Tag Archives for trilithon

Waterfall Stonehenge, A Gift for Your Garden

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photo from Opulent Items website

It’s not for every garden. But look: you do not need to erect huge stones in order to have “this aquatic Stonehenge replica” in your garden. Just assemble the metal encasement and fill it with the Mexican pebbles. Voila! Just like a Stonehenge trilithon but even better because there’s a pump cycling water through it to create a constant waterfall. Heh.

So what if it looks like a standing gabion? [Admit it–you learned a new word just then!] The website says: “The serene sights and sounds of the flowing waterfall is a gift to any patio setting. . . . Ideal if seeking very unique outdoor decor ideas.” It is very unique, and its sights and sounds is a gift.

This isn’t our first Stonehenge water feature. Remember this? After seeing this one, we almost feel we should have given that one another druid or two. In fact, if this weren’t called “Waterfall Stonehenge” we probably wouldn’t even be looking at it. But it’s good to have a post about something like this once in a while, isn’t it? Pointing out lameness can be fun if done in moderation.

Score:  3½ druids, and that’s generous. Not, we hasten to say, that it might not be just the special feature one needs for that certain garden (after all , it is only $5,500), and a miniature version might even be a charming touch for some of those miniature gardeners out there. You know who you are!

Claremont Henge, California

P7200031photos by Simon Burrow, with permission

The old question–doth a trilithon a Stonehenge make? And the answer may be, It depends how desperate you are for material for your blog. In this case we have no qualms including the item since  noted Stonehenge replica scholar Simon Burrow suggested it. We’ll blame him! Looking at his blogs, he seems like such a thoughtful, intelligent, good-hearted person, it’s difficult to understand how he became involved in this sordid henge business, but there it is. You may see his posting of this trilithon here.

You may remember Mr. Burrow from such feats of henging as LaptopHenge and the magnificent Cellphonehenge, as well as some of the photos on the International Virtual Henge Fest page. (Click on the word Henge on the side of his blog, linked in the photo caption above, to see still more.)

P7200032Mr. Burrow likens the spiral on the hitching stone near the trilithon to the Anasazi snail design, but some of our readers may be reminded as we were, of the spiral designs carved in to stones at the Newgrange passage grave in Ireland. Although California is closer to the Anasazi sites, the trilithon’s possible reference to Stonehenge makes the Newgrange reference just as likely. Of course, the spiral is universal, and for all we know could be the logo for their tanning studio!

It’s just a trilithon with two shorter stones that we could charitably call bluestones. As for the spiral stone, well, at least it’s not an Easter Island head! Score: 5 druids. Of course, if it should turn out that everyone on this block had a trilithon and two bluestones, the score would rise rapidly. A community Stonehenge replica . . . for now it remains but a happy dream!

Celtic Cabinet Stonehenge, Wiltshire Heritage Museum

BrittonCabinet stonehenge 2photos by Pete Glastonbury, with permission

The plaque on this cabinet in the Wiltshire Heritage Museum reads:

“The Britton ‘Celtic’ Cabinet [Clonehenge thanks whoever is responsible for those single quotation marks!] The cabinet was originally made in about 1824 for G Watson Taylor, MP for Erlestoke. It is made in the shape of one of the trilithons at Stonhenge [sic], with pollarded elm and birds eye maple veneer, and contains inset watercolours by contemporary artists including Cotman. By 1832 it had been acquired by the historian John Britton (1771-1857) and stood in his library, where it housed manuscripts and drawings. It was bought by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society in 1853.”

BrittonCabinet chThe replica at the top of this post, seen in glass on top of the cabinet, is one of the cork models by Henry Browne, whom we have mentioned before. On the left side of the ‘trilithon’ you can see a charming watercolour of an aerial view of Stonehenge. A similar picture of Avebury is on the right. The other painted panels are hard to make out, but the bottom right is Stonehenge again. Others seem to represent a concession that Wiltshire doesn’t own the megalith franchise.

This is an absolutely fabulous bit of megalithia, in our not-all-that-humble opinions. So much so that we are giving the Avebury model inside the cabinet a post of its own, to follow in a few days.

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Score: 8½ druids. It might have been 9 if it weren’t for that word Celtic in its name. Our thanks to Pete G. for bringing this amazing item to our attention!

