toilet block at Stonehenge’s old visitor centre, photo by Tim Daw, used with permission

We have seen the toilet henges and the bog roll tube henges, and even one or two that appeared to be made from, well, something a dog left behind. So there is no reason to be squeamish about this one, right? These are the doors of the toilets at the old Stonehenge visitor centre, crafted and painted to give a suggestion of the monument itself.

Toilet at the old Stonehenge visitor centre, photo by Tim Daw

There is a new visitor centre now, of course, and these have been torn down and carted away (presumably in bits. We doubt anyone would choose to keep them as memorabilia), disappeared forever. So this post is a last gesture of appreciation to whatever unknown person or people decided that a Stonehenge visitor centre needed Stonehenge toilets.

We’re certain there must be a theory out there proposing that Stonehenge must be an ancient toilet, probably for aliens. Every possible theory about Stonehenge eventually gets thought of; not only thought of, but fervently believed in and maniacally evangelised. The toilet theory of Stonehenge seems unlikely, and we don’t expect it to get much play in the media. Still, who knows what the future will bring!

We could have made a lot of bad toilet-related puns in this post, but we have been dancing around in a desperate effort to hold them in. We knew how you would appreciate it.

Our sincerest thanks to the inimitable Tim Daw, and until next time, of course, dear friends, we wish you happy henging!

Snowhenge at Carleton College. photo by Erin Wilson, used with permission

We used to post snowhenges from time to time earlier in our blog history. See the first five links here to view some. But it has been a while since we’ve seen one, despite copious amounts of snow in North America this winter. What on earth do people do with snow these days if they’re not henging with it? Tweet it? Instagram it? Make snowCamerons and hit them with flamethrowers? Haha, not in North America, of course. Just kidding. That’s why the UK government disallowed snow and only permits rain now, exactly so things like that won’t happen!

But at any rate, we have a snowhenge for you today, as you can see. It was built by students at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and photographed by Erin Wilson, 2014 and Agnes Tse, 2016, the years being the year they will graduate, although no future accomplishment will ever come close to the glory of having a photograph posted on Clonehenge, so they may as well quit and turn to a life of crime now. Good luck!

Carleton College’s snowhenge. Photo by Agnes Tse, used with permission

The oddest thing about this snowhenge has to be the fact that no one involved is talking about the most important bit of data about any henge: who actually built it. Very suspicious, if you ask us. Lots of care taken to see that we credit the photos properly, no mention at all of the builder(s). We aren’t ruling out the possibility that tiny alien ice druids have arrived from outer space to attend college in Minnesota. Further reports on this are welcome!

As for the score, we award 6 druids for this effort. Only an outer sarsen circle, without the inner trilithon horseshoe or any bluestones or ditch and bank, or outlier stones; proportions wrong, etc. Regular readers know the drill. 6 is actually a pretty high score for this, but we’re going with it.

The fact is, we love seeing a snowhenge after a long hiatus, and anyway, we’re glad to have something other than toilets at the top of our blog!

We have a Mexican Stonehenge replica from a park that includes miniatures of world landmarks coming up at some point. For up-to-the-moment reports on Stonehenge replicas large and small, join the Clonehenge Facebook group or follow Clonehenge on Twitter. Occasional Stonehenge news shows up there, too.

Our thanks to Pete Glastonbury and someone we know only as Liz! And, yes, until next time, we wish all of our friends some very happy henging!

Stonehenge with chips and mushy peas, by Prudence Staite

This won’t be a long post. We just want to keep you informed, Gentle Readers!Lately friends have drawn our attention to a couple of chip henges, or as the crasser parts of the globe might say, French fry henges. And we want to share them with you here, to enjoy with a fine ale and perhaps some fried fish (or, if you must, a burger).

The one pictured above was created by artist Prudence Staite, not to be confused with Firefly‘s wonderful Jewel Staite. Ms. Staite also created a cheesehenge a couple of years ago. Perhaps we should interview her on the blog! To quote the article that featured the photo, “Ms Staite’s edible art was commissioned to celebrate Chip Week 2014, which is organised by the Potato Council.” It reached our attention via Visit Wiltshire and the revered friend of the blog Rian Edwards, and very nearly by author Mike Williams as well. Thank you to them all!

Perhaps Chip Week was equally the inspiration for the other henge we’re featuring in this post:

Chip henge from the BBC’s Room 101

Not having seen the piece from which this chip henge was extracted, we don’t have any context for it. But it was sent to us by alert friend of the blog Ms. Emma Evans. Thank you, Emma!

They are similar and of similar quality, but we would be amiss not to draw your attention to the lemon sunrise in the photo at the top. A definitive touch! The mushy peas are, of course, definitively British as well.

We will keep you no longer. You are dismissed to go on to more weighty matters, like trying out the Megabits beta, or, well, eating chips and drinking heavily. Chip henges are not worth spending too much time on. They just show how Stonehenge replicas are an integral part of the Zeitgeist. As Clonehenge should be!

