ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



diabase. It has often been asserted that these 

 blue-stones must have been brought to Stonehenge 

 from a distance, as they do not occur anywhere 

 in the district. Some have suggested that they 

 came from Wales or Cornwall, or even by sea from 

 Ireland. Now, the recent excavations have 

 shown that the blue-stones were brought to 

 Stonehenge in a rough state, and that all the 

 trimming was done on the spot where they were 

 erected. It seems unlikely that if they had been 

 brought from a distance the rough trimming 

 should not have been done on the spot where they 

 were found, in order to decrease their weight for 

 transport. It is therefore possible that the stones 

 were erratic blocks found near Stonehenge. 



Within the horseshoe, and near its apex, lies 

 the famous "Altar Stone " (A), a block measuring 

 about 16 feet by 4. Between the horseshoe and 

 the outer circle another circle of diabase stones is 

 sometimes said to have existed, but very little 

 of it now remains. 



The whole building is surrounded by a rampart 

 of earth several feet high, forming a circle about 

 300 feet in diameter. An avenue still 1200 feet 

 in length, bordered by two walls of earth, leads 

 up to the rampart from the north-east. On the 

 axis of this avenue and nearly at its extremity 

 stands the upright stone known as the Friar's Heel. 



In 1901, in the course of repairing the central 

 trilithon, careful excavations were carried out over 



is 



