About Stones and Wood In Heritage

A fine Saturday, the sun was up and temperatures hovering around 18 degrees centigrade with a cool breeze. This was expected as confirmed by the weather forecast. We went Southwest to Salisbury and Amesbury of the Wiltshire area and then on to Bath. We started off at about noon and headed off to visit the historical site of Stonehenge, the stone structure believed to be from the Neolithic period and used for ceremonial purposes. We have heard of it, read about it and understood that there had been various theories on the existence of the circular stone structure. Whether the stones were constructed for ceremonial purposes or whether they were markers for some religious functions are still debated by historians and there has been no conclusion as to its purpose. It was believed that the stones were brought to the site and constructed in the indicated formation. The origins of the stones were believed to be from Wales and if that were true then a great effort would have been taken to transfer the stones from Wales. Were they brought by sea or were they by land? Why specifically stones from Wales? What was their significance?

It was a three and a half hours drive from Tenby to reach Stonehenge. We went directly to the site passing through small towns in the suburbs of Wiltshire; the towns appeared to be very old with some houses looking very ancient and some appeared to have been built of mud and thatched straw roofs even. The roads we passed through were small, winding two way country roads where extra caution was required and where passing space was limited. This slowed us down somewhat but we carried on anyway. The Stonehenge stone structure was located in an open field and on high ground and was visible from a distance. We noticed it from the distance, an arranged cluster of stones, and the stone structure slowly got clearer and clearer as we got nearer. On arrival we noticed quite a large crowd of visitors, some having arrived in several tourist buses or coaches and the parking lot set aside for visitors and provided by the English Heritage society were quite full. The whole stone structure area was fenced up by a six feet high chain fencing. There was an entrance fee to enter within the fenced enclosure of the Stonehenge but visitors were not allowed to get near the stone structures as they were roped off. So there was not much difference if one had gone into the enclosure or stayed outside of it.

There was nothing much else to see or do at this location. We stayed for about an hour, took some pictures like the tourist we were, before moving on. We checked out one large stone piece close to the fence that looked similar to the ones in the cluster of stones in the main structure. There’s moss growing on it. The stone looked quite ordinary. No way of telling where it came from. Perhaps Archaeologists would be able to tell. I wondered why this sole piece was left there and not brought or placed together with the others in the cluster. There was only about 20 meters left to transport it to the cluster, after having brought it from Wales, if indeed the stones were brought from Wales as claimed by historians.

We moved on from there to another location about 15 minutes drive away where there was another historical, heritage thing that was named, by no coincidence I believe, ‘Woodhenge’. I learned of this when browsing the ‘net’ and since we were in the vicinity and we had the time, it was only natural to check it out. Woodhenge was called such as archaeological excavations done many years ago found wood stumps arranged in several concentric circular formation that was believed to have been used for some ceremonial purpose, much like the intent of Stonehenge. I thought there must have been more than a coincidence that Woodhenge was found not too far away from Stonehenge and whether there had been any relationship intent between the two. The weathered wooden stump had since been replaced by concrete. Looking at the size and shape of the concrete stumps I believe the original wooden stumps were tree trunks cut into pieces of two or three feet height and placed in a circular formation, and maybe used as stools for people to sit on in some ceremonial function. Perhaps they were used for funeral or burial ceremony during the Neolithic period. There was no indication what period they were from and it was just left to our imagination. I could only imagine that it was pre-historic and used as non-religious, ceremonial and cultural function. There was no indication of any religious connection there, so also at Stonehenge. But then again, I may be wrong…….

MKI Ramblings Unlimited,
Tenby, Pembrokeshire,
Wales