Don’t be afraid to make a chip henge or French fry henge part of your Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. Not that Stonehenge has ANYTHING to do with Ireland or Celtic people, but chips are very good when you’re drinking too much. So, whether in your cups or suffering with hangovers, dear friends, happy henging!

Stonehenge Esperance, from the Real Estate listing

We don’t usually list real estate on Clonehenge, but we’ve learned that in the realm of Stonehenge replicas, nothing is out of the question. Today there is a full-sized Stonehenge for sale, in conjunction with a cattle farm and luxury home, in Western Australia! And although we are posting this on April 1, this is not a joke. The real estate video (enjoy the music!):

We followed the building of this henge from when its stones were commissioned by Ross Smith, through the awkward stages of when he didn’t have the money to build it to when the Beales bravely decided to erect the abandoned stones on their property, watching that process as it progressed until it was built, and, as some said, better than the original, and now the “pink Stonehenge” is up for sale! Who will buy it? What will they do with it? Stay tuned for the news at 11:00!

Stonehenge Esperance, from the real estate site

So if you have $5 million Australian—and who doesn’t these days?—the dream is yours. You might miss the sheep, but on the other hand, you get an ocean view! And, as one site reminds us, “Unlike the English Stonehenge … this one is not broken.”

Good luck in the bidding, and we don’t think we need to remind you, we have a very important birthday coming up. Hint hint!

Sountil next time, generous friends, happy henging!

Goathenge, photo by Jake Crimmins, used with permission

from Venture Beat’s Goat Simulator guide

Virtual henges: no one likes to talk about them, but they are the dirty secret of a persistent reality in the Stonehenge replica world. Hardly a gaming world gets invented without a Stonehenge in it somewhere. Some have several—why should they be limited to one puny Stonehenge like our world is?

Maybe you’ve heard of  the game Goat Simulator. It has created a sensation in the gaming world in the short time since it was released, as much for its bugginess and simplicity  as for its game features. The game is played from the point of view of a goat and the goal is to wreak as much havoc as you can. And, of course, what would be more fun to trash than Stonehenge?? The copy reads, “Trash Goathenge: knock down all of the tall stones. Find Stonehenge and knock down every rock.” “Trash Goathenge. Ruin your cultural heritage.” We especially relish that last one. Almost makes us want to take up gaming! Actually it’s good to know that Stonehenge is still so much a part of pop culture that it shows up in games like this. And there’s something that feels right about goats and Stonehenge.

Another trendy game with a Stonehenge scene is Tearaway, a game in which everything appears to be made of sugar paper (construction paper if you’re from the wrong side of the Atlantic). Granted, you have to be watching for this one, but it’s there. In the following picture, you can see the paper Stonehenge below the main character and to the left.

screenshot from the game Tearaway

Another Stonehenge, made in this case by a friend of the blog, James Brocklehurst, can be found in Minecraft on Snakeskin.

Stonehenge in Minecraft on Snakeskin, made and imaged by James Brocklehurst

It’s a little lumpy, but we’re told that underneath it is the Pandorica. If you don’t know what that is, drop your device right now and go watch the entire Doctor Who oeuvre! Not that you have to watch them all to know what it is, but it’s clear you haven’t watched them, which means you need to. Go ahead now. See you later.

Eternity Stonehenge, from Gamezebo’s walkthrough

Stonehenges can also be found in games like Eternity and Mystery P.I.—The London Caper. Don’t ask us what platforms these games are on. We  don’t even know what that means. Just savour the henges, which show evidence of someone actually having looked at Stonehenge before designing them!

Stonehenge in Mystery P.I.—London Caper from Gamezebo’s walkthrough

We hoped to include more in this post, but there were so many game replicas that other kinds of virtual henges will have to have their own post.We have no doubt that readers will want to tell us about Stonehenges in other games. Please do, and we’ll include them in another post somewhere down the line. So far no Easter Island heads among these. Don’t send us anything that would ruin that for us!

Our thanks to inimitable friend of the blog Jake Crimmins for sending us the Goathenge and inspiring this post! And to James Brocklehurst for supplying the picture of his Minecraft henge. We have so many  non-virtual Stonehenge replicas needing to be posted that we have probably forgotten most of them. If you want to keep up, you can join the Clonehenge group on Facebook (or—get professional help!), where they get posted as we discover or learn about them. You would be surprised how often a new one gets posted. The world has a bad Stonehenge infection, and Stonehenge pop up all over like pustules. We’re just lazy about putting them here.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy gaming day to have a look at Clonehenge, and until the next time, friends, happy henging!