Pittsburgh’s Foxhenge: Stone Garden Replica

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photo from last August’s Pittsburgh Magazine

We know the word Foxhenge sounds exciting, but think about it–how would you keep the foxes still?! This one is called Foxhenge, jokingly, because it is in a garden called Fox Chapel, built by Stephen and Kathleen Guinn. The article says, “the circle is composed of seven uprights, two of which are connected by a lintel to form a gateway.” A trilithon.

We’re not sure of the trilithon’s size, but we’re pretty sure this part of the article is true:  “While Stonehenge was surely an engineering feat in its time, the invention of the backhoe made Foxhenge somewhat less labor-intensive.” That is, unless it turns out Merlin did transport the sarsens magically!

ornament_foxhenge3The “henge” includes five other uprights. We include it to show that you can incorporate Stonehenge-like elements in your garden without being too literal about it. It’s not a real Stonehenge replica, but it certainly looks like a cool, peaceful place to be on a hot summer day.

Score: only 4½ as a Stonehenge replica. But we’re hoping we’ll see more garden megaliths as time goes on. We would also like to mention the Columcille Megalith Park near Bangor, Pennsylvania. Their beautiful megaliths are truly mega, including a wonderful trilithon, although it’s not a Stonehenge replica. A post on that will have to wait until the truer replicas run out–no time soon, it seems!

Stonehenge at the Commonwealth Museum, Massachusetts

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photos from the Commonwealth Museum website

Once again, perseverance pays off. We saw a picture of this months ago and  couldn’t find it until a search for Stonehenges at museums (there are plenty but few pictures!) turned  it up. bostonIt’s hard to make out the entire construction. The single trilithon is accompanied by what appears to be a rectangular space enclosed with low standing stones. The site says: “You can tent Stonehenge and barbecue inside.” Now there’s a money-making scheme that English Heritage hasn’t tried. To our knowledge. One can just imagine an American celebrity wedding taking place in a tented-over Stonehenge. If only it weren’t so close to the A303!

boston2Our Boston replica, however, has the advantage of an ocean view. Looks like a lovely place to spend an hour or two, but is it a Stonehenge replica? It is another example, like Stroudhenge and the California sculpture-which must-never-be-named, of a sculpture known as Stonehenge and not a true replica.

It does have a megalithic look, as of a collapsed chambered tomb with a trilithon entrance. Not a true replica, but you can bet we’ll visit on our next Boston trip! Score: 5 ½ druids. About time Massachusetts gets on the Large Permanent list!

Stonehedge Gardens, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania

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photos from the Stonehedge Gardens website

This one isn’t really hengy enough. Still, its name is worth discussing and outdoor stone replicas are getting harder for us to find. Our searches meet with diminishing returns, although, truth to tell, we did find two today that we hope to post in the future!

stonehedge21The site says: “The mission of Stonehedge Gardens is to provide a healing, sacred, inclusive environment for the cultivation of personal and community transformation and wellness through the gardens and nature, the arts and holistic education.” The gardens are said to be beautiful, but why Stonehedge? Perhaps to meld the spiritual implications of Stonehenge with the garden word hedge. We do think they spelled it that way on purpose, unlike some. (See the 3rd comment below for the real explanation.)

Stonehedge is the most common misspelling of Stonehenge, surpassing Stongehenge and Stonhenge. And there are others: Stongehedge, Stonhedge and the obvious Stone Henge. The internet has created an age when  researchers must find all possible misspellings of their key words.

The benches here are meant to gently suggest a Stonehenge theme, not form a Stonehenge replica. It wouldn’t be fair to score them. We just wanted to discuss their name. Shame on us! Out of guilt, we’ll throw a handful of druids their way. Score: 5 druids. All this reminds us of a cartoon: [link]. Gardening time is upon us, folks–time to build your henges!

Coca Cola Stonehenge, Atlanta, Georgia

coke-stonehenge

photo by Jeff Crites, with permission

The word you’re looking for is gratuitous–gratuitous use of the Stonehenge idea in a trilithon of imitation-stone Coca Cola bottles. This piece of art was donated by the U.K., one of many Coke-related artworks given to the Coca Cola company by countries around the world. We’re sure the kindness offered by their friend and ally overseas will not be forgotten by a grateful nation.

