Tag Archives: trilithons

Cheswardine: Another Long-Sought Henge Attained!

Posted on 02/09/2011 | Leave a comment

photo by Mia Robinson

Well, we survived the flood and gales. Many thanks to those who sent us good wishes, silent or otherwise. Irene let us live to henge another day.

We have long sought a picture of this little trilithon circle in Cheswardine, Shropshire. Looking at it, you may well ask, “Why?” but the fact is, once we know something like this is out there, we desire to list it, just as a collector wants that Mickey Mantle rookie card or that Black Lotus card, or any special little knick knack that completes a set. If there is a Stonehenge replica out there, we want it on Clonehenge!

We know very little about this one. Tinker, our photograph provider in this case says, “i recently moved to cheswardine and was thrilled when i randomly found the henge!!! i drove past it lots of times it wasnt until i stopped for the post box that i saw it as its hidden from the main road its on small ground next to a house but it is very lovely!!”

And a site on the interwebs says, “On our way back home we happened to pass through the Shropshire village of Cheswardine, and having spotted what looked like a miniature Stonehenge, we had to stop and photograph it. The structure is on the grass verge of a street called Symon’s Way, which leads off the main road through the village, and it is made of rough stone blocks. ”

As for score,we can’t give it more than 5 druids, charming as it is. Very cute, but not very Stonehenge-like. The ideal picture of this henge would include at least one cat. Possibly wearing a tie or hat.

The point of this post, however, is to laud, trumpet, and otherwise praise our alert reader and contributor for finding this henge in Cheswardine and sending us the picture! Well done, Tinker! If we gave out awards, we would send you one. Alas we do not, however. You will have to be content with the admiration of a grateful nation (the Henge Nation), and the not-inconsiderable honour of having made us happy. Well done, you!

We hate to post and run, but we watched Ancient Aliens last night and now are all worked up about mica at Teotihuacan, the stonework at Ollantaytambo, and the precise and symmetrical carving at Luxor.  So we are going to cut this post short and go do hours of pointless Googling which will lead us to countless flaky sites that all quote the same, probably dubious, source(s).  Oh, what fun!

We wonder when Ancient Aliens will get around to discussing the mystery of countless people building Stonehenge replicas around the world. Alien mind control?  I’m sure that the guy with the intense tan and weird hair is on task as we speak.  Stay tuned!!

And until then, happy henging!

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Walkerhenge: Not Quite the Kind of Exciting Innovation It Sounds Like

Posted on 01/08/2011 | Leave a comment

photos by Michael H. Walker, Jr., used with permission

Walkerhenge. When we heard the name, it conjured up a vision of a Stonehenge replica robotised to be able to walk about, a peripatetic henge, or maybe a fleet of them… Yes, dozens, no, hundreds of Stonehenge replicas roaming the countryside, eating and reproducing, everything from little baby henges in the care of their mothers to huge bull henges bellowing and running the young single male henges away from the females. Wow, wait until David Attenborough gets hold of this one!

But no, Walkerhenge is named after its creators, Edith and Barry Henge. Oops, no! That should be Michael and Tim Walker, seen here being infected with the Stonehenge brain virus on a typically sunny warm day in Wiltshire.

Mike tells us, “…my brother and I went to Stonehenge a few years ago and when we got back I acquired these rocks. We decided to build a mini Stonehenge. We built it by hand in 2009 and its made out of old granite curbs from the 1850′s from Camden, NJ.” Another cautionary tale illustrating the Clonehenge Effect. (But the bit about the old curbs is brilliant, of course, even if it is Camden.)

Most people don’t understand the risks when they visit Stonehenge. They think, “Chevy Chase went there and he’s fine” or “The Doctor went there and he hasn’t been going around building henges.” Ah, but they are both Gallifreyans! Humans are different. They go home and then the worms in their heads make them build Stonehenges. So far there is no cure.

