The builders of Stonehenge went to a large amount of trouble to establish a horizontal ring of lintels around the sarsen circle (assuming it was ever fully completed).
This involved different length stones on the NE side versus the SW side because the ground Stonehenge sits on falls slightly towards the NE. They could have levelled the ground better, or chosen to move it all slightly SW to flatter terrain but instead the put it in (what appears to us) an awkward spot.
Leaving aside the reasons behind why this exact spot - other than aesthetics and structural integrity, what might the reason be for establishing an almost perfectly level ring-beam of rock some 4m above ground level?
One clue arises from Henry of Huntingdon's description of Stonehenge from his C.12th work "Historia Anglorum" where he writes:
"Secundum est apud Stanenges; ubi lapides mirae magnitudinis in modum portarum elevati sunt, ita ut portae portis superpositae videantur, nec potest aliquis excogitare quâ arte tanti lapides deo in altum elevati sunt, vel quare ibi constructi sunt"
... and for those whose Latin is a bit rusty:
"The second marvel is at Stonehenge, where stones of amazing bigness are raised in manner of gateways, so that gateways appear erected over gateways; nor can any one find out by what contrivance stones so great have been raised to such a height, or for what reason they have been erected in that place"
"Gateways over gateways" - often translated as "Doorways upon doorways". Hmmm.
As you retreat southwestwards from Stonehenge, along the primary solstice axis the ground rises under your feet until, at a point a little over a couple of hundred metres away, you end up at Amesbury G10, a bronze age oval twin disc barrow. This isn't exactly on the axis, its a little SE of it, but it serves as a useful marker.
From here, if you stand on the barrow, your eye level is approaching that of the lintel ring. Not perfect (you have to go further towards Amesbury G15 Sun Barrow for that, near Normanton Gorse), but it will do for the purposes of this article.
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| The view NE from Amesbury G10 Barrow |
Imagine that the tallest trilithon hasn't fallen over, that those modern trees aren't on the horizon and that you're standing here at summer solstice sunrise 4,500 years ago.
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| Same view, with a reconstructed trilithon, at Summer Solstice 2500 BCE |
Look at that doorway upon doorways, framing the rising Sun. Now what if you're actually standing on top of that lintel ring - the far horizon is pretty much bang on your eye level.
These are simply idle musings, but we can begin to appreciate why Henry described the monument as he did.
(P.S. I'm still faintly annoyed that he called Stonehenge the second marvel in England - he judged it less worthy than his first choice, the Devil’s Arse in Castleton where "a gale leaves the caverns in the mountain called Peak with such force that clothing cast in its path is blown aloft and jettisoned a good way off.")
