392 



NA TURE 



[February 23, 1905 



it than this. Stonehenge, Old Sarum, and Grovely 

 Castle occupy the points of an equilateral triangle of 

 exactly six miles in the side, and the three sides are 

 continuations of the entrances at Stonehenge and Old 

 Sarum and of a ditch running through the centre at 

 Grovely Castle. Further, the centre of the triangle 



St-,.>i«ii' 



! — The equilateral triangle formed by Stonehenge, Old Sarum, and 

 Grovely Castle. 



is on the oldest cross roads in that part of Salisbury 

 Plain. 



The figures will show this, and also the curious 

 position of other earthworks, as well as the fact that 

 the line Stonehenge — Old Sarum passes exactly 



CiroVe^aCV,**' 



Cirti^a'-i^Sr''* 



Fig. 12. — Showing the prolongattc 



Ci\tj^,-tou'-a 



^ of the s des of the equilateral triangle 



through Salisbury spire, which again is exactly two 

 miles from Sarum. We ought to restore the old 

 name, Solisbury. 



(6) It is probable that the avenue and vallum were 

 added when the line of orientation was moved to 

 the N., placing the new centre to the N.W. of its 



NO. 1843, VOL. 71] 



original position. In this way we can explain how it 

 is that the Friar's Heel lies to the S. oi the central 

 line of the avenue, and that the N.W. and S.E. stones 

 are situated at different distances from the vallum. 



(7) The number and spacing of the sarsen stones in 

 the new great circle were so chosen that the use of 

 the N.\\'. and S.E. stones to mark the May new year's 

 day originally could be replaced by observations 

 through one of the trilithons. This was necessary if 

 the May year was to be considered at all, as the use 

 of the N.\V. and S.E. stones was blocked by the new 

 outer circle. 



Now, on the hypothesis of an earlier temple, it 

 becomes quite clear, from the method of erecting the 

 sarsens revealed by Prof. Gowland's excavations, that 

 the stones comprising the two concentric circles must 

 have been removed, even if there were no other 

 reason. 



In the case of the leaning stone, we have evidence 

 that it was erected from the inside of the circle, as 

 the perpendicular wall of chalk is on its S.W. side. 

 If all the other naos sarsens were erected in the same 

 way, there could have been no upright blue stones 

 in the naos. They must have been set in the places 

 thev occupy afterwards, because the upright members 

 of the naos trilithons are well over 20 feet long, and 

 this about represents the distance to the central 

 fKjrtion of the naos. 



The relation between the naos and outer circle 

 trilithons also shows that the naos must have been 

 built first, and further that the outer circle sarsens 

 must have been raised from the inside. Those fallen 

 are about 18 feet long; the average distance between 

 the two systems of naos and outer circle trilithons 

 is about 23 feet. Supposing the outer sarsens are 

 4 feet in the ground, and that there was a slope for 

 them to slide down some 6 feet long, there would 

 just be room, but none to spare, between the naos 

 and the outer circle. There certainly would not be 

 room enough to pull the stones upright unless the 

 intervals between the naos sarsens were used, and 

 the positions of the stones show that they could not 

 have been conveniently so used, in some cases at all 

 events ; we may assume that to pull the stones finally 

 into their perpendicular positions ropes at least as 

 long as those employed by Mr. Carruthers would be 

 needed. 



In any case the blue stone circles must have been 

 away, whether removed from their old positions or 

 not, when the naos and sarsen circle were put up. 



On this point Prof. Growland is quite clear. 



He writes : " That the stones of the central trilithon 

 were erected from the inside of the circle has been 

 conclusively demonstrated by the excavations, hence 

 the ' blue stones ' in front cannot have been erected 

 before them. Moreover, the ' blue stone,' No. 68, the 

 base of which was laid bare in Excavation V., was 

 found to be set in the rubble which had been used to 

 fill up the foundation of No. 56, and further, in a 

 lower layer than its base, there were two small blocks 

 of sarsen with tooled surfaces. 



" ^^'hether the outer sarsens were set up from the 

 inside of the circle like the trilithons, or from the 

 outside, is a point which can only be settled by future 

 excavations. If from the inside their erection must 

 have preceded that of the trilithons, and hence of the 

 ' blue stones.' 



" On the other hand, should the outer sarsens have 

 been raised from the outside, it would not be possible 

 for the ' blue stones ' to have been placed in position 

 before them, as they would then have seriously inter- 

 fered with if not altogether prevented the erecting^ 

 operations." 



We may take it, I think, that the ring was erected 



