Stonehenge

It was another lovely day yesterday, so we made the most of it by visiting Stonehenge and the surrounding area. It is always an awe inspiring sight, and didn't disappoint...

Of course, there was quite a crowd we had to share the experience with, even on a cold February morning...

This sheep seemed to be enjoying itself! It spent several minutes rolling around on its back!

We then stopped in Salisbury, with its beautiful cathedral and lovely old buildings. We even got to see an original copy of the Magna Carta, the best preserved of the four still in existence, preserved in a special dedicated chapter house in the cathedral.





The River Avon...

Up in the old castle above Salisbury, known as Old Sarum, some modern Vikings were having a bit of fun!

Silbury Hill. Although it is rather unexciting looking, it is actually the largest prehistoric monument in Europe! All dug with bone tools, and 40m high... No one has any idea what its purpose was, just like Stonehenge. Surely some religous/political centre, but no evidence has been discovered to show in what way it was used.

Finally we visited Avebury, a small village set in a huge stone circle with quite enormous standing stones in some locations. It is the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world.

The road runs right through the middle of the circle. Someone has even built a house in the big hand-dug ditch running around the circle!

Some of the stones were huge! How did they erect these without any machinery?