By William Gowland, F.S.A., F.C.TI. : 37 
had been found, and the builders of the monument evidently de- 
termined to utilise their lengths to the utmost, in order that this 
trilithon, the central one of the series, might have a vaster and 
more impressive magnificence than its fellows by towering over 
them, and thus mark in an unequivocal manner the most important 
point in the sacred enclosure. 
With that end in view the shorter stone was embedded to only 
half the depth of its companion, so that, as is shown by the 
weathering at their old ground lines, they might bear the impost 
at a height of about 21 feet above the turf. 
To enable the shorter to do this without too great a sacrifice of 
stability it was necessary to give a special shape to its base. This 
was accomplished by trimming the stone to a regular form for 































21 feet of its length only, and leaving the lower extremity in the 
shape of a large irregular projecting boss so as to give it a broad 
bearing on the foundation prepared for it. 
The longer stone, No. 56, was dressed into a symmetrical shape 
from its summit to its base, excepting that the part below the 
_ ground was left thicker than the summit and had the rudely pointed 
form described above. 
This stone appears to have been erected first. Its foundations, 
which have been partly described, were prepared as follows :—the 
_ ground lying within and around the site it was intended to occupy 
was excavated and removed, the chalk rock being cut away to a 
depth of from 7 feet to 8 feet 3 inches in such a manner as to 
leave a ledge, on which the base of the stone was to rest, and a 
perpendicular face rising from it, against which as a buttress its 
south-west side would bear when set up. 
As has been pointed out in a former page, the breadth of this 
ledge could only be determined approximately, as the chalk rock 
at its edge passed insensibly into firmly consolidated rubble. It 
could not, however, have much exceeded 4 feet, and was probably 
about 4 feet 6 inches. 
A low sloping wall of chalk had also been left opposite to and 
about 1 foot distant from the south-east side of the base of the stone, 
anda similar wall 2 feet 6 inches distant from the north-west side. 
