What to See in England
By Gordon Home

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Public Domain Books

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.C., and the discovery of flint implements beneath some Roman remains also points to neolithic times. The upright stones and those resting upon them were originally all mortised and tenoned together, and from the fact that no similar stone is found nearer than Marlborough Downs the primitive men must have hauled the stones considerable distances by means of long leather ropes. The small blue stones were possibly brought from Normandy.

Other stone circles and similar remains are to be seen at Avebury, Rollright, and Kit’s Coty House, a few miles from Rochester. Also in Shropshire there is a district rich in stone circles and prehistoric remains. This is in a line north of Bishops Castle and Shelve, and to those who appreciate wild scenery this part of the county may be specially recommended.

[Illustration: STONEHENGE.

Looking towards the east from the altar stone. The point on the horizon where the sun rises on June 21 is indicated by the small stone seen through the arches.]

Continue...

Preface  •  Ham House and Petersham  •  Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle)  •  Harrow  •  Holwood House, Keston  •  Chigwell, Essex  •  Waltham Abbey and Cross  •  Downe  •  Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts  •  Epping Forest  •  Hampton Court  •  Rye House, Broxbourne  •  Hatfield House, Herts  •  Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta  •  The Oldest Brass in England  •  St. Albans  •  Stoke Poges Church, Bucks  •  Windsor  •  Jordans and William Penn  •  Knole House and Sevenoaks  •  Greenstead Church  •  Chalfont St. Giles  •  Westerham  •  Guildford, Surrey  •  Gad’s Hill  •  Ightham Mote, Kent  •  Penshurst  •  St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion  •  Rochester Cathedral  •  Tunbridge Wells  •  The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey  •  Eversley  •  Farnham, Surrey  •  Hindhead, Surrey  •  Shottermill  •  Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex  •  Chawton the Home of Jane Austen  •  Selborne  •  Elstow  •  Lewes, Sussex  •  Bodiam Castle, Sussex  •  Colchester, Essex  •  Layer Marney  •  Battle Abbey  •  Cambridge  •  Arundel Castle  •  Olney, Bucks  •  Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great  •  Canterbury and Its Cathedral  •  Reculvers  •  Oxford  •  Midhurst  •  Pevensey Castle  •  Savernake Forest  •  Ely Cathedral  •  St. Ives, Huntingdonshire  •  Winchelsea and Rye  •  Blenheim Palace  •  Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland  •  Peterborough  •  Southampton  •  Helmingham Hall  •  Stonehenge, Wiltshire  •  Netley Abbey  •  Salisbury and Its Cathedral  •  Sandwich, Kent  •  New Forest, Hampshire  •  Osborne House  •  Carisbrooke Castle  •  Lutterworth  •  Compton Wynyates  •  Kenilworth Castle  •  Belvoir Castle  •  Bath  •  Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers  •  Warwick  •  Gloucester and Its Cathedral  •  Norfolk Broads  •  Norwich Cathedral  •  Lichfield  •  Sherborne and Its Abbey Church  •  Newark  •  Wells and Its Cathedral  •  Stratford-On-Avon  •  Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk  •  Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire  •  Corfe Castle  •  Lincoln and Its Cathedral  •  Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson  •  Glastonbury Abbey  •  Walsingham, Norfolk  •  Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset  •  Newstead Abbey  •  The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances  •  Tintern Abbey  •  Chesterfield, Derbyshire  •  Dukeries  •  Haddon Hall, Derbyshire  •  The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor  •  Raglan Castle  •  Dovedale  •  Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire  •  Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop  •  Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire  •  Ludlow and Its Castle  •  Shrewsbury  •  Buxton and the Peak District  •  Tewkesbury  •  Exeter and Its Cathedral  •  Market Drayton, Salop  •  Chester  •  Exmoor  •  Knutsford  •  Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset  •  Cleeve Abbey, Somerset  •  Hawarden  •  York Minster  •  Coxwold, Yorkshire  •  Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey  •  Knaresborough, Dripping Well  •  Fountains Abbey  •  Ripon Cathedral  •  Dartmoor  •  Haworth  •  Rievaulx Abbey  •  Brixham, Devon  •  Conway Castle  •  The Doone Valley, Exmoor  •  Llandovery, South Wales  •  Dartmouth, Devon  •  Richmond, Yorkshire  •  Tintagel  •  Whitby  •  Carnarvon Castle  •  Plymouth  •  Durham and Its Cathedral  •  Raby Castle, Durham  •  Snowdon  •  Harlech Castle  •  Grasmere and Rydal Mount  •  The Lake District  •  St. Davids Cathedral  •  Furness Abbey, Lancashire  •  Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow  •  The Isle of Man  •  Brantwood  •  Fowey  •  Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall  •  The Lake District  •  Keswick  •  Alnwick Castle  •  Lanercost Priory, Cumberland  •  Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.]  •  St. Ives, Cornwall  •  Bamborough Castle, Northumberland

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What to see in England;: A guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty or literary association,
By Gordon Home
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