Tag Archives for mini Stonehenge

Miniature Stonehenge, Saxony, Germany

stonehenge-miniwelt

photo by Jan Herold, with permission

“Herzlich Willkommen!” says the Miniwelt website. Miniwelt or Miniworld is another park of miniatures, in some ways similar to Cockington Green in Australia or Babbacombe Gardens in England. And, of course, they have a Stonehenge all their own. Here is the official view, from their website.

miniweltWhat do you think? Are these worked stones or molded cement? Tough to say. [Later note: we have it from the photographer that they are indeed stone.] The proportions are certainly better than the Brisbane model and we like it a little better than Babbacombe’s, too. Legoland Windsor still wins when it comes to shape and proportions of the stone, I’m afraid.

The question people have put to us is, Where are the Avebury replicas? Why is it only Stonehenge? We think that a place like this would seem twice as classy if it replaced its Stonehenge with an Avebury, but we doubt it will ever happen!

Score? 6 druids. After all, we see some bluestones in there, and isn’t that a heelstone? Someone gets it, sort of.

Bluestone Henge: Transported magically from Wales to you!

bluestone-henge

photo and henge by the good people at Lost Stones, with permission

We had a post on the controversies concerning  bluestones at Stonehenge almost written when the electric went out and Blam, it was gone. We’ll take that as an omen and cut to the chase!

Stonehenge’s bluestones are small with no lintels, forming an inner circle and an inner horseshoe. They were brought by glaciers or Merlin or winter sleds or water and log rollers from the Preseli Hills in Wales to the Salisbury Plain, over 400 km (250 miles). Why? Heh. We know but we’re not telling! 😉 Maybe they were thought magical, or healing. Maybe it was just how when cut they show star-like white spots as you see above.

No builders we know of, even those who claim they have the “most exact replica in the world!” (I know, right? And yet there are several.), bothered to match the stone types used at Stonehenge. This goes part way. These real bluestones come from the legal source in the Preseli Hills that supplies Lost Stones. This picture isn’t on that site, but ask. And check out their trilithons, baby!

We have plenty more to say here, but it’s time to go. Scoring: 6½ druids for taking geology into account. We like it!

*By the way, a friendly wave and hello to any readers blown our way by search-engine winds while navigating for more about the newly dicovered bluestone circle near Stonehenge. We invite you to have a look around the blog. We’ve posted photos or links to well over 200 Stonehenge replicas and there are more to come. We suggest a look at our interview and the list of Large Permanent Replicas for a start!

Shunt Henge, or Haha! Eat this, Smithsonian Channel!

shunt-henge

Photo by linux-works, with permission

A henge made mostly of jumper shunts–who would guess they would make such a striking picture? linux-works, the builder and photographer, did an outstanding job catching a clean image of this excellent henge.

When Smithsonian was cruising Flickr looking for images for their henge video, they saw the image here, and approached the artist who declined to release it for commercial TV without being paid. (Tch, tch, sucks to be them! *Clonehenge shakes head and grins*)  We, however, being about as uncommercial as one can get, was given linux-works’ generous okey-dokey and here is shunt henge for you to see. Thank you, sir!

We’re told there is a back story, too, and we’ll add it if we get it, but for now we will score without. As you may have noticed, we kind of equate electronics with druidry, an advantage for this one. We award 6½ druids to this minimalist henge, which seems almost to hang in mid-air.

Cellphonehenge, a tour de force

cellphonehenge-51We have been saving this one because once it is posted, it is unlikely to be surpassed. Among all the small, homemade henges we have had the privilege to see, this one is a rock star. As inaccurate as it still is as a Stonehenge replica, it has that je ne sais quoi that allows it to rise above.

Listing the faults sounds petty: no lintels on the outer ring and too many trilithons in the center for starts . . . still, what it lacks in the letter it proffers in spirit. The commentary, too, enhances the installation. The caption on the Flickr photo below reads, “A closer view showing how the setting sun in mid summer shines down the avenue of pagers, through the Motorola arch and directly on the altar phone. ” There’s more where that came from.

cellphonehenge-31And whom do we have to blame–no I mean thank!–for this extraordinary henge? Once again it is the work of the inimitable Simon W. Burrow and friends. Here is his Cellphonehenge blog post and here is a Flickr link from which you can click on 7 photos to read the captions.

Score? We’re giving this one 8½ druids. If only they had dug a little ditch and bank with a stick or something . . .

