A sourced look at the monument on Salisbury Plain, with photographs, labelled diagrams and a public fact-check log. Where good sources disagree, we keep both in view.
English Heritage calls Stonehenge perhaps the world's most famous prehistoric monument.1 Britannica locates Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.2 The first monument was an early henge, built about 5,000 years ago.1 The unique stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period about 2500 BC.1
Today, together with Avebury, Stonehenge forms the heart of a World Heritage Site, with a unique concentration of prehistoric monuments.1 UNESCO lists Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites as a World Heritage Site, with the date of inscription 1986.3
Stonehenge from the north-east, 27 February 2016.Photo: DeFacto · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsA simplified plan of Stonehenge. The Avenue runs off to the north-east, toward the river Avon. Not to scale.Drawing: our own, simplified and not to scale
Fact-checked PDFs in A4 and US Letter, sold as instant downloads from the ReallyByte store: photographs and labelled diagrams, a guide, and worksheets with answers. Prices in US dollars.
The Stonehenge Reference Guide
A fact-checked guide to what Stonehenge is, when it was built, how the stones were raised, and what good sources say — and still disagree — about why.
