Stonehenge, Today and Yesterday

Part 1

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STONEHENGE:

TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY

STONEHENGE TODAY & YESTERDAY

FRANK STEVENS

Curator of the Salisbury Museum with Plans and Illustrations by

HEYWOOD SUMNER. F.S.A.

LONDON: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd Price 1s net 1916.

FOREWORD

The interest that has always attached itself to Stonehenge has, without doubt, been in a great measure due to the mystery as to the origin of this unique monument of bygone time. But the careful investigations carried out by the modern school of archaeologists, as instanced in the work of General Pitt Rivers, Mr. Gowland, and others, every excavation being carried out with great care and scientific accuracy, have had good results; little by little the history of Stonehenge has been unravelled; a fact that Mr. Stevens has clearly demonstrated in the present volume. We now know how, when, and who, built this remarkable temple. One point, however, still remains a mystery, viz. whence the so-called foreign stones were obtained? Clearly, as geology shows, from no spot in Wiltshire.

Amongst the many rude stone circles scattered over Great Britain, Stonehenge is unique, in the fact of having its sarsen stones carefully though roughly worked; and also in the introduction of the horseshoe within the circles, in the design or plan of the building. As in the present day, our churches, in their design, symbolise the Cross, so we may fairly infer that the horseshoe at Stonehenge had its own special meaning, as it still has in the East.

I would advise all interested in the subject, after reading Mr. Stevens' lucid and comprehensive account, to visit this weird monument and judge for themselves; take Omar's sound advice, "To-day" view the "Dead Yesterday," wait not for the "Unborn To-morrow."

H.P. BLACKMORE. SALISBURY. March 1, 1916.

CONTENTS

PAGE FOREWORD v

STONEHENGE SUMMARISED FOR VISITORS 1

SALISBURY PLAIN 8

STONEHENGE 12

THE LITHOLOGY OF STONEHENGE 15 1. The Story of the Sarsens 17 2. The Foreign Stones 20

THE STONES WITHOUT THE CIRCLE 27 1. The Hele Stone or Friar's Heel 28 2. The Legend of the Friar's Heel 29 3. The "Slaughtering Stone" 31 4. The Earthwork 34

THE BUILDING OF STONEHENGE 36 1. Dressing the Stones 40 2. Tenons and Mortices 42 3. The Process of Erection 45 4. Raising the Foreign Stones 49

WHEN WAS STONEHENGE ERECTED? 51

WHAT WAS STONEHENGE? 57

THE DRUID QUESTION 67

THE BARROWS OF SALISBURY PLAIN 70 1. The Round Barrows 73 2. The Men of the Barrows 87

Part 2

VALEDICTORY 92

STONEHENGE: TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY

STONEHENGE SUMMARISED

USEFUL FACTS, FOR THE ATTENTION OF VISITORS

Each statement is furnished with a reference to the particular pages in this book, where fuller information and arguments "for and against" may be found.

I. WHEN AND BY WHOM STONEHENGE WAS BUILT

(a) Stonehenge was erected about the year 1700 B.C. (See page 51.)

(b) It was built by a race or men who had only a slight knowledge of the use of bronze, and no knowledge of iron. (See pages 40-49.)

II. STONEHENGE CONSISTS OF

(a) A circular earthwork, 300 feet in diameter. (See page 34.)

(b) An avenue bounded by earthworks approaching it on the north-east. (See page 34.)

(c) One large unworked Sarsen Stone, called the "Hele Stone," or "Friar's Heel." (See page 28.)

(d) A recumbent slab within the earthwork called the "Slaughtering Stone." (See page 31.)

(e) Two small unhewn Sarsens lying north-west and south-east of the Circle of Stones. (See page 27.)

(f) A ring of hewn Sarsen stones with "imposts" or lintels mortised to them. The lintels are fitted together with toggle joints. Sixteen out of the original thirty uprights of these "Trilithons" are now standing.

The diameter of this circle is about 108 feet, or that of the dome of St. Paul's. (See page 12.)

(g) A ring of less perfectly hewn "Foreign Stones" (i.e. stones not to be found in Wiltshire at the present day).

These numbered between thirty and forty. Only seven are standing to-day, nine are overthrown. (See page 20.)

(h) Five great Trilithons, arranged in a horseshoe, with the opening to the north-east. These Trilithons rise gradually in height towards the south-west. The largest group of stones fell A.D. 1620. Those next to the great Trilithon on the north-west, fell on January 3rd, 1797.

