UNESCO World Heritage Neolithic Stone age ruins of Stonehenge in the English countryside near Amesbury United Kingdom
UNESCO World Heritage Neolithic Stone age ruins of Stonehenge in the English countryside near Amesbury United Kingdom. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 2 miles ( km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that the standing stones were erected around 2200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury henge monument, and it is also a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge itself is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust. Stonehenge has changed hands on several occasions since King Henry VIII acquired Amesbury Abbey and its surrounding lands. In 1540 he gave the estate to the Earl of Hertford, and it subsequently passed to Lord Carlton and then the Marquis of Queensbury. The Antrobus family of Cheshire bought the estate in 1824, but sold it in 1915 after the last heir was killed in France. The auction was held by Knight Frank & Rutley estate agents in Salisbury on the 21 September, and included "Lot 15. Stonehenge with about 30 acres, 2 ro[o]ds, 37 perches of adjoining downland."[5] Cecil Chubb bought Stonehenge for £6,600 and then gave it to the nation three years later. Although it has been speculated that he purchased it at the suggestion of - or even as a present for - his wife, he in fact bought it on a whim as he believed a local man should be the new owner. Stonehenge is a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids and those following pagan or neo-pagan beliefs.
Size: 5190px × 3436px
Location: Stonehenge ruins- Amesbury, United Kingdom (UK)
Photo credit: © Ryan Fox / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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