My Stonehenge adventure started early on November 1st.
I caught a train from London Waterloo station got into Salisbury Train Station
and walked out to catch the bus to Stonehenge. Now I’d done my research and
bought my Stonehenge entrance ticket ahead of time. And I bought my bus ticket
but apparently the bus ticket also has the entrance fee in it, but you can get just
a return bus ticket for 7£ you just have to ask for a bus ticket only.
That was sorted and off I went! The bus takes you on a little tour
of Salisbury city centre before going toward Stonehenge. It was pretty cool
actually I learned a lot of little random facts. Then I got to Stonehenge and I
was so psyched! I got my ticket and audio tour and I was ready for an
adventure!
When I travel I have a little bit of anxiety about leaving my
backpack places, regardless of how secure it is. If I had wanted to drop my bag
I would have had to leave it at the Salisbury train station. I did not. So I
hiked around Stonehenge with my backpack. On the way out I walked from the
visitor centre to Stonehenge which is about 2.4 km (1.5 miles). It’s actually
an insanely pleasant walk because it’s flat and it’s a very English looking
countryside that you walk through all green hills and sheep.
When I got out to Stonehenge it was really breathtaking.
Stonehenge had always been one of those things that you see in photos or in
Doctor Who and you’re like that place looks so cool. Then you get there and
it’s like holy shit this place is real! The stones are huge and it just boggles
your mind even more when you see it after reading all the theories behind it
and the fact that the stones aren’t from the local countryside. They were
hauled in from ages away aka the yellow line.
Before we get to the fun pictures it’s fun facts time! Because seriously
Stonehenge’s history is nothing but fun facts! You can obviously find out more
on the English Heritage site.
-it was built in several stages. The iconic stones were erected
around 2500 BC
- The
first monument at Stonehenge was as an early form of henge monument, built
about 5,000 years ago
- About
64 cremations have been found, and perhaps as many as 150 individuals were
originally buried at Stonehenge, making it the largest late Neolithic cemetery
in the British Isles
-About
200 to 300 years after the original blustones were erected in the center they
were rearranged to form a circle (like seriously how crazy they set them up and
then changed their minds and moved these huge stones!)
- One
of the last prehistoric activities at Stonehenge was the digging around the
stone settings of two rings of concentric pits, the so-called Y and Z holes,
radiocarbon dated by antlers within them to between 1800 and 1500 BC. They may
have been intended for a rearrangement of the stones that was never completed
- Many barrow groups appear to have been deliberately located on hilltops
visible from Stonehenge itself, such as those on King Barrow Ridge and the
particularly rich burials at the Normanton Down cemetery
- Stonehenge
appears to have been frequently visited in the Roman period (from AD 43), since
many Roman objects have been found there (we all know it’s because the
Pandorica is under Stonehenge and Rory had to be there for Amy and the Doctor)
- From
1927, the National Trust began to acquire the land around Stonehenge to
preserve it and restore it to grassland.
- Stonehenge
is the most architecturally sophisticated and only surviving lintelled stone
circle in the world
- The stones were brought from very long distances – the
bluestones from the Preseli Hills, over 150 miles away, and the sarsens
probably from the Marlborough Downs, 19 miles to the north
- The stones were dressed using sophisticated techniques and
erected using precisely interlocking joints, unseen at any other prehistoric
monument
I won’t delve into all the different theories about what it’s
used for or why it was built. At least not in this post as I don’t want to bore
you all to death with miles of reading.
After one walk around the stones I was hungry.
And had my picnic
makings from London aka baguette and cheese! So I hiked up the little sort of
hill across from Stonehenge and camped out for lunch and a little bit of
journaling. I could even see some barrows!
Then I took one last stroll around the stones and caught the
shuttle back to the visitor’s centre.
The new visitor’s centre is pretty cool too. There’s a room when
you first enter where you can see a sort a small film about the progression of
Stonehenge and it’s from the point of view that you’re standing inside of the
stones. I totally watched it 3 or 4 times.
Then I had to hustle it over to the bus stop to catch the last
bus. By the time I got back to Salisbury train station it was just before 4 and
the perfect time to see Salisbury!
Cheers,
