| There are other Standing Stones and Henge | | | | World Heritage Site.... Durrington Walls, |
| Monuments besides Stonehenge you know. They | | | | Woodhenge, and Avebury. There are several |
| are dotted all over the south of England. You can | | | | burial mounds such as the West Kennet Long |
| even find them north into Scotland and Northern | | | | Barrow. And there is Silbury Hill... a large man |
| Ireland. Were they burial grounds, or astronomical | | | | made hill of unknown purpose. |
| instruments, or sacred areas to the Neolithic | | | | We love Stonehenge, but our favorite stone circle |
| cultures that built them? | | | | is Avebury... which is, by the way, a henge. It is |
| We\'ve heard all kinds of theories about their | | | | about 20 miles (32 km) north of Stonehenge. You |
| origin, but we don\'t think you need to get too | | | | walk among the stones, feeling very special. The |
| caught up in the theories to enjoy visiting them. | | | | ancient stones wrap around a little village. The Red |
| Stonehenge is the most famous of the stone | | | | Lion Pub actually sits within the circle... stop and |
| circles. One interesting little fact is that it is not, | | | | have a pint. |
| however, a henge. Let\'s get the boring technical | | | | A little further north find The King Stone and the |
| stuff over with... Henges are, strictly speaking, | | | | Rollright Stones. |
| circular or oval spaces that are defined by a bank | | | | Beyond this rich landscape in Wiltshire, England, |
| with an internal ditch... so the dirt bank probably | | | | you can find several henge monuments in the |
| came from the inner ditch... right? | | | | Cumbria Lake District. Look for Castlerigg Stone |
| The word "henge" came from an ancient name | | | | Circle, Mayburgh, Long Meg and Her Daughters, |
| for Stonehenge which meant something like | | | | and Swinside which some have called the finest |
| hanging stones. Soon all the circles they found | | | | stone circle in England. |
| were dubbed henges.... then archeologists found | | | | Scotland has many sites... standing stones, stone |
| that Stonehenge does not have the classic bank | | | | rows, stone circles, cairns and hillforts. |
| and ditch of what is now regarded as a henge | | | | Cornwall is another rich area for neolithic standing |
| monument... So it\'s Stonehenge... a great example | | | | stones and henges. Park and walk to the site |
| of a stone circle... but not a henge. | | | | called Men an Tol... a three stone alignment; the |
| You really don\'t need to know all of that... if you | | | | center stone is a ring large enough to crawl |
| like looking for and finding ancient monuments, | | | | through.... All kinds of legends associated with that |
| there are plenty of henges, standing stones, and | | | | one! Wales also has many burial chambers and |
| stone circles to visit in the United Kingdom and | | | | standing stones. |
| beyond. Get a good map that marks out places | | | | If you really get into this, you can go looking for |
| of archeological interest, and meander out into the | | | | neolithic stone monuments in Ireland and Italy. |
| country side. Some are remote, but you will find | | | | And France has some amazing "alignments" and |
| cute little villages with few tourists, and you might | | | | standing stones deserving a trip. |
| find that this is a great hook for travel. | | | | Wet your appetite for henge monuments with |
| There are several henge monuments and other | | | | Stonehenge and Avebury, you may find that |
| neolithic sites in the Stonehenge Historic | | | | looking for those ancient stones gets you |
| Landscape which is also called the Stonehenge | | | | traveling to places you wouldn\'t see otherwise. |