henging and photo by Clark Perks, with permission

The compulsion of the henger is rarely described as starkly and rivetingly as it is on Clark Perks’ Stonehenge page. (Read it!) In a fit of certainty he obtained permission from his college and set about building a full-scale replica of the sarsen portion of Stonehenge, each stone a wood frame covered with plastic garbage bags! Like most replica builders he finished with a greater appreciation of the original builders and of the sheer size of Stonehenge itself.

“Not only was Stonehenge 97 feet in diameter it was also 24 feet tall, as high as a two-story building. I couldn’t really comprehend how high that was until I had actually bought the wood. Standing in the parking lot of the lumber yard, I stood one of the 24 foot 2 x 4s up against a building. I looked up and said, “Holy f***ing sh**, what have I gotten myself into?” Nevertheless, I plowed ahead.” [censored for Clonehenge]

The replica stood for only one day before being vandalised, but fortunately Clark had hired a plane and taken pictures while it still stood. We are impressed with the man. To wrangle  something like that together in a few days and then have the forethought to get those photos requires a fine mind and a strong will.

Score: 8 druids. We love this, love that he did it and enjoyed his telling of it! We end with his words:

“What have I learned from Stonehenge? I don’t know. There are those that said it was my greatest work. Still others said it was the stupidest thing that I have ever done. In a way, they are both correct. It certainly is part of the reason I didn’t graduate from Bennington. But if I had it to do over again, I would. It was just something I had to do.”