A mockup of the New Stonehenge, used with permission from Mr. Colin Shearing.
It has been announced with great fanfare. Even a BBC article has announced the unveiling of the plans for this grand Stonehenge for the new millenium, its site only four miles from the original. The plans are unexpectedly elaborate, including a flooring of white quartz granite, a moat, gardens, and yurts for visitors who wish to spend the night.
Consider all of that, along with uprights that are to be of various colored stone types from around the world, eight gates, a white wall, and a visitor center and exhibition domes that will be built to look like Newgrange: and of all this the project leader, Colin Shearing said, “It’s going to look like Stonehenge as we believe it looked as it was new.” and “You can’t really experience how [Stonehenge] was when it was new because it’s old, so a new one would give you an opportunity to experience what our ancestors experienced when they went to the original one.”
By “experience what the ancestors experienced”, does he mean a simulation of the way things look when you take psilocybin mushrooms, as our ancestors probably did? Because this New Stonehenge is beginning to sound more like an elaborate American cemetery than like anything resembling the original Stonehenge and its surroundings.
Still, that doesn’t mean that Clonehenge doesn’t fully support this effort! We do, most emphatically. This is the most ballyhooed and trumpeted Stonehenge replica project of all time, or at least for all of the centuries during which the Clonehenge blog has been operational.
The build-up and fanfare so far has been sensational. The plans are unbelievably elaborate and posh. The work is being done to have an environmental impact study of the planned site completed. Only one major piece needs to fall into place. It’s not so major, actually. After all, it’s just money. That’s right, folks, they lack funding. And that’s where YOU come in. The site says,
“New Stonehenge is to be a Global Legacy Monument built to last 5000 years like Stonehenge itself.
The New Stonehenge project has now devised a strategy whereby 30,000 families from around the globe become the project’s founding families; the people who really make this project become a reality.”
This set of sponsors gets a brick of Preseli bluestone engraved with their names, or the names of their choice, and set into the wall around the monument. They and their descendants will have free access to the monument in perpetuity. They get a plaque to keep in their home, and, (drumroll), t-shirts! All for the tidy sum of £700. If you’re interested, the information can be found here.
We may seem to be making light of it. (That’s what we do.) But the fact is, if you’re looking for a way to commemorate your name or the memory of a loved one, associating it with a monument that might still be standing thousands of years ago is an uplifting way to go. These names will be seen by people who visit for concerts, festivals, weddings, and other events, or just to see the monument and gardens. This Stonehenge will be like a glorious steam ship steaming ahead, not across the sea but across time, carrying the memory of those who had the foresight and vision to see it built and secured.
IF it is actually built. That remains to be seen.
Someday we would like to see a replica built that is truly based on Stonehenge as we see it now, imitating the shape of each stone and extrapolating from that to just how the original builders saw it when it was complete. This is not that project. But a large Stonehenge replica/sculpture in Wiltshire, so near the original would be wonderful to see. Maybe we could have a Clonehenge party at its opening! As things develop with the New Stonehenge, we will keep you posted.
Until then, friends, happy henging!
(Please read Colin Shearing’s comment below for a better description and explanation than we had room for here.)
CLONEHENGE 
Sir, this is a blog about, and list of, Stonehenge replicas. You will find we have listed and posted about the Maryhill replica. If you would take a few minutes to peruse our list of large permanent replicas, you would find that the full-sized replica of Stonehenge has been done, with variations, many times over. But each is different, despite their being replicas of the same thing. The Maryhill replica is a relatively poor replica, as the large ones go, making no real effort to imitate the original. In that it is more a Stonehenge sculpture and, of course, a glorious monument to the dead.
Thanks for stopping by. We hope you will have a look around!
It’s been done.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryhill_Stonehenge
Also, thank you for your good words about Clonehenge. Much appreciated.
Maybe Disney Henge would have been a better expression for what we were thinking, but we’ll leave it that way now and have readers read your comment , as you have answered it very well.
Most of all, thank you for your efforts, Mr. Shearing! We look forward to the success of your efforts and to the addition to the world of another henge for the ages!
Thank you for that! We have put a note in the post to be sure to read your comment for its excellent information. We wish you only the best in all your endeavors!
