Tag Archives for stonehenge model

Was Stonehenge a Building? Bruce Bedlam’s model

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model and image by Bruce Bedlam, with permission

The above is a virtual model, of course, but it represents a real model that was made by the artist. Pictures of the real model can be seen here. The idea Mr. Bedlam has come up with is that Stonehenge is the remnant or foundation of what was once a large wooden building. For more about it and a good look at the model itself, you can view this video:

Of course the theory sounds wacky at first but it’s partly because we haven’t considered it before. If Woodhenge had a roof, why not Stonehenge? We are willing to add it to the list of possibilities.

And what of the model? The model of the stones before the wood was added is rather a nice replica of the original structure as it imagined to have been. We think this kind of speculation is fresh and fun and fully in the spirit of Clonehenge! Score: 8 druids for Bruce Bedlam’s model of Stonehenge as a wooden star! Now, what’s the deal with that crystal thing at the bottom of this page?!

Tourist Trap, Proposed Stonehenge Model for Visitors’ Center, 1998

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photos from Stonehenge II proposal by Aleksandra Mir , more at link.

Posting two rather serious British-made Stonehenge models in a row may be a mistake but a permission we’d hoped for hasn’t come through. The two are very different.  Here “the proposal was to build a Stonehenge replica close to the original, to reduce the volume of pedestrian traffic and save this piece of cultural heritage from further destruction. To compensate for the necessary limited access to Stonehenge I, Stonehenge II would allow full access and promote a wide range of activities on its grounds.”

As you see, tourists would be encouraged to touch and enjoy the model if they wished. However, it seems to us that what tourists wish is to touch the ageless stones of the original, not false new stones, of whatever material.

stonehenge-mir-1This Stonehenge II has not been built, nor is it planned at this point. But as a model we must say that of all the miniatures this is most detailed and closest to the original. We even see Aubrey holes and certainly the ditch and bank, plus every stone correct in size and place. (We also enjoy the giant bird perched on one lintel.)

Scoring–well, keep in mind that we are looking at a model of a nonexistent replica, not a model of Stonehenge itself.  Still, we are forced to give this a good 8½ druids. Full sized, it woud have gotten the elusive 9½. But let’s face it–Peephenge and Cheese curl henge are a lot more fun!

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Henry Browne’s Cork Models–some real history

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photos from the website of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, U.K.

Society often mocks those who are obsessed, but time and time again they are the ones who accomplish much and who see the need for action in their field  long before others do. Such a man was Henry Browne, who lived from 1769 to 1839 and devoted his later years entirely to the study, chronicling and protection of Stonehenge.

The story of how he made his first cork Stonehenge replica is told in a footnote to page 77 of the book  Stonehenge and its Barrows, by William Long. He brought his tools and materials to the site and did all he could to imitate every aspect of the monument as it stood then, in the year 1824. He also made models of his idea of how Stonehenge looked originally.

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Browne may have been the first to notice that the lintels were kept in place with notches and grooves and the first to suppose that lintels originally went all the way around the outside circle. He was among the first to see that Stonehenge needed to be conserved and protected from tourists as well as local residents who broke up stones for building.

A photo of  a Browne model in the Haslemere Museum, taken by the distinguished gentleman from Surrey, Mr. Andy Burnham, originator and Grand Poobah of the highly esteemed Megalithic Portal, may be seen here. This humble blog is to the Megalithic Portal as a child’s wooden block Stonehenge replica is to Stonehenge itself and we are greatly in Mr. Burnham’s debt for providing such a resource!

As to score, well, this man did it right. 9½ druids for Mr. Browne’s models.  They are now, as Mr. Burnham says, precious artefacts themselves.

Lego Stonehenge, Legoland Windsor

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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

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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.

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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.

Cardboard Stonehenge, the blog

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photos from Cardboard Stonehenge, taken by Soo Martin

It’s a whole world we never dreamed existed, the world of the cardmodel kit. Moduni.com offers a great many of them, along with other kinds of models for building. Two people, Alan A. and Soo Martin, who work for a British archives service bought a Stonehenge cardmodel kit, decided to build it during their lunch breaks, and, to our good fortune, chose to blog about it for over 3 months as they did. The results are remarkable, as shown by the pictures above and below.

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(Is that the bunch from Fathers 4 Justice? Love the hat on the left!)

It’s not easy to make this post short, even more than with some other subjects we’ve tackled. We urge anyone with an informed interest in megaliths and Stonehenge to read the blog. It’s short. Many interesting points are made and musings noted, all in a mood of bemused fascination. Take, for example, their Meditations on Underground Access. These are people who have spent too much time thinking about sacred sites. Unlike us. Heh heh.

Anyway, scoring this one is difficult. This blog, with its interim models of glaciers moving  bluestones and of the Stonehenge underpass, with the taping off of the center stones by the Lego constabulary for solstice, with office leylines drawn, and photoshopped lines showing the forms said to be visible in the stones, etc., has completely bowled us over and it’s all we can do to keep from looking sappy by giving it a 9 ¾. It’s a manufactured model, for Sol ‘s sake! After a very cold shower, we give it eight Lego druids . . . maybe 8 ¾! Okay, someone click on Publish, quick!