a singular and gigantic remnant of antiquity, consisting of enormous stones, in an upright or horizontal position, in Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, about 2 miles W. of Amesbury, and 9 N. of Salisbury. When seen from a distance its appearance is somewhat insignificant, on account of its position on a wide, unbroken plain; and even when close at hand, it requires some careful examination before its magnitude can be fully appreciated. It is the prevailing opinion among antiquarians that Stonehenge owes its origin to the Druids, and it has attracted much attention, as it is of great extent, and in some respects very different from other remains of the same general character. The plain in which it stands is covered with a great number of mounds or barrows, many of them containing ancient British remains. Stonehenge itself is enclosed by a double mound or ditch, circular in form; and there is an avenue or approach leading from the north-east, and bounded on each side by a similar mound and ditch. The outer mound is 15 feet high, the ditch nearly 30 feet broad, the whole 1009 feet in circumference, and the avenue 594 yards long. The whole fabric consists of 2000 circles and two ovals. The outer circle is about 108 feet in diameter, consisting, when entire, of 60 stones, 30 uprights and 30 imposts, of which remain only 24 uprights, 17 standing and 7 down, 3 feet asunder, and 8 imposts. Eleven uprights have 5 imposts on them by the grand entrance. These stones are from 13 to 20 feet high. The smaller circle is somewhat more than 8 feet from the inside of the outer one, and consisted of about 30 smaller stones (the highest 6 feet), of which only 19 remain, and only 11 standing: the walk between these two circles is 300 feet in circumference. The central portion is an oval formed of 10 stones (from 16 to 22 feet high), in pairs, with imposts, which Dr Stukeley calls trilithons, and each pair separate, and not connected as the stones in the outer circle are. Within these were a number of smaller single stones, of which only 6 are standing. At the upper end of the adytum is the altar, a large slab of blue coarse marble, 20 inches thick, 16 feet long, and 4 broad; pressed down by the weight of the vast stones that have fallen upon it. The whole number of stones, when the structure was complete, is calculated to have been about 140. Many of the stones have been more or less hewn, and they appear to have been brought from Marlborough Downs, 15 or 16 miles off, as they appear to be of the same hardness, grain, and colour, generally reddish, with the Gray Weathers still found there. The heads of oxen, deer, and other beasts, have been found on digging in and about Stonehenge, and human bodies have also been discovered in the circumjacent barrows. There are three entrances from the plain to this structure, the most considerable of which is from the north-east, and at each of them were raised on the outside of the trench two huge stones, with two smaller within, parallel to them.

It has been long a dispute among the learned, by what people and for what purpose these enormous stones were collected and arranged. The first account of the structure we meet with is in Geoffrey of Monmouth, who, in the reign of King Stephen, wrote the history of the Britons in Latin. He tells us that it was erected by the counsel of Merlin, the British enchanter, at the command of Aurelius Ambrosius, the last British king, in memory of 460 Britons who were murdered by Hengist the Saxon. The next account is that of Polydore Vergil, who says that the Britons erected this as a sepulchral monument of Aurelius Ambrosius. But other writers in the 12th century