Artist’s impression of what the finished Long Barrow will look like, (c) Peter Dunn

Despite the fact that we have in effect left this blog on its own like a kitten at a rubbish tip (or dump, if you prefer), it has somehow matured to the ripe age of four hundred posts. To celebrate all of those magnificent and ridiculous Stonehenge replicas, what have we chosen to feature? A new Sconehenge? The long-awaited Space Station replica? (we wish!), a Stonehenge replica owned by Angelina Jolie or Justin Bieber? (please, no!)? Absolutely not. Instead we are featuring something that not only is not at all a Stonehenge, but is also not actually a replica. BECAUSE IT’S OUR BLOG AND WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT!!!

And what is this delicious non-henge confection we are serving up to you today? It is the remarkable and brand new Long Barrow at All Cannings. Its website says:

Inside the Long Barrow at All Cannings, photo by Joby R. J. Wheatley

To help us tell you about the long barrow, we have pretended to be responsible journalists/bloggers and interviewed the man behind the barrow, the increasingly famous Tim Daw, writer of the Stonehenge-related blog Sarsen.org. (If you’re a Stonehenge fan, it should already be on your blogroll!) Mr. Tim Daw is a staff member at Stonehenge for English Heritage, and owner of Cannings Cross farms. We’re told he is rather handsome, although of course we wouldn’t know, since we personally are attracted only to Stonehenge and its replicas*.

Clonehenge: What made you decide to build the long barrow? Was there a moment of inspiration, or was this in the back of your mind for a long time?

Tim Daw: It was a moment of inspiration that brought together various long cogitated thoughts; it would be nice to build a barrow for myself, lots of people need a place for cremated urns that is a bit special and has a spiritual quality which is hard to find elsewhere, somewhere to revisit and remember;  WOW! this is a great spot.

Clonehenge: How would you say your long term knowledge of Stonehenge and the nearby landscape of Wiltshire’s distant past affected your inspiration and decisions about the long barrow, its purpose and construction?

Tim Daw: I think it made me want to make it authentic and real but not a copy or pastiche. Using ancient techniques but not bound by play acting reconstruction. And making it worthy to be alongside the other monuments in the area.

The barrow during construction, photo by Paul Robinson

And therein, we think, lies the secret of the fine quality of this barrow. If you have been reading the Clonehenge blog from the beginning (We know you haven’t, but please just play along?), you have heard us talk about the sacred landscapes in Wiltshire, not only Stonehenge, Avebury, and Silbury hill, but cursuses (cursi?), long barrows, round barrows, avenues, and more.

Mr. Daw has been taking this in, dwelling in the midst of it, his whole life, developing a deep respect for the history and the land itself. That relationship reveals itself in the understated excellence of the design and his choice to pay for the finest quality stone work. The barrow is not only a folly and a place to deposit a loved one’s ashes with reverence and permanence. It is, in the best sense, also his gesture to that sacred and legended land that surrounds it and perhaps to those who once did and those who still do revere it.

But hey, what do we know? We’re a humourous blog, much more suited to embarrassingly-shaped vegetables than to that sort of talk! We’re running out of time, so to make a long story short, we say: this is your chance: £1000 pounds to be your own barrow wight seems like a bargain to us! And what if that ancient theory about the solstice sun when it enters the barrow bringing the dead to life turns out to be true? That’s more than your money’s worth, right there.

Sure, this isn’t a Stonehenge replica, but to us it points up the things that make most Stonehenge replicas ridiculous. Stonehenge is an ancient monument which is a unique part of humanity’s deep history, placed in a landscape that still resonates with the reverence of many thousands of years of inhabitants, some of  whose descendants still live there today. No Stonehenge replica, from two upright carrot sticks with a cross carrot on top, to the most carefully accurate full-sized replica, can approach that essence of what Stonehenge is.

But in All Cannings there will now be a long barrow of modern construction that, while it is not a Stonehenge replica in any other sense, may have captured a whiff of the ineffable weight and meaning of Stonehenge both on the land of which it is a part and in the psyches of those for whom Stonehenge and its ancient companions have become an obsession.

Whoever THEY are.

And until next time, friends, happy henging!

*We say things like this because Clonehenge is supposed to be a humourous blog. The truth is, we are, of course, attracted to megaliths of all kinds.

P. S: We did ask Mr. Daw if he was planning to add some Easter Island heads to the property later. He said no, but he might add some gibbets in preparation for The Glorious Day….

Stonehenge replica at Hefei, China (STR/AFP/GettyImages)

This is a new (to us) large permanent replica: number 79 for our list! We thank Hengefinder Extraordinaire Pete Glastonbury for finding it for us—and it’s a good one! This remarkable replica is in the Chinese town of Hefei, associated with a housing development. Hey, who wouldn’t want to live there???

Hefei Stonehenge with high rise backdrop (STR/AFP/GettyImages)

We have posted Chinese replicas in the past, small ones in those parks that are so popular there, with replicas of famous buildings from all over the world. They tend to be unusually well done, sometimes actually resembling Stonehenge itself, something that, oddly, is not that common among Stonehenge replicas.But this has them all beat. If only we knew who designed it, who built it, whose idea it was in the first place, whether it aligns with the sun’s movements, and what it’s made of. But no.