But on to the matter at hand. This belongs to the category of personal garden henges, like the  paved structure in Red Oak, Texas,  Tremont Henge in Cleveland, or  the circle in Kennewick, Washington. Typically these are not large and sport only one or two trilithons. They often include benches in the form of very low trilithons. This one, like the Tremont, adds standing stones, representing, we suppose, the blue stones and maybe a stray sarsen. Its unique touch is the fire pit, which we are inclined to think is a touch the original Builders at Stonehenge would have recognised.

Another for our list of Large Permanent Replicas! As for score, well, we like this. Well suited for celebrating the Four Festivals, for marshmallows and story telling, or just drinking beer and howling at the moon, all of which except the marshmallows probably took place at the original. Score: 6 druids. (It is actually a 5½ druid henge, but I think readers will understand when we remind them that this poor fellow lives in New Jersey. If an extra half druid will give a little glow to his sorry life, how can we deny him?)

And anyway, we don’t live all that far from Juliustown, New Jersey, home of Walkerhenge. We don’t want to risk a whole herd coming after us. This time of year they are in rut and their horns are very sharp!

Many thanks to Monsieur Walker for his photos and his patience. And until next time, friends, happy henging!

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Clonehenge Field Trip to—Cleveland?!

Posted on 12/06/2010 | Leave a comment

Our own photos

We took a holiday to Ohio to visit–ahem–a close relative, and while there we took a detour to the Tremont section of Cleveland to eat at the mildly famous Lucky’s Cafe. The youngest member of our party was carrying an iPhone and we asked him to bring up our post on Tremont Henge. He did, then found another photo of it, from which he was able to determine a nearby intersection, then in a moment we were looking at an aerial view on a map site. Technology is powerful. And maybe that cafe is lucky!

When we finished our meal, we walked the few blocks to the intersection, and there it was! Tremont Henge, just like in the pictures. Of course Yours Truly had to pose for a picture.

We were tempted to knock on the door to see if we could meet the hengers and learn their motivations, but hard as it may be to believe, Clonehenge is not yet a household word. We didn’t want to make them feel their henge was going to be a source of hassles and interruptions, and risk causing them to dismantle it. So we let them be.

It’s a nice little hengy lawn piece. Despite its lack of heft, it has a solid megalithic feel. It’s an easy henge to like.

Readers, if you know of any other little henges like this, please send them in! Well, not the whole henge, of course, just pictures and as much information as you can get.  And Tremont hengers, if you’re out there, we would love to hear your story!

We walked around Tremont and were impressed with its funky, fun atmosphere. We could enjoy living there. Of course it could  use more henges! But that goes without saying. Parts of Cleveland clearly do rock!

Our thanks to @jwisser for his guidance to the site and to @hombredepan for taking my picture, chauffeur service and the meal!

Hmmm . . . what henge is next?

Note: You can also see Tremont Henge on Google Street View, here.

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Cheesehenge, For the Sake of the Land!

Posted on 21/05/2010 | 6 Comments

photos from Laura Mousseau, used with permission

Well, after a long pause, which of course you know was caused by a freak double computer calamity because you follow us on Twitter, we are back with this excellent cheesehenge which you have of course already seen because it was our Friday foodhenge on Twitter back on March 5!

Laura Mousseau tells us, “Cheesehenge was created by Mark Stabb for a Nature Conservancy of Canada Ontario staff retreat (if you could link to the Nature Conservancy site for Ontario somehow it would be much appreciated!)” I suppose we could — [link]!. We’re, like, all in favour of the, you know, earth an’ s**t!

This is a particularly good cheesehenge. Observe tthe guacamole ground representing Salisbury Plain, inner trilithons that appear to be taller than the sarsens in the outer ring, and–la pièce de résistance–the careful placement of the inner trilithon horseshoe facing the the uprights with the three adjacent remaining lintels. Some observation definitely went into this, although we would not go so far as to say as someone does on the video (Oh, yes!) that it is archaeologically correct.

Cheesehenges, as we have said before, are among the commonest of henges, probably because cheese is capable of being cut into rectangular shapes and, of course, it is often served with alcoholic beverages, some of which appear to  have Stonehenge-generating properties. We have posted two cheesehenges before this. See here and here.

