By William Gowland, F.S.A., F.C.I. 



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, 

 and a similar wall 2 feet 6 inches distant from the north-west side. 