So this is brief. Score: 8 druids! Very well done! The sheer variety of Stonehenge replicas and reasons to build them continues to amaze us. Oh, the humanity! What even are we? Is Stonehenge building the true meaning of life? [hint: But, of course!]

Until next time, friends (and it may not be so long this time), happy henging!

trilithon fountain, photo from the Lanjaron website

There are a few Stonehenge-like sculptures and fountains scattered around the cities of the world, but we hadn’t heard of this one until Mr. Dean Travchav Phillips posted it in the Clonehenge Facebook group. Nice find, we must say! Happily, this brings us to 80 large permanent replicas, and you know what that means, right? It means you live on a planet with an incredible number of Stonehenge-obsessed maniacs! What could be more fun??

We know little about this fountain except that it’s in the center square of Lanjaron in southern Spain, and the name of the sculptor is Ramiro Megías. There is a page about the inauguration of the sculpture/fountain here. Its title is something like Living Fountain, or Fountain of Life, and it is meant to bring together the timelessness of the stone with the moving waters and figures of children, along with the old couple who seem to exemplify lasting love. See a photo from another angle here.

The timeless and the momentary—that’s what we’re all about here at the Clonehenge blog: the timelessness of Stonehenge and the fleeting moment of enjoying that Stonehenge cake; the eternity it takes us to get around to doing a new post and the seconds it takes you to read it and forget it. It’s the balance of life.

Trilithons in a way represent balance, the two sides supporting the lintel evenly to create a structure that has an impact greater than its parts. Maybe that’s part of why people all over the world build Stonehenge replicas. We have records of large permanent Stonehenge replicas on every continent. Wherever modern man goes, Stonehenges follow. It’s a strange phenomenon. Someone should write about it!

We did discover one distressing thing, however. We were looking at available emoji for our iPad keyboard and what did we discover but—AN EASTER ISLAND HEAD!!! No Stonehenge emoji, but they have an Easter Island head (aka moai)? Who ARE these people? We have to find some way to demonstrate that Stonehenge replicas are way more prevalent around the world and in the human psyche than moai. And also get a Stonehenge emoji added to the lexicon, so to speak. Whom do we contact? This needs to happen, and soon!

Luckily, we never lose our focus and wander off topic.

So, until next time, then, henge nerds, happy henging!  (And hang onto your henging hats—because some unprecedented and really fun henging news could be in the offing, taking henging to a whole new level! Stay tuned.)

Littlest Pet Shop/Stonehenge cake, photo used with permission

Stonehenge replicas? You must be weary of us bleating on about them. We’ve decided that for the next few posts we will talk about other, more widely varied things, like a children’s show called Littlest Pet Shop, some handmade glass marbles, the game of crazy golf, and a housing complex in the States, then maybe even a festival dedicated to old time car racing. That should get us out of our rut!

EXCEPT—there’s something that all of those things have in common. What could it possibly be? Hmmm… *drums fingers against head* Oh. Right—the picture at the top may already have given it away: STONEHENGE REPLICAS!!!! Surprise! We’ll bet you weren’t expecting that. Heh.

Yes, people of all gender identities, please observe the picture above. Behold the cake that is a mash-up of the children’s show Littlest Pet Shop and the millennias-old Stonehenge monument! A kawaii cakehenge. Who would do such a thing, you ask? The Ebola virus? A member of Parliament? Kim Jung Un?

No, it was made by a lovely lady called Alycia Maltby, who then posted a picture of it on the Clonehenge Facebook group (as all hengers should. It’s the law, you know.), seemingly with no fear of reprisal! She had two birthdays in her family, her father’s and her niece’s, and she decided to please them both with just one cake. We’re going to assume her niece is a Stonehenge fan, and her father watches Littlest Pet Shop religiously, but we could be wrong.

We confess we have, in the past, suggested the possibility of a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Stonehenge. This is not so far off from that. At first glance, we admit, we thought we glimpsed good old Twilight Sparkle. But this is even more remarkable for being original, and being a cake!

Score: 6 druids! When we started the Clonehenge blog many years ago, it wasn’t because of beautiful Stonehenge models rendered so truly to the real monument that it took our breath away. No, it was the result of having seen a Vienna sausage henge and then a cheese puff henge, and thinking, “All of humanity should see this!!!” (We think with a lot of exclamation  points, okay? Neuro-punctuation experts are even now researching how to extract them.)

To this day we continue to award extra druids for being in the spirit of Clonehenge, and in this case, that more than makes up for the odd, leaning, partial Stonehenge we see before us. Cakes are only so big, after all. All of the work is beautifully done and the flowers and butterflies are, shall we say, the icing on the—er—rather, the cherry on top.

Our thanks to Alycia Maltby, her niece, and her father. May this inspire more, similarly wacky, people!

