Tag Archives for henges

Exposé: Shocking Photos From Our Visit to the Heart of the International Henge Trade!

poshest Stonehenge replica at the store

poshest Stonehenge replica at the store

Once upon a time, we thought we’d died and gone to Heaven. But it was just the store at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre.  Here is some of what we saw in our undercover foray into the international trade in henges of all kinds.

shelves full of Stonehenge replica: Clonehenge dream or Clonehenge nightmare??

shelves full of Stonehenge replicas: Clonehenge dream or Clonehenge nightmare??

more Stonehenges for sale!

more Stonehenges for sale! a snowglobe, a plaster model, a game, a ring, pens with trilithon charms, and a purple vinyl trilithon…

And what you see here is just a portion of what we witnessed during our investigative visit to discover the extent of the Stonehenge replica trafficking in which English Heritage is deeply implicated. Turns out they are waist deep in serious international trade in henge knock-offs, most of which are not even made in England.

This is the epicentre of a henge contagion that is spreading around the world, carried in the hands of innocent tourists. And yet, brazenly and without shame, EH displays its wares out in the open for anyone to see, with some even targeting the youngest and most innocent among us.

(In the interest of full disclosure, we bought a small Stonehenge in a tin, not pictured here, and a set of the chocolate trilithons, for medicinal purposes only!)

Of course there is still a place for the handmade henge, the Stonehenge made of food, and the garden replica, so until next time, gentle readers, happy henging!

Aerial pattern of the stones of Stonehenge, done in beads!

Aerial pattern of the stones of Stonehenge, done in pink beads! Is this meant for little girls???

more, more, more!!!

more, more, more!!! a pop-up book, another snowglobe, etched plexiglass, gold-tone and silver-tone trilithon pendants, chocolate trilithons, cheap molded Stonehenge models and trilithons, and the Stonehenge Anthology board game

A Subjective Perspective on the Henge Collective! Or, Clonehenge the Doggerel!

photo from the Henge Collective Facebook page, used with permission

And now we present: Clonehenge the Doggerel!

We have decided it is time
To do a Clonehenge post in rhyme.
But what fine henge
Should be the victim
Of this arbitrary dictum?
No henge! Instead it’s our objective
To tell you of–the Henge Collective!

Some friends went up to Blackford Hill– Well, maybe first they stopped at Tesco– Some sunshine had dispersed the chill, So they resolved to dine alfresco. One found two stones and put them upright, A lintel added over top, Creating a faux sacred stone site. Since then they’ve found it hard to stop. Henge building now their prime directive–They have become the Henge Collective!

Now people join from far and wide, Their hope to fill the world with henges, Some are narrow and some wide, Some quite tall , some low like benges. [hmm… this isn’t going as well as we hoped!] They’re invited in to build, at music festivals and gardens, Henges by which all are thrilled, except if they prefer a Tardis. [Drat!  Doesn’t quite work, we know, but it’s a rule of thumb that mentioning a Tardis can improve anything…] This post is proving quite defective, but before you hurl invective, we will return to our objective, and hail once more–the Henge Collective!

There. Well. That’s done, then. Sort of. Waiting for the applause to fade.

Rufus T. Firefly, a founding member of the Henge Collective tells us:  “Just to let you know, The Henge Collective have been invited to a music festival. They want us to build one for them.” That would be the  Audio Soup Festival, in case you want to stop by.

For more on the Henge Collective and its activities, visit the group at its Facebook group, which, sadly, is much larger than the Clonehenge group! They are based in Scotland, but welcome members from around the world.

In other news, please consider supporting the US Stonehenge Tour Kickstarter. A post on this will follow. Soon. Ish.

Also, if you have been dragged to Great Britain for some kind of sporting event and sport is not your passion so you are considering a visit to Stonehenge, remember the Stonehenge Guide for iPad, written by none other than Mr. Pete Glastonbury, for whom no superlative (or expletive) is sufficient! Few people know Stonehenge and its context and history as well as he does, and his guide gives new perspectives to the old monument. See comment on the previous post for a review.

Sorry it has taken us so long to post. Blame it on the Olympic Committee. It’s bound to be their fault somehow! And to all of our lovely readers, happy henging! (Should henging be an Olympic event? Discuss!)

HengeClub, a Blog

the elusive fishfingerhenge or fish stick henge, photo and henge by Anne Jensen, used by permission of the HengeClub blog

If you’re interested in henges you may have run across it already–the blog of homemade henges, HengeClub. Started just this past August, it is made up of posts of photos people send in, of henges they’ve made or (and we like this because we’ve toyed with the idea many times) found henges.

They include henges made out of many pleasingly unsuitable materials, just the sort of things we approve of, including the fish fingers or fish sticks above–now we have thought for a while that those were great henging materials but we’d never found one until we saw it on HengeClub. Thank you, everyone over there!

Most of the henges on HengeClub are rudimentary, not much more than single trilithons, but the sheer number of entries and variety of materials make it worth a visit. We admit we’re a little disappointed to find we’ve never been mentioned. After all, working together perhaps we could raise world awareness of the henge phenomenon!

(Chocolatecoinhenge by Sundaeg1rl)

The existence of that blog, like the popularity of a WebUrbanist post on Stonehenge replicas (most of which WU almost certainly saw first on Clonehenge!) demonstrates that these replicas have become one of those odd little corners of our culture that people keep coming back to. We’re always glad to see more interest in the topic!

Okay, we admit to a little envy–we’ve been asking people to make henges and send them in since November 2008, and we’ve received barely more than a handful. But then our primary draw is our list of large permanent replicas. And our incredulous musings about what strange force impels people to build henges and just how many of these linteled constructions there are and have been! HengeClub is another bit of proof that something very peculiar is going on.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Henges We Admire

We probably have 100 pictures in the Henge category on our bookmarks list. Many we hoped to post have proved elusive, most because emails and comments asking permissions for photos have gone unanswered. Since today has been a different kind of day in our world, here is a different kind of post. Normal posting will resume tomorrow, barring unforeseens. These are the best from among the  Stonehenge replicas we have been unable to post.

Plane Henge, another work by the Mutoid Waste Company, in Australia.

What appears to be a wooden Stonehenge model.

A mysterious miniature Stonehenge replica built on a little hill. If anyone knows where this is, please tell us!

iPod Shuffle henge.

A nice garden henge–with added Buddha and  Easter Island head! From, fittingly for today, the Obama Gardens of Hope.

Possibly the best-ever snow henge, those wacky Antarctica people once again! (Do we see bunny ears in there?!)

And one of our very favourites: a virtual glasshenge.

So there you are, some of the henges we’d been hoping to present. Maybe one or two of you will even decide to click on the links! Thank you for your continued interest. Aren’t people amazing? (And wouldn’t the inauguration ceremony have been enhanced by a Stonehenge replica set up somewhere on the Mall?!)