Topic – Where in the World? Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England

Where in the World? Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England

TO: [email protected]

FROM: [email protected]

SUBJECT: Incredible Stone Circle

Hey Kim, 

Hello from London!

Stonehenge, England

My cousin, Jason, took me to the coolest place today. It is called Stonehenge and it is about a two-hour drive from London. This amazing place is a ring of huge stones that have been stood up on end, sort of like pillars. Some of these stones even have big flat stones lying across the top of them. 

The whole thing was built from about 3100 BCE to 1600 BCE, so the big mystery is how did those ancient people move such huge stones? One sign we saw said people did not have wheels back then, so they could not roll the stones along. Experts can tell that some of these huge rocks are from mountains far away. How did they get here?

The largest stones weigh 40 tonnes or about as much as a fully loaded cement truck. Experts still do not know how, but we saw a sign that said Stonehenge likely took at least 30 million hours to build. Whew!

Stonehenge heel stone

Not only did people long ago move very heavy rocks, but they built Stonehenge very carefully. Someone could stand right at the centre and look toward a special stone called the Heel Stone that is a little distance away. On the morning of June 21 or December 21, they could see the Sunrise directly over the Heel Stone.

Nobody knows why Stonehenge was built. Maybe it was for observing the stars and planets, or maybe it was a burial place. Jason even told me some people think aliens built Stonehenge, but I think he was joking. I did find out that the word henge is an old English word that means “hanging.” Jason says that describes the flat stones laid across the top of the upright stones.

He also said that people used to try to knock over the stones or chip bits off them. Now there are barriers around them. That is too bad. I would really like to have gotten closer to them. There are other stone circles around England, but Stonehenge is the most famous.

Tomorrow Jason and I are heading to the Tower of London!

Bye for now,

Parker

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