Stonehenge, Bath and Lacock
Stonehenge, Bath and Lacock
My trip to Europe in July was not all about cars, I also visited Stonehenge in the South West of England, located near Salisbury in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside.
I travelled from London to Bath, Lacock and final stop was the mysterious Stonehenge where I arrived as the last tourists were asked to leave, giving me the opportunity to walk around and take some peaceful photos.
My first visit to Stonehenge was a long time ago so it was really good getting back there for some photos. I’ve always been intrigued by the rocks and seeing it all empty was magical and felt supernatural.
Bath
The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis (“the waters of Sulis”) by the Romans in AD 43, although verbal tradition suggests that Bath was known before then. They built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills of Bath in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs. Edgar was crowned king of England at Bath Abbey in 973. Much later, it became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone.
Lacock
Lacock is a village in Wiltshire, England, 5 km from the town of Chippenham. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust, and attracts many visitors by virtue of its unspoiled appearance. As Lacock still looks like a village from the olden days it gets used for quite a few films. The most famous films to use Lacock in recent times has been the Harry Potter films and Pride and Prejudice. Lacock Abbey’s cloisters and side rooms were transformed into the classrooms at Hogwarts School while the location was also used for Harry’s discovery of the Mirror of Erised. Professor Slughorn’s house can be found in Lacock as well.
If you feel like staying in a haunted Bed & Breakfast, you can stay at The Sign of the Angel. The Sign of the Angel , is said to be haunted by an elderly woman. This gentle phantom, who is thought to be a previous owner, has suddenly appeared in front of a carpet fitter, who is said to of fled the Inn in shock. Also this elderly woman could be the same ghost which has been seen sat at a table in the Angel.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is surely Britain’s greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance. Its original purpose is unclear to us, but some have speculated that it was a temple made for the worship of ancient earth deities. It has been called an astronomical observatory for marking significant events on the prehistoric calendar. Others claim that it was a sacred site for the burial of high-ranking citizens from the societies of long ago.
While we can’t say with any degree of certainty what it was for, we can say that it wasn’t constructed for any casual purpose. Only something very important to the ancients would have been worth the effort and investment that it took to construct Stonehenge.
The question of who built Stonehenge is largely unanswered, even today. The monument’s construction has been attributed to many ancient peoples throughout the years, but the most captivating and enduring attribution has been to the Druids. This erroneous connection was first made around 3 centuries ago by the antiquary, John Aubrey. Julius Caesar and other Roman writers told of a Celtic priesthood who flourished around the time of their first conquest (55 BC). By this time, though, the stones had been standing for 2,000 years, and were, perhaps, already in a ruined condition. Besides, the Druids worshipped in forest temples and had no need for stone structures.
The best guess seems to be that the Stonehenge site was begun by the people of the late Neolithic period (around 3000 BC) and carried forward by people from a new economy which was arising at this time. These “new” people, called Beaker Folk because of their use of pottery drinking vessels, began to use metal implements and to live in a more communal fashion than their ancestors. Some think that they may have been immigrants from the continent, but that contention is not supported by archaeological evidence. It is likely that they were indigenous people doing the same old things in new ways. – see Britannia History for more details about Stonehenge.