But it’s a bit of fun for us and another illustration of the pervasive nature of the Stonehenge/trilithon image. The implied assumption is that everyone knows what this is meant to represent. This is not the only soda (or pop) Stonehenge image, of course. You can see another here. Score: Does it even deserve 5? We’ll give it 5 druids–as an international gesture!

A Couple of Museum Replicas

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photo from the website of the Hong Kong Space Museum

We found a couple of partial replicas that should be mentioned, but neither is complete enough, nor do we have good enough pictures, to warrant a full post for each. The one above is in Hong Kong’s Space Museum, part of a demonstration of ancient astronomical history.

The site says it “has a special effects projection of the midsummer sunrise over the Hell [sic] Stone of Stonehenge to gradually recreate the illusion of dawn.” Yes, we know the Hell Stone is a dolmen in Dorset, but who are we to correct such a delicious misspelling?

clock-museumThe second is a trilithon (Yes, we have learnt to spell it properly!) at The National Watch and Clock Museum in Pennsylvania. In this case it is part of their Ancient Timepieces Gallery.  It is rather a handsome thing, from what we can see, but not proportioned accurately to the trilithons at Stonehenge itself.

We’ll give the Hong Kong structure 5 druids for now, and the Pennsylvania trilithon 4. What is interesting is how their juxtaposition underlines the why behind the “surprising” finding archaeologists are always making that this or that ancient or “primitive” culture had a very detailed understanding of the movements of the bodies in the heavens. Astronomy, for millennia, was timekeeping, and every society, even the simplest, had a need for it.

(second photo from the website of the National Watch and Clock Museum)

Avebury and Silbury and the Long Barrow, too

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photo from Pete Glastonbury, with permission

Sent in by faithful reader and premier Wiltshire photographer, Pete Glastonbury, this model of the Avebury, Silbury landscape  was made by a local as part of his train set.

We get the question from time to time, “Why replicas of Stonehenge and not Avebury, which is bigger?” Well, this is part of what started us off with this project in the first place. Why is Stonehenge such an obsession with people (at least those who don’t speak Latin-based languages)? Why not replicas of Callanish, the Rollright Stones, Castlerigg, Duloe, Drombeg, Stenness, or any of the many others in the British Isles and around the world? It must be those lintels and trilithons!

At any rate, here is that rare item, the Avebury replica,  Silbury Hill included, their  chalk still white as it must have been before turf grew over them. The little chunk of summat on the lower right is West Kennet Long Barrow. A brilliant bit of work, we think.

Speaking of train sets, a train set at a show in Kemptville, Ontario included a precariously perched bit of Stonehenge, not worthy of a post to itself, but worth mentioning and  [link]ing to. How many Stonehenges are out there gathering dust as small trains roar by?

Pavel Pavel’s Stonehenge, Czech Republic

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photo from Strakonice promotional materials

Pavel Pavel, a Czech engineer, built this trilithon in the town of Strakonice in order to demonstrate a method of lifting heavy lintels into place without modern machinery, hoping to show how Stonehenge could have been built. So like its closest Stonehenge replica neighbor, Stonehenge in der Oberpfalz, it qualifies as a Stonehenge replica because of the intention of its builders. More recent (and better) pictures than this one show an arc of boulders placed with it to form a circle.

Delightfully, Pavel Pavel’s interest in prehistoric stone-moving techniques resulted in another experiment. He also had an Easter Island head made of concrete and used it to show how those sculptures might have been walked over the land with the help of a surpisingly small number of people. (Does enjoying the eccentricities of automatically- translated pages make us bad people?)  So, while we are not certain, the town of Strakonice may qualify for our list of places* that have BOTH a Stonehenge replica and a moai. How did we not find this one sooner?!

Score: 5½ druids. It’s little more than a trilithon, after all. But it’s another proof of the world’s fascination with the Wiltshire wonder!

*Kennewick Stonehenge, Texas’s Stonehenge II, Harry Rossett’s Stonehenge, and Tom’s Stonehenge from the Gardens of Hope–and those are just the ones we know of!