Score: 7 druids! If that seems high to you, you should know that we give extra consideration to treehuggers. It seems likely that the land was what it was all about back in the days of the original builders of Stonehenge, as well as over a millennium later in the days of the druids. Even today we all depend on it. Good to remember, people!

So kudos, Mr. Mark Stabb! Nicely done. The only problem here is all those people singing “dooooo” at the beginning of the video. Perhaps goofiness, in the end, is what makes the world go round. We sure hope so!

Until next time, whenever that is, happy henging!

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Fish Finger/Tater Tot Henge

Posted on 22/03/2010 | 3 Comments

photo from Emily Hunzicker, used with permission

Yes, a foodhenge. We tweet foodhenge links on most Fridays, but haven’t been posting many here on the blog lately. We are about to remedy that, as we have at least three foodhenges lined up to post in the near future. First we’ll go for the greasy fried version, with sarsens of fish fingers (or fish sticks Stateside), and bluestones represented by tater tots (Is there a British term for these? Oven crunchies?). This foodhenge isn’t actually for eating, is it?

Emily Hunziker tells us the story of its origins:

“Well, My family (Russ and Elisa Hunziker) and our friend (Lois Sisco) were thinking of some way to celebrate the summer solstice last year, and what better way to do so than with a henge! We figured fish sticks and tater tots were an appropriate size and shape to replicate a henge which we could eat for dinner afterwards. The sticks and tots are bedded in mash potatoes for support and not pictured was the Salisbury ‘plain’ Steaks which were the main course.”

Regular readers will have guessed it–it is those Salisbury “Plain” steaks that truly won us over. Bad punz–we likes dem! And knowing that Stonehenge is on Salisbury Plain is a plus–after all, the people mentioned are in L.A.

We realise that an inner circle of four trilithons isn’t exactly right and it is odd to include the blue stones inside the outer circle and not those in the inner horseshoe. We’d have loved it if the mashed potatoes had been dyed green. But let’s have a look at a subtler good point–those Aubrey holes (-ish!) built in to the plate. Nicely chosen!

Emily dutifully passes this on: “My mother, who is quite opposed to eating such ‘cafeteria like’ foods, wanted me to mention the fact that, although they make excellent henge replicating material, tater tots, fish sticks, mash potatoes and steak gave us all heart burn.” Duly noted, Emily’s mom!

But the truly worrying part comes next. “Following dinner, there was a virgin (doll) sacrifice, in which a chocolate heart was cut from her chest and eaten to appease the gods.” Hmmm . . . sounds very Aztec to us, especially if the chocolate heart was still beating!

Yes, we know there is no proof that human sacrifice took place at Stonehenge. But we allow for a certain amount of playful poetic license on that matter, as with the PeepHenge we have linked to before (and which may soon have a post of its own because we love it so much!).

Score for this henge: 5½ druids! But this is not the end of Emily’s contributions. We shall hear from her again. The Hunzikers of Los Angeles seem to have a penchant for playing with their food–and we certainly approve!

So to all, we hope you had a lovely equinox celebration. Enjoy the long awaited Spring, and happy henging!

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Henge for a Chameleon–1946, Somewhere in a London Zoo

Posted on 29/01/2010 | Leave a comment

copyrighted photo used with © on it. Click photo to visit page.

This is brilliant! British Pathé, a digital news archive, includes a video of chameleons climbing over a small Stonehenge replica at the London Zoo, like huge bizarre creatures of a past age. Brought to our attention by the magnificent yet under-appreciated Pete Glastonbury (unfairly gifted photographer whose speciality is ancient sites), this is probably the oldest existing video of a small Stonehenge replica.

Click >here< to see the British Pathé page, Prehistoric 1946, with video. (Totally worth clicking on just to hear the stentorian 1946 announcer and the ever-so-clever attempt at a humourous ending! ) The text on the page says, “Several shots of a chameleon moving around model of Stonehenge in a London Zoo. Some good close up shots of chameleons. This animal is half brother to lizard and looks like one. Man organises chameleons with hands – probably a zoo keeper.”