To-day only two of the Inner Trilithons are standing. One upright of the great Trilithon (raised and made secure in 1901) is erect. (See page 17.)

(i) A horseshoe of less perfectly hewn Foreign Stones. Originally there were fifteen or more of these monoliths averaging eight feet high. (See page 20.)

(j) A simple recumbent slab of micaceous sandstone called the "Altar Stone." (See page 14.)

III. WHERE THE STONES CAME FROM

(a) The Sarsen Stones are the remains of a cap of Tertiary Sandstone which once covered the plain. (See page 17.)

(b) The Foreign Stones are still a matter of debate. They have assuredly been brought from a distance. This is unusual; megalithic structures are usually built of materials found close at hand. (See page 20.)

IV. HOW THE MONUMENT WAS ERECTED

The large monoliths of Sarsen Stone were first of all roughly shaped as they lay in situ on the Plain and then transported to the chosen site.

The Foreign Stones were also dressed on the spot before erection.

Part 3

The entire work was performed with stone tools of the roughest description, weighing from half a pound to over sixty pounds. (See p. 40.)

The only trace of metal discovered in 1901, was a small stain of bronze on one stone, caused by contact with the stone of some very small bronze object, possibly an ornament. (See page 53.)

The large Trilithons were erected from the centre of the site.

The Foreign Stones were placed in position afterwards. (See pages 45-49.)

V. STONEHENGE AND THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

It is a notable fact that the sun rises immediately over the summit of the "Hele Stone," in a line with the axis of Stonehenge on the Summer Solstice.

Sir Norman Lockyer and Mr. Penrose, working on astronomical grounds, fix the date of the circle at 1680 B.C., with a possible error of 200 years on either side.

Much has been said as regards Sun Worship at Stonehenge. The exact use to which the circle was put is at present a matter of conjecture. (See page 57.)

VI. STONE CIRCLES GENERALLY, AND STONEHENGE

1. Stonehenge is probably the latest, and is certainly the most elaborate, stone circle in England.

2. It is the only one in which the stones are squared, dressed, and provided with lintels or imposts.

3. It is the only circle which contains a "horseshoe" arrangement of stones.

4. Most of the stone circles in the South of England face towards the north-east. Stonehenge is one of these.

5. Monuments of the Stonehenge type, but ruder, are found in the following neighbouring counties in South Britain: Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire.

6. Though Wiltshire only contains four such monuments, two of them, Avebury and Stonehenge, are the most remarkable in the kingdom.

Avebury, the older of the two, has been almost destroyed, but when perfect was one of the largest.

Stonehenge, the later, is the most finished example of a megalithic circle in England.

VII. DRUIDS

There seems to be no valid reason for supposing that Stonehenge was erected by the Druids. (See page 67.)

VIII. THE BARROWS NEAR STONEHENGE

The Barrows round Stonehenge were the burial places of a bronze-using race, of almost the same date as the Circle; they were erected mostly after the building of Stonehenge, and are more numerous in this spot than in any other part of England. (See page 73.)

SALISBURY PLAIN

"We passed over the goodly plain, or rather sea of carpet, which I think for evenness, extent, verdure, and innumerable flocks, to be one of the most delightful prospects in nature."--"Evelyn's Diary," 1654.

There is not a county in England which does not pride itself upon some outstanding characteristic which places it in a category by itself. And if there be a thing particularly characteristic of Wiltshire, it is "the Plain" of which John Evelyn above quoted has written so kindly.

The word Plain is somewhat misleading, for the surface of the Salisbury Downland is anything but even, as poor Samuel Pepys found to his cost when he traversed it in 1668, and on his journey encountered some "great hills, even to fright us." The actual truth lies midway between the "evenness" of Evelyn and the "great hills" of Pepys, and to the man of Wilts that word "Plain" will ever summon up a vision of rolling downs, a short, crisp, elastic turf dotted with flocks, and broken here and there by some crested earthwork or barrow, which rears itself from the undulating Down, and breaks the skyline with its sharp outline. It has been estimated that fully one-half of Wiltshire consists of these high bare chalk downs which rise in bold rounded bluffs from the valleys which thread their way through the county. It is impossible to escape them. The Cotswold shepherd looks downward on their folds, and marks the gleaming white of the occasional chalk pit which breaks the surface of their scarp.

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