Don’t forget—we suggested the Godzilla/Hello Kitty mash-up a long time ago, and it’s still up for grabs!

Until next time, friends, happy henging!

Stonehenge of chocolate trilithons by @SchPrehistory

We heard all about that powerful, world famous person going to Stonehenge today, no doubt in search of ancient wisdom. All we want to know is: did he get any chocolate trilithons or other little Stonehenge replicas to take home as gifts? In other words, IS THERE A STONEHENGE REPLICA IN THE WHITE HOUSE???

Is that so much to ask?

Our thanks to Schools Prehistory, @SchPrehistory , for the above henge, made from chocolate trilithons bought at the English Heritage gift shop at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, and for the photo!

Until next time, happy henging—and we mean you, Malia and Sasha!

P. S.: We have since learned that he didn’t go into the shop at all. *SOB*

P. P. S.: It has been pointed out that the original title to this post could be taken in a different way than was EVER intended, so it has been changed. It has been further pointed out that we got one of the girls’ names wrong. Our apologies. Posting quickly is obviously not our forte. We will return to our glacier-slow method of doing posts in the future!

[BTW, here is the official White House video of the Stonehenge visit. Regardless of what you think of this man, he seems to have a feel for the stones.]

Stonehenge in Sussex, at the Goodwood Revival.

A Stonehenge replica was built for the Goodwood Revival, an annual festival of motor racing in the mode racing’s heydey, in the middle of the last century.* We don’t know much about this replica: what it was made of, just whose idea it was, but here is some promotional text from the Goodwood Revival website:

“You can’t just build a full-scale replica of Stonehenge for no reason, so if you can’t build one in the 50th anniversary year of the founding of Britain’s Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids when can you do it at all?

Yes, we’re continuing Goodwood’s tradition of stunning displays and authentic set dressing with the most extreme example to date, in the shape of a magnificent Stonehenge installation at the entrance to the Rolex Drivers’ Club.

Commissioned by Lord March to be larger than the original (for greater visibility as there will be more people at the Goodwood Revival in September than lived in the entire UK 5,000 years ago), the installation will also be a celebration of the pre-historic monument’s 99 years in safe hands, after it was bought at auction in 1915 by Cecil Chubb for £6,600 (£500,000 in today’s money).”

An article published during the Revival said,

“Sussex or Salisbury Plain? When the sun rose this morning you could be forgiven for wondering as the first rays of a beautiful September morning illuminated the famous stones of Stonehenge.

Well it was at least a very fair representation of the world famous monument. Complete with a host of white-robed Druids. And one cardboard cutout of Barack Obama…”

A druid and President Obama, with possibly an altar stone behind them

Druids, but no virgins, at least! The druids were actors, and the cut-out was a reference to the U.S. president’s recent visit to Stonehenge. Listen: do you think this could be a new trend? Where once there were Easter Island heads (called moai) placed in or near Stonehenge replicas, will there now be representations of US President Barack Obama?? Stay tuned. We’ll be monitoring this for you around the clock!

At any rate, having a look at the Stonehenge itself, we see that although the entrance trilithon is much too wide, the stones are realistic, and it appears that the three lintel stretch of the outer circle may have been included. This looks to be an exceptionally good replica as far as it goes—true, no bluestones or inner trilithon horseshoe—but capturing the general shapes and look of the old stones as they have counts for a lot. And as you all know, we have a weakness for the sheer ridiculousness of the druid connection, not to mention a cardboard cutout of, well, anyone, really. That’s new in henging.

Score: 8 druids! We still question whether it is actually larger than the original, but why quibble? The real question is, where is it now?? Was it sold, stored, shipped to the White House? True, probably not, but just think how it would look on the lawn there! Come to think of it, Buckingham Palace could use a Stonehenge… How about Red Square? And who built this? Are they building more? Inquiring minds want to know.

Before we go, the mention of moai reminded us of a crucial but unrelated issue to chew over. How many of you use or have used emoji? You know, those little pictures 🍯 🚀🎩 that people pepper their online conversations with? We have discovered an abominable fact: Apple’s, and perhaps every company’s, emoji include an Easter Island head 🗿, but do not include any kind of Stonehenge image!!! Who makes these choices? We mean, does that seem right to you?? More importantly, how can we get it fixed? Your advice is welcome!

And people say we don’t address important issues on our blog! This is one that’s worth marching in the streets for. But until then, or until the next time, gentle readers, happy henging! 👽

*Thought: wouldn’t the Cursus actually work better for racing?

1996 concrete trilithon replica

We are [please choose one: surprised/confused/incredulous/amused/shocked/spannered] to announce that today is the sixth anniversary of the founding of the Clonehenge blog!