The replica is just four trilithons, but there it is, a bit of Stonehenge replica history. No scoring for this. It’s too awesome, too sexy for its trilithons! Please, if you have any old photos or videos of Stonehenge replicas, we want–no–we need to see them!

[This reminds us of the Stonehenge for Lizards post. Hmmm, there's also the Stonehenge at the reptile zoo and the chocolate replica with the plastic lizards. We detect a pattern!. David Icke, where are you when we need you?! ;-) ]

Note: For those who don’t know, subscribers to our Twitter feed get links to extra henges from time to time, including our Friday foodhenges. In case you’re interested. Anyway, have a great weekend. Happy henging!

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Stonehenge (Or is that Stone Henge?) Candle Holder

Posted on 19/01/2010 | Leave a comment

photo from Zen Ideas

Remember that snow globe we posted a few days before Christmas? This appears to be its second cousin, with trilithons based on the same model, just enlarged and moved around a bit. And it comes in what appears to be an identical box.

We can’t seem to wipe away the impression that what we have here is a mommy trilithon, a toddler trilithon and a few little trilithon buds. Drink your candle wax, kiddies, and one day you’ll be big like Mum! And yet the whole thing has its charm. That grassy lip around the candle works to make it look like a secret pond surrounded by megaliths, the kind of thing you wouldn’t mind having in your garden.

This can be seen as a reductionist view of Stonehenge, a minimal version of the circle, just enough to satisfy the casual Stonehenge fan who wants to tuck a reminder of the ancient and the ages off on the desk corner. Someone’s taken the time to make the resin stones stone-ish and aged looking. (There’s something bugging us about those three front stones, however, but we can’t quite put our finger on it.)

All in all, an amusing Stonehenge-thing, if taken with a wink. Score: 5½ druids. And the name IS Stonehenge, by the way. No space in the middle and no capital H. If it had been named in the 1990′s of course, it would be StoneHenge, but for now English Heritage is sticking with the old spelling. We quite approve!

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Hello, Cleveland! Tremont Henge

Posted on 12/01/2010 | 3 Comments

photo by Jeremy Wiggins aka zodar, with permission

As Spinal Täp said, “Hello, Cleveland!“

“There’s nothing wrong with Ohio, except the snow and the rain. I really like Drew Cary and I’d love to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!“* And now, folks, from the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, also known as the Best Location in the Nation and the Mistake on the Lake, Ohio’s first entry to our large permanent replica list! It just barely makes it in both the large and permanent categories, but we like Ohio. Cleveland Rocks! (And isn’t there a hellmouth there?)

As we see it, this modest henge can’t be more than 2 miles from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There is certainly a good chance it was Spinal Tap inspired. But its true importance to us is as a demonstration. How many people wonder what to do with that odd bit of green between the sidewalk and the street? (Except in Seattle where they pack them with riotous flower gardens.) Here’s the perfect answer: build a henge!

Your neighbors will finally know you’re as weird as they thought, and the local baby-eating pagans  will have a place to perform their dark rituals! (Oops, OPAN, a pagan group not far away takes issue with that–their website clearly says, “not eating your babies since 1996“.)

A grass strip henge doesn’t have to be elaborate. Here they’ve gone with a couple of trilithons and a few standing stones, but it makes a  statement. Of something. Right? Okay, we’ll get back to you on that. But the point is, think how property values must have soared! People were probably on the verge of moving away, especially after the Indians got rid of their best players. Then someone’s brave henging saved the day! (We’re just speculating here, but how could we be wrong!? Just look at that henge.)

Score for Tremont henge? We’ll give it 5½ druids. We thank zodar for this great find. If he or anyone else gets further information on this, like who built it, how, when or why, please let us know. Honestly, what gets into people?

*(from the song Ohio, by Bowling for Soup)

Note–our next entry hasa Spinal Tap connection, so stay tuned.

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Strawhenge: When You’re Ready to Bale!

