Stonehenge
/ˌstəʊnˈhendʒ/
/ˈstəʊnhendʒ/
- Britain's most famous prehistoric monument, on Salisbury Plain in southern England. It consists of two circles of large standing stones, one inside the other. The inner circle consisted of arches made by laying one stone across the tops of two others. Some of these have fallen, but some are still in position. Stonehenge was built between 3000 and 1500 BC. Nobody knows why it was built, but many people think it was to study the stars and planets or to worship the sun, because a line through its centre would point directly to the position of the rising sun at the summer solstice or of the setting sun at the winter solstice. Many people go to Stonehenge for midsummer celebrations, and it is now one of the only times of year when the public are allowed near the stones. Stonehenge was made a World Heritage Site in 1986.