Timothy Daw, BBC Wiltshire’s Karen Gardner, and Julian Richards with the concrete uprights

And to celebrate it, recently renowned Wiltshire farmer and long barrow builder Mr. Timothy Daw, along with well known television presenter and Stonehenge scholar, Mr. Julian Richards, have inaugurated a new and historic project: the resurrection of a 1990s BBC concrete replica Stonehenge trilithon! You can see the original completed concrete trilithon in the photo above.

Truth time: something in the above paragraph is not strictly true. Can you guess?  Okay, yes, it is the assertion that the project had anything at all to do with Clonehenge’s anniversary. It did not. However, it is such a lovely fantasy that we wanted to see it in print. [insert unicorn emoji]

But back to the truth. In the words of the increasingly famous Stonehenge caretaker Tim Daw,

“Twenty years ago Julian Richards led a programme where they dragged and erect a full size replica of the Great Trilithon of Stonehenge. The concrete stones were recently discovered to be in danger of being destroyed and so we have saved them and they are now at All Cannings Cross near the Long Barrow. Next year we hope to remake the programme using neolithic methods to raise it again, and leave it standing.”

The finding and transporting of the pieces of this trilithon has been such an event that BBC Wiltshire actually posted a set of pictures called Replica Stonehenge (!!!) showing the concrete “stones” being moved and transported with crane and lorries. The text reads:

the trilithon pieces at Cannings Cross Farm, photo by Andy Burns

“A replica Stonehenge has been moved across Wiltshire. The giant concrete stones have been transported to Canning Cross Farm near Devizes. Farmer Tim Daw will use them to test the different theories on how the Neolithic monument was put together 4,000 years ago.”

Only a few times in the six years of its existence has the Clonehenge blog covered actual Stonehenge replica news. There was the story of the pink Granite Stonehenge in West Australia, its stones being left at the quarry when the man who commissioned it ran out of money, and its subsequent acquisition by the Beales and installation on their cattle farm; and then of course there was, and remarkably still is, the only full-sized illegal guerilla henge, Achill Henge on Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland. That one was supposed to be taken down immediately, but three years later is still standing!

And now we have this romantic story of the concrete trilithon lying in pieces in a car park since the 1990s, only to be discovered, claimed, and transported, with plans for its resurrection—on the Wiltshire farm of the discoverer of the missing Stonehenge stone parch marks, Stonehenge caretaker, and long barrow builder, the budding megalithic superstar himself, Mister Timothy Daw. (Is it true that he was asked to search for his ancestors on Who Do You Think You Are, where he hoped to discover that he was directly descended from the people who ordered the original Stonehenge built back in the Neolithic, but was dismayed to learn that in fact their most direct living descendant was one Simon Banton, who was of course far too modest and self-effacing to appear on television? Inquiring minds want to know!)

We are looking forward to next year, watching the progress as various transport methods are used to move the concrete stones, and the trials are filmed for television. (By then no doubt Mr. Daw will be forced to stop every few moments to give autographs, which could slow things down a bit. Haha, we certainly hope he is a good sport.) This is a wonderful project, and we thank all involved, for photos, information, and for giving our whole staff here at Clonehenge something to crow about as we complete our sixth year of nonsense. The smiles you see on all three people in the picture above are the smiles that Stonehenge replicas create wherever they are found. We have loved recording them and being party to this odd corner of human nature for so many years! We see no sign that henge building is slowing down or going out of style.

We know we haven’t been posting much here on the blog lately. Some people tell us they no longer have time to read blog posts and they now only track their Stonehenge replica news on our Facebook group, Facebook page, or on Twitter. Of the three, we would have to recommend the Clonehenge Facebook group, because the most action and up-to-the-minute reports take place there. But once in a while we’ll return here to record something special.

And until the next time comes, dear friends, we wish you some very happy henging!

Stonehenge marbles by Chris Inchaos Schiano

We’ve all heard of the remarkable, historic, and controversial Elgin marbles, and lately they’ve been back in the news. But here on the Clonehenge blog we have something far more desirable to show you: the fabulous Stonehenge marbles by Chris Inchaos Schiano! Here is the Stonehenge marbles website. Basically we are going to spam you with photos, quote the artist, and end with a suggestion. Mr. Schiano says of his work:

“Stonehenge Marbles are unique pieces of contemporary art. I hand draw each stone out of glass and encase them to create a permanent miniature replica of the sacred sites. Each marble is a labor of love, which I harness to capture the spirit of the megaliths and the people who envisioned them thousands of years ago.”

A Stonehenge marble, yes, at Stonehenge!

“Every day I learn something new about the stone circle that I try to relay into the glass.”

more marbles

And although these beautiful creations are more than enough, he doesn’t stop at Stonehenge.

Stonehenge and more, trapped in marbles

Above we see: “Stonehenge Past and Present, Avebury, Stones of Stenness, Carnac, The Great Wall of China, Egyptian and Aztec Pyramids, the Parthenon, and [not sure whether to say “sadly” or “of course”!—CH] a Moai.” He has even done a Stonehenge marble with an Easter Island moai hidden in the glass at the bottom, in a fine (?) tradition long established among Stonehenge replica creators! Stonehenge marbles may show the monument either as it currently exists or as it is thought to have been originally.