Gardenhenge, after the winter

garden-henge

photos and henge by Kilaana

This henge first caught our eye when we saw it in its full glory:

garden-henge-2

but we find the picture taken after the elements had their way with it even more evocative of the original. This is not, as it appears, just another henge of small stones found nearby. It is the result of thought and work–the ‘stones’ were cast of Sand Topping Mix and then carved to more closely resemble the stones of Stonehenge! These people were determined . . . and perhaps a bit nutty. But in a good way, we think.

Maybe the elements were making a gesture to recognise this when they destroyed the henge in a way that made it resemble its ancient parent. This couple makes cheese henges, too. Kilaana says they are a hit at parties. We want to go to the parties she goes to! We could bring a Stonehenge game and a Stonehenge watch and some crackerhenges to go with their cheesehenges. maybe dress as druids. A party for henge-heads–it’s a thought.

Speaking of druids, there’s the question of a score. We give this one 7½ druids as is. Rebuild it with the trilithons added and we’ll probably give it an eight!

Clay Henge (we hope!)

poop-henge1

photo by Jamie Rae Cline, with permission

So, when we look around for henges online, we see all kinds of things. Many we have yet to pass on to you because we’re waiting, perhaps in vain, for permissions for photos (Flickr allows you to reblog without permissions, but the resulting photos are small, and anyway part of the fun of doing this is communicating with hengers and henge photographers) and there are a few we simply do not plan to share.

Sometimes, as in this case, we’re not really sure what we’re looking at. The photographer says she thinks it’s made from clay, but something about it, maybe the moss, suggests that it was made or perhaps deposited by an unusually creative dog! Then again, perhaps it’s just powdered doughnut sticks–the things we used to call crullers. We may never know, but because the ick factor creates in us a morbid fascination, you get to see it–lucky you!

Ms. Cline tells us she saw it at Culver-Stockton College in the education department and that it was built by a student. We don’t know much more, and that may be all to the good. Nevertheless it stands as still another demonstration of the Clonehenge principle, that unfailing impulse to build henges from any material that comes to (gasp!) hand. Score: 3 druids, and all three are a little grossed out! There’s just something about that little pillar on the right . . .

The Henge at Babbacombe, Devon, U.K.

photo by trollpowersaab, with permission

photo by trollpowersaab, with permission

photo by trollpowersaab, with permission

We usually try to mix it up, leaving days between similar henges, but the picture above seemed just right for Christmas eve. Babbacombe Model Village is a collection of scale models of buildings and scenes, one of them, of course, being another miniature version of our old friend from Salisbury Plain. This time of year, the whole display is supplied with artificial snow and festooned with holiday lights.

Here’s another view of the model, in the form of an e-postcard you can send through the Babbacombe website. Interestingly, in 2005 mini-druids began appearing mysteriously throughout the village, in what was called a Banksy-like incident!

We feel like we should like this replica a little more than we do. It looks pretty good, and yet something is just not right, maybe the proportions, maybe just a lack in gravitas. For its purpose, however, it is completely adequate, and it’s the holidays so we’ll be generous. Score: 7½ druids for the model henge. Happy Christmas, everyone! Expect tomorrow’s post to be a short one.

Lego Stonehenge, Legoland Windsor

lego-stonehenge

photo by top_gun_1uk, with permission

Back to Stonehenge’s home country for today’s post, and a Stonehenge made of  something that may be under a Christmas tree near you in two days’ time–less, really! At Legoland Windsor, outside London, visitors are treated to this mini-Stonehenge of Lego bricks, complete with mini-people and backed by a miniature Glastonbury Tor.

The Lego company sponsored a Stonehenge-making contest this summer, by the way, and you can see the winners here. That many of them are not made of Legos surprised us, but it’s an interesting (to us, anyway) collection of replicas. Well done, kids!

Compared to some henges we’ve posted lately, at least whoever made the henge above took time to look at Stonehenge first. The “stones” have those characteristic Stonehenge proportions and the look of rounded squareness that many models fail to capture. The colour was a nice choice, too. Lego professionals know how to get it done! Score: 7½ druids for the plastic megaliths of brick.

eBay Stonehenge Replica

ebay-replica

Being sold on eBay in the U.S. right now, this is one of the souvenirs that English Heritage sells online and in their gift shops–a Stonehenge that fits in your hand.

mini-model1

These little mass-produced models are interesting enough to go home with tourists, but the sort of thing that you look at after a while and wonder, “What did I think I was going to do with this?”

If you live in the States, you still have time to get this for your favorite Stonehenge fanatic. We don’t know the people who are selling it. We just saw it and thought we should pass it along. Despite its careful stone placement, we can’t give it more than 5½ druids, but it will do in a pinch, and probably fit in a stocking.