Back to the Neolithic at Stonehenge

Over the past five months, a 60-strong team of English Heritage volunteers built the houses using authentic local materials – weaving hundreds of hazel rods through the main supporting stakes, thatching the roofs with wheat-straw, and covering the walls with a daub of chalk, hay and water.

The re-created houses are based on the remains of Neolithic houses discovered during excavations in 2006 and 2007 at Durrington Walls, a large ceremonial earthwork enclosure just over a mile to the north-east of Stonehenge. Radio-carbon dating showed that the buildings were built at around the same time as the large sarsen stones were being put up at Stonehenge in, approximately, 2,500 BC.

Pre-booked timed tickets are essential for group visits. Advance booking is also required for individual visitors, who can book online at www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge.

FIVE re-created Neolithic houses have opened at Stonehenge, revealing the type of homes the builders of the ancient monument might have lived in 4,500 years ago.

The houses are the latest phase in the major programme by English Heritage to improve both the setting around the monument and the overall experience of visitors to Stonehenge. They sit alongside the new visitor centre and are furnished with replica Neolithic axes, pottery and other artefacts. 

Stonehenge manager Kate Davies says: ‘The houses help visitors re-connect the ancient stones with the people that lived and worked in the surrounding landscape. They can step through the door of the houses and get a sense of what everyday life might have been like when Stonehenge was built.’





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