Stonehenge
Stonehenge stands on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England—a ring of upright sarsen stones, each about four metres high and weighing up to twenty-five tonnes, topped by lintel stones joined by mortise-and-tenon joints, a technique found in no other site of the period. Within the ring is a smaller circle of bluestones, along with two standing stones and a lintel forming a trilithon. The whole structure is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset, built in several phases from around 3100 BC over more than a thousand years. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, it is one of Britain's most famous landmarks. Step into the ring of ruins, and the Heel Stone, the Aubrey Holes and the Slaughter Stone each have their own origins, waiting to be examined one by one.
United Kingdom · 11 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Altar Stone
The Altar Stone is a recumbent megalith at the centre of Stonehenge, designated Stone 80. It dates from Stonehenge's third phase (around 2600 BC) and is made of a purple-green micaceous sandstone. The stone measures roughly 4.9 m long, 1 m wide and 0.5 m thick. Its name probably stems from a 1620 remark by Inigo Jones, who wrote: 'Whether it were an Altar or no, I leave to the determination of others.'
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Q and R Holes
The Q and R Holes are the earliest evidence of stone settings at Stonehenge, forming a series of concentric stoneholes. Buried underground, these double-arc settings sit inside the later sarsen circle and are the only surviving trace of the first stone structures at the heart of the monument. They mark the beginning of Stonehenge Phase 3i, dated to around 2400–2300 BC.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Y and Z Holes
The Y and Z Holes represent the last known construction phase at Stonehenge — two roughly contemporaneous rings of pits dug just outside the sarsen circle, with 30 pits in the outer Y ring and 29 in the inner Z ring, arranged with a notable lack of precision. The Y ring measures about 54 metres across; the Z ring about 39 metres. Radiocarbon dates from antler placed deliberately in Y Hole 30 put it at around 1600 BC, while material from Z Hole 29 is slightly earlier, making these rings the most recent structural work recorded at the site. They sit outside the sarsen circle yet belong to the end of the whole sequence — a puzzle that still has no agreed explanation.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Aubrey Holes
The Aubrey Holes are among the earliest features at Stonehenge — a ring of 56 chalk-cut pits, each averaging about 1.06 metres across and 0.76 metres deep, dating to around 3000–2900 BC. They are named after the 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey, who noticed some slight circular depressions during a visit in 1666, though Mike Pitts pointed out in 1981 that the holes had already been backfilled thousands of years before Aubrey arrived; what he actually saw were probably other, now-vanished surface features rather than the pits themselves.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Heel Stone
The Heel Stone is a single unshaped sarsen standing in the Avenue just outside Stonehenge's northeast entrance. It rises about 4.7 metres above the ground, with a further 1.2 metres buried below, giving a total height of over 5.9 metres; it is roughly 2.4 metres thick at its narrowest point, with a girth of 7.6 metres, and weighs an estimated 35 tonnes. The stone leans noticeably toward the southwest, tilting almost 27 degrees from vertical. It stands around 77.4 metres from the centre of the monument and is managed by the National Trust, ringed by a shallow earthwork known as the Heelstone Ditch.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Station Stones
The Station Stones were originally four upright stones positioned roughly at the corners o… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Bluestone (Carreg Las)
Carreg Las — Welsh for 'blue stone' — is a type of spotted dolerite quarried from the Myny… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: cy.wikipedia.org
Station Stones
There were originally four Station Stones — numbered 91 to 94 — arranged at the corners of… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · stonesofstonehenge.org.uk · stonesofstonehenge.org.uk
Slaughter Stone
The Slaughter Stone (Stone 95) is a recumbent sarsen 4.9 metres (16 feet) long that once s… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · stonesofstonehenge.org.uk · english-heritage.org.uk
South Barrow
The South Barrow is a circular earthen mound on the south side of the Stonehenge enclosure… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · stonesofstonehenge.org.uk
North Barrow
The North Barrow is a circular earthen mound on the north side of the Stonehenge enclosure… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · sarsen.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Stonehenge?
Altar Stone, Q and R Holes, Y and Z Holes and more — 11 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Stonehenge guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 6 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).