]
STONEHENGE, WILTSHIRE
=How to get there.=--Train from Waterloo. South-Western Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Amesbury (1-1/2 miles from Stonehenge).
=Distance from London.=--80 miles.
=Average Time.=--3 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 13s. 2d. 8s. 3d. 6s. 7-1/2d.
Return 23s. 2d. 14s. 8d. 13s. 3d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"The George Hotel" at Amesbury.
"Railway Hotel" (small) at Porton.
=Alternative Route.=--Porton Station, 5-1/2 miles, and Salisbury Station,
8 miles from Stonehenge.
One of the earliest and most enduring works of man in the British
Islands is to be seen in the circles of giant stones on Salisbury Plain.
They stand in two concentric circles. The outer ring of monoliths
encloses an inner one of blue stones about half their height. These in
turn surround a horseshoe formation consisting of the remains of five
great trilithons. Some of these stones have fallen across the flat one
known as the altar stone, occupying a central position at the head of
the horseshoe. On the 21st of June the sun rises exactly in a line with
the centre of the horseshoe and the long earthen avenue leading towards
the stones, and thus throws a ray between two of the outer monoliths and
touches the altar stone. This orientation on the plan of so many eastern
shrines proves that Stonehenge was the temple of some early
sun-worshipping race of men in Britain.
Sir Norman Lockyer's recent observations at the summer solstice have
placed the date of erection at about 1680 B.
Pages:
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118