This morning, my copy of Close Up, the listings magazine of the National Geographic Channel, came through my letter-box. In prominent letters on the front, it said ‘Stonehenge Decoded’. But, accompanying it was a picture, not of Stonehenge, but of Woodhenge … or rather, Woodhenge as they think it looked when it was used as a temple.
As it looks now … well, see my picture! They didn’t know it existed till 1926, when Squadron-Leader Charles Insall flew over it, and recognised the dark patches in the crops for what they were.
As ‘regulars’ will know, I was up at Woodhenge to see the Riverside Project last year. The archaeologists there exploded my theory it may have been a model for Stonehenge … they were pretty sure it had been built at the same time, or even slightly later.
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, the Director of the Riverside Project has postulated a new theory about Stonehenge, which states that it wasn’t a temple on its own, but only a part of a vast complex of temples covering a considerable area. This is more or less what they told me at the Riverside Project.
More will be told on the National Geographic Channel … the programme is being aired on the 1st June at 8pm BST … and, if you have any interest at all in Stonehenge, you’re in UK and don’t have National Geographic Channel, can I suggest that you befriend someone who does!
There’s been a dig going on at Stonehenge in recent weeks. The general public can’t actually see it, but can view it on CCTV. I may call in if I happen to be passing by Stonehenge soon, but I’m not making a special trip to see it.
