1922] WEST, STONEHENGE 141 



ness. Only two of these large uprights are now standing and three lie 

 on the ground. Several of them are known to have fallen in 1620 and 

 others on January 3rd, 1797. One of the largest of these stones stands 

 twenty-two feet above the ground and extends eight feet, nine inches 

 into it. Its mate also stands twenty-two feet above the ground, in order 

 that they together could support a lintel, but only extends four feet, six 

 inches below the surface. 



, Within the outer horseshoe is a second one, consisting originally of 

 fifteen less perfectly hewn foreign stones, of which but eight remain 

 standing. These stones projected about eight feet above the ground 

 and supported no lintels. The opening ,of the smaller horseshoe faces 

 in the same direction as that of the larger one. 



THE ALTAR STONE 



"Lying flat within these concentric circles and horseshoes is a flat, 

 tabular block, generally known as the "Altar Stone," shown in the cen- 

 ter of figures 81 and 82. From this slab, now almost buried beneath 

 the remains of a fallen trilithon, the visitor may look in a northeasterly 

 direction and, through the arches of the outer circle, observe the "Hele 

 Stone" or "Friar's Heel" (figure 78-5), which stands at some consider- 

 able distance from the main structure. This stone is of different ma- 

 terial from any of the others, being of quartzite. Professor Maskelyne 

 has pointed out the similarity between the Altar Stone at Stonehenge 

 and the "Stone of Destiny" in the Coronation Chair at Westminster 

 Abbey. 



THE HELE STONE OR FRIAR'S HEEL 



Just outside the earth-work circle, and in the center of the "avenue," 

 stands a large unworked Sarsen stone sixteen feet high, coming to a 

 point at its top, and known as the "Hele Stone" or "Friar's Heel," (fig- 

 ure 78-5). The word Hele is derived from the Anglo-Saxon verb 

 "helan" — "to conceal, and is applied to this stone because it conceals the 

 sun at rising on the day of the Summer Solstice," June 21st, the longest 

 day of the year. 



Within the circular earth-work, and lying in a northwesterly and 

 southeasterly line, are two smaller untrimmed Sarsens (figure 78-2 and 

 3). These, together with the "Hele" stone, seem especially placed and 

 for a definite purpose. As before stated, the "Hele" stone marks the 

 rising of the sun on the Summer Solstice. "The remaimng two mark 