I want to thank you for your support, it really is appreciated. If it were not for Clonehenge I may well have given up on this project. Over the years reading here about other peoples efforts to recreate one of the Great Wonders of the World has sustained me in my belief that old Stonehenge is now a sad and broken ruin and that now we the descendants of the original builders need a shiny New Stonehenge to be built on England’s Green and Pleasant land, and so my Sword has not slept in my hand. ( phew!)
I want to address some of the issues that you have brought up in your excellent article, Firstly it worried me that the project only sounds like an “elaborate American cemetery” you probably meant Disney Henge! and I kind of understand how you have come to see it like that and In some ways you are right.
‘Elaborate’, yes it has to be, unless you build a old rustic ruin replica. When you look closely into Stonehenge, it is made up of a lot of separate elements which become elaborate as they come together as a whole.
I think by ‘American’ you mean Modern /clean cut /colorful/bright shiny/ loud/ rock’n roll, again you are sort of right, because I want to put on a show there to engage visitors, cue Las Vegas style water and light and sound shows, or Son et Lumiere as we “posh” ( my Grandad was a Cockney) people call it. You also suggest visitors might get a psychedelic experience like as our ancestors who reputedly took Magic Mushrooms
( not just our ancestors I hasten to add ) Well I promise you YOU won’t be underwhelmed like most visitors to the old Stonehenge are!! I will do my best to take you on a trip but without any chemical stimulation
I do believe that some of the stones at Stonehenge were polished, particularly the Bluestones which look like the night sky when shined up , which would have made them very special to our ancestors check out:
http://www.stonehengestones.com
Like you, I wanted to make this as authentic as possible, and although I have acquired a stock of Preseli Bluestones, it proved impossible to use any Sarsens or any other large British stone, so I looked at other stones in other countries and discovered the beauty and magic in them. too
Now, as we are a Global economy, this NEW Stonehenge must be an International Monument not just a local one. and so we have gathered together some amazing stones to place in it.
The Red granite is coming from the Aswan quarries in Egypt, this is the stone used in their ancient Temples/ pyramids, The Orange is from Portugal used there since prehistoric times, The Yellow limestone is from Jerusalem used as their Temple stone, the Green is Connemara Marble found in Catholic churches everywhere, the Blue from Norway used in their standing stones, (and in The Circle of Life Henge) Indigo from The Ukraine ( beautiful Labradorite ) and Violet ( Amythyst ) from The Canadian ‘First Peoples’ . The Black stone that I will use for the 6 Hele stones ( Equinoxes and Solstices ) comes from the Southern Indian Temple stone and replicates the monolith in the movie 2001 ” oh my god it’s full of stars!” Pure white was difficult to source but (with a little help from my friends) we found a small quarry in Mongolia that can supply this rare white crystal quartz granite for the floor (Stonehenge is built on chalk with a chalk wall and would, when exposed, reflect the sun/moon light like crystal quartz)
“The Lagacy Stones”, which I think made you add “Cemetery” to your description are indeed meant to be Memorial stones but I shall not be accepting any bodies to bury!. These polished Preseli Bluestone bricks will be set into the wall surrounding the New Stonehenge but will only be sold once New Stonehenge is built, until then we are only accepting (and have already received) pledges. Our main finance is coming from private equity investors and will be repaid from the entrance price (any rich people out there, contact me please)
You say that someday you would like to see a Stonehenge replica truly built the way you think it was, and this isn’t it……..Well what’s stopping you doing just that? …..only YOU!. ( The Stonehenge Live show in 2005 did that from foam and it looked great ) Everyone has their own vision of what it should look like , but making a dream real involves some compromise.
Finding the right site alone took me nearly 10 years of tramping round the UK visiting possibles, It’s not just about what i want in a site, it’s what’s allowed by the planning authorities, this site ticks all my boxes and lots of theirs and with this governments new planning laws its a “Default Yes”
This is the BEST we could do with our resources and the constraints that I discovered on this journey…for me to REALLY make this happen, I don’t need doubt, I need the power of Positive thinking, support, and lots of Money. Yes, we have a long way to go (probably 2 or 3 more years) but we have come a long way to get this far, and we need now all the help that we can get….drumroll..
Sorry,” I built New Stonehenge” T shirts are not yet available….please visit our website at http://www.newstonehenge.co.uk and say and write nice things about us everywhere you go. ( Don’t say IF say WHEN )
We ARE actually building this for YOU! and You Will ‘get the Stonehenge You deserve’
Bright Blessings
Colin R Shearing FRSA
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