamed the English Heritage Archive. In 2015 the work of the NMR moved with the archive to Historic England and became
16770-403: Was that made by Bath architect John Wood in 1740. His original annotated survey has now been computer-redrawn and published. Importantly Wood's plan was made before the collapse of the southwest trilithon, which fell in 1797 and was restored in 1958. William Cunnington was the next to tackle the area in the early nineteenth century. He excavated some 24 barrows before digging in and around
16900-533: Was then still wooded, but, 4,000 years later, during the earlier Neolithic, people built a causewayed enclosure at Robin Hood's Ball , and long barrow tombs in the surrounding landscape. In approximately 3500 BC, a Stonehenge Cursus was built 2,300 feet (700 m) north of the site as the first farmers began to clear the trees and develop the area. Other previously overlooked stone or wooden structures and burial mounds may date as far back as 4000 BC. Charcoal from
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