Stonehenge Overview

Stonehenge is one of the UK's prime prehistoric locations – and its appeal lies in the mystery of how and why it was built.

With some of its elements stretching back to 3100 BC, the grouping of large standing stones in a circular setting is as striking today as it ever was. Visitors flock to the site to marvel at the engineering of our prehistoric ancestors, who assembled the circle of Bluestone, Sarsen, Welsh Sandstone blocks and hoisted some on top of others in defiance of their weight.

The site is also composed of earthworks surrounding the circular stones, all forming a breathtaking image that raises many questions about our predecessors and their beliefs, but provides few definitive answers.

The structure was constructed over three unique historical phases and is said to have required more than thirty million labour hours in order to take its magnificent form.

Stonehenge Location

Located in Wiltshire, in the heart of the West Country, the site is surprisingly simple to access. Lying around three kilometres west of Amesbury and 13 kilometres north of Salisbury, a trip to Stonehenge can fit into a visit around the region and its historic heritage.

The nearby town of Averbury holds some of the most impressive remaining pre-historic earthworks in Europe, offering more human worship themes than the solar and lunar inspiration said to be at the hear of Stonehenge's history.

Meanwhile, nearby Salisbury makes an interesting visit as the only city in rural Wiltshire. The picturesque location is noted for the breathtaking Salisbury Cathedral, holding 800 years of history within its walls and counting a towering 123 metre spire.

Accessing Stonehenge from Amesbury means travelling two miles west on the junction of the A303 and A344/360. Meanwhile those travelling by train can alight at Salisbury, which is served by direct trains to London Waterloo, talking only one hour and a half. Local buses can then access the site from Salisbury.

Why Visit Stonehenge

Stonehenge is often described as the most important prehistoric monument in Britain, stretching back 5000 years and taking the form that it can be seen in today some 3500 years ago.

Due to the antiquity of the site, visitors are unable to walk amongst the stones but can admire them from nearby and see the striking site of sunlight beaming between the blocks.

But the biggest draw of Stonehenge is its "mystery"; the hows and whys of the structure have sparked a multiplicity of theories conjecturing as to the purpose and meaning of the stone circle. Dating back to a pre-literary culture that left very few clues to its religious and social practices, much room is left for the imagination to expand.

Some believe that the site was used as an astronomical observatory, while others see it as a site of pagan worship and some even claim that it was used as a place of human sacrifice.