Stonehenge marble with sunset

Be sure to have a look at this video of a marble that was auctioned off just recently!

*wipes drool from corners of mouth* Heh. Excuse us. That video, tho. There seriously are not enough druids in the world to award for these things.

In closing, we hardly need point out that winter solstice and the Christmas holiday are almost upon us, and we know you’re all wondering what to buy for that hard-to-please but much adored Stonehenge replica blogger on your holiday gift lists. Let us make it easy. Why not order a custom Stonehenge marble (no moai necessary!)? We guarantee it’s bound to please, and think of the satisfaction you will gain from supporting an original artist instead of spending the hundreds you were planning to spend on bric-a-brac. ;-) Everyone wins!

We heartily wish a very happy solstice to all of our readers, and a happy holiday season to everyone. Until the next time, very close and very generous friends, happy henging!

photo by Jill Warvel from this post of 4 years ago

Just a quick post to thank all of our readers and to wish you the very best in the year to come! May the winter solstice and all of the holiday season bring you many delights and few aggravations, and may the year to come bring you many many henges!

And of course, much happy henging. Now party on, and you know what to do with the extra cheese!

cheesehenge on Tumblr

You’re drunk, right? And there’s cheese, right? Make a freakin’ cheesehenge, okay?!

Then send it to us when you’re sober. We love you! Happy henging and shine on, you crazy hengers!

knitted Stonehenge by Toogood Knits

Hello, friends! Yes, it’s vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere already and we haven’t posted on this blog since New Year’s. Go ahead, tell us how YOU’VE done everything YOU should have done since then. What’s that? We’re listening, but we can’t hear you? Okay, then.

At any rate, our absence here does not mean that nothing has been happening in the glamourous world of Stonehenge replicas. Au contraire! (See? Glamourous!) On Twitter and Facebook, many Stonehenge replicas, new and old, have been posted and admired. We thought we would post a few recent favourites here for those who still actually read blogs. Nostalgic for when people used to read, are you? The Clonehenge staff admires your old-school dedication!*

So behold: a wooden henge in a Liverpool park, made by John Merrill and John Ayling.

wooden henge in Liverpool’s Princes Park

A food-safe Stonehenge mold on Etsy, for fondant, chocolate, or candy henges, made by Michele B. Brosseau!

Stonehenge food-safe silicone mold from Etsy

An icehenge, built on a frozen lake in the northern U.S. by Drew McHenry, Kevin Lehner, Quinn Williams, Alec Niedringhaus and Patrick Shields.

Rock Lake Icehenge, in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, USA, photo by Eli Wedel

And then, of course, there are the many foodhenges, of which this melon henge is but an example. We’ve seen cakehenges, a beefhenge, and others including that old favourite, the sconehenge.

melonhenge from the blog Keep It Up, David

So, although our blog posts are sporadic, the world’s bizarre obsession with making Stonehenge replicas has not abated, and reports of them are still pouring in! If you can’t be at Stonehenge itself for the equinox/eclipse celebration this year, we suggest making your own Stonehenge and celebrating with friends. It’s the same earth, the same sun as they’ll have at Stonehenge, with less crowding, less noise, and less trash. And you know where to send the pictures!

Our thanks to all who have posted Stonehenge replicas where we could see them or who sent us emails or messages alerting us to them. A very happy equinox to all and until next time (and the Stones only know when that will be) we wish everyone out there some very happy henging!

*(We realise that you’ve given up reading and gone on to another blog by now, but it’s the thought that counts!)

(Warning: this is NOT A REPLICA !) Stonehenge photo by Pete Glastonbury, used with permission. 

Well, the word is out, so we may as well say it here: the entire staff of Clonehenge.com is headed for the UK and, against the justifiable objections of everyone at English Heritage (probably), will be visiting Stonehenge itself in early June!

Despite the well-known dangers of brain infection that we have documented here on this blog for many years, we have decided that, for the sake of the future of mankind and, indeed, of the entire planet and all of its living things, it is nothing short of our duty to investigate the source of the contagion that is spreading little Stonehenges across the globe. So on an undisclosed day in the next few weeks, we will don our hazmat suits, or possibly a mack and Wellies, and approach the dreaded structure that so many foolish and unsuspecting tourists willingly view in the course of a year.

Thank you. Thank you. Yes, we deserve that thundering applause for our courage and self-sacrifice, but of course we are far too modest to admit it! We are, it is true, still awaiting our funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as our funding from the World Health Organisation, but we’re certain they will come through.

Miniature Stonehenge Model in a Tin, as sold at the Visitor Centre

While there we hope to investigate stories we’ve heard of numerous Stonehenge replicas, large and small, sold at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, including a particularly close inspection of certain chocolate trilithons of which we have been hearing ominous rumours!