Posted on 08/01/2010 | Leave a comment

photos from the website of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Canada, with permission

“Strawhenge is a conceptual installation of large straw bales constructed to celebrate the relationship between the momentary and the monumental.” So begins the text on the website for this straw Stonehenge replica. Strawhenges are among the most common large henges, and we haven’t been posting each one we find. But after reading this website we suspect we have stumbled upon some kindred spirits, and since we haven’t posted a straw or hay henge for a while, here it is! (Others: Strawhenge in Essex and Straw Echo Henge, and a great one we never got photo permissions for *sigh*, Strohhenge.)

It is tempting to quote large swaths of text and, well, we’ll indulge a little. John Shaw Rimington is quoted, “when looking over a field of large bales in a field. ‘It is compelling,’ he says ‘to imagine that these large objects, dotted all over the landscape, are not just dropped haphazardly behind baler machines, but rather, they have been carefully moved into position to conform to some greater planetary design.’ ”

The text continues: “He goes on to point out that, a universal and intriguing sense of purpose and meaning lies in each one of us, and is needing to be awakened. Strawhenge is a whimsical structure that allows the onlooker to yield to this tendency to see a field of large bales as something of a phenomena. The common is allowed to seem unusual. The familiar rural landscape becomes infused with newness and significance again. The relationship of the temporary, as represented by the straw, and the permanent, as implied by the ‘stone-likeness’ of the large standing bales, creates a powerful contrast.”

Oh, people, this is our kind of talk! It’s so fun to talk about the nonsensical in serious cosmic ways, because it’s laughable at first, but upon further cogitation has glimmers of truth. When you see a Stonehenge replica, you know someone was reaching for something, one of those deep-inside things we don’t believe in, let alone understand. And at the same time, let’s face it, they’re being very silly. People at play.

It is pleasant to note that someone did indeed look at pictures of Stonehenge and attempt to reproduce some aspects of its present condition here. The inner trilithon horse shoe does face the uprights supporting the three remaining adjacent lintels. And the north-south orientation matches Stonehenge’s, we’re told. We give points for that.

Score: 8 druids! They earned that last half druid when they wrote the site text. Nicely done! Thank you, Mr. Shaw Rimington, for getting in touch with us. We approve whole-heartedly of your conceptual art installation and find it outstanding in its field.

Har har.

P.S.: Hey, Brits, send in your snowhenges. We know they’re out there! Other citizens are welcome, too.

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Granite Henge, Polperro, Cornwall

Posted on 06/01/2010 | 2 Comments

photos from PolperroCornwall.com, with permission

A new one for our list of large permanent replicas and our second henge in Cornwall (see Stonehenge in Treave and More Photos from Treave), this one may not be a Stonehenge replica in the strictest sense of the word. It is, for example, not round. Still, with its trilithon construction, with standing stones added to create an enclosure, we think it comes within the scope of this blog. And since this blog is a dictatorship, what we think is all that matters!

And anyway, it’s charming, in that way that Cornwall and other places known as holiday destinations tend to be. Granite Henge, in fact, is the name of the complex of twelve holiday cabins that surround this henge garden and the adjacent swimming pool. We’re told that a local builder, Derek Bishop, built the property and created the garden, using native Cornish granite to make the henge, in the early 1980s.

The garden is planted with many tropical and subtropical plants and sports a peacock or too, as well. Not much like Salisbury Plain, we must admit, but a fun environment for enjoying a henge! We could certainly be talked into staying there. Let’s hope the warm-climate plants survive this brutal winter!*

Score: 6 druids. This is fun and it looks like art to us!

*In an email, Kevin from Polperro says: “What weather??? I live in Florida from September to April. Looking forward to a picnic on the beach tomorrow.” Anyone have plane fare?

[Note: We're now up to 60 large permanent replicas! Not only did we add this one, but we got word of a very nice little replica on the grounds of the new public library in the city of Pattaya, Thailand. (We're seeking a photo for a post.) Since there was already a replica in Nong Nooch Gardens near Pattaya, that bit of Thailand is now the smallest area we know of in the world to have two large permanent Stonehenge replicas. There's a bit of trivia for stumping your friends. And you heard it here at the Clonehenge blog!]

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