Stonehenge of chocolate trilithons by @SchPrehistory on Twitter

Is it possible that EH or certain shadowy figures associated with the World Heritage Site are complicit in the plot to cover the earth with bad Stonehenge replicas by bringing in millions of tourists to contaminate their minds and then have them take home contagious gifts to families and friends? To find out the truth, we will stop at nothing, even including eating chocolate! It is a tough assignment, but we reluctantly and humbly accept it.

While in the environs, we hope to see other Stonehenge replicas and possibly Avebury and Silbury replicas, too. And the real ones as well. We will report back to our vast but quiet (very very quiet, but we know you’re out there! You are, aren’t you?) fandom.

So wish us luck in our hazardous endeavour. If you never hear from us again, well, you may assume we’re just being as lazy as always!

Until next time, gentle readers, happy henging!

bananahenge by petrija dos santos

Greetings! Long time no post. The Clonehenge staff have returned from our journey to the wilds of Salisbury Plain, among other similarly exotic spots, and have pictures and thoughts to share. In the meantime, however, we received this remarkable foodhenge photo from the artist, Toronto food photographer, Petrija Dos Santos, and decided you need to see it.

What a work! Let us tell you some of the ways in which this was done right. For this we need to post an aerial view of the Real Thing, which you can see below. Looking at it, we think it’s possible the artist herself may have gone by this picture when setting up the bananas.

Note how the inner trilithon horseshoe faces the longest lintelled stretch of the outer circle. Note how even fallen stones are, for the most part, represented. Note the care in stone/banana placement. Note how the sunset light is mimicked so as to create relatively accurate shadows of the banana stones! The henge and photograph were created by someone who was Paying Attention. Well done. (And of course the most important course of action this henger took was to SEND THE PHOTO TO THE CLONEHENGE BLOG!!! No henge is complete without this final step. You can find us on Twitter and Facebook.) The absolute ridiculousness of making a Stonehenge from cut bananas is cancelled out by the seriousness with which the project has been approached.

Well, almost.

At any rate, we give this henge 7 druids out of ten! Dos Santos has set the bar for those who would build the foodhenges of the future!!

We have pictures of a number of Stonehenge replicas of various sizes in store for you, mostly from the Stonehenge gift shop, so new posts may actually happen in the next month, well, next few months. Okay, maybe by winter solstice. But for now we thank you for reading, and wish all of you some very happy henging! And be sure to send us pictures!!

aerial view of Stonehenge

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 replicas: Clonehenge dream or Clonehenge nightmare??

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 pink beads! Is this meant for little girls???

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

miniature Stonehenge at Aiins World in South Korea, posted with permission from Saranghae Korea

Thought we might put up a quick post for old times’ sake. We passed our seventh anniversary earlier this month, and in those seven years the world has become ever more filled with Stonehenge replicas, some might say to an alarming degree. Here on the official blog we have not kept up, but posts continue on the Clonehenge group and a related group for and by hengers themselves called the Will It Henge group on Facebook. We hope to feature an interview with a crazed dedicated henger from that group in the near future!

Today, however, we feature a new permanent henge, large enough, we think, to make our large permanent replica list, in South Korea. It is part of the Aiins World miniature park, another of those parks that feature miniature models of famous landmarks from around the world. We can’t tell from this picture just how miniature this is, but it appears to be a few feet high, and that’s good enough for us. We hereby declare it large and permanent! Our thanks to Saranghae Korea for permission to post the photo.

Stonehenge at Del Pino Golf and Resort

But now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about South Korea for a moment. We posted the Paju City Stonehenge at a pretend English town in South Korea on this blog years ago. We have heard rumours of a Stonehenge in the centre of the hotel complex at Del Pino Golf and Resort in Goseong-gun. That one looks very nice, but no explanation has been forthcoming.

And there is another, well, actually just a trilithon, but Stonehenge-like enough to satisfy us, in Gang-hwa goindolgun (photo at link). Gang-hwa goindolgun has other megalithic replicas, including an alignment like Carnac. We would definitely visit this place! This makes four Stonehenges in South Korea, that we know of! Is there something going on over there that we should know about??? Why all the Stonehenges, South Korea? This makes it the Stonehenge capital of Asia, much as Germany is for Europe. Well done, we must say!

We’re sure there are Stonehenge replicas and models we have yet to learn about. Not everyone in the world has been alerted to the importance and supremacy of the Clonehenge blog when it comes to reporting Stonehenge sightings. Please help us out by telling people to submit their information and pictures to us on the Clonehenge Twitter and/or the Clonehenge Facebook Group! We can’t emphasise to you enough just how important this is!*

Meanwhile, South Korea has quietly been doing its part. Let yourself be inspired to take up the banner. What could there be but peace and respect in a world full of Stonehenge replicas?

*because, to be honest, it is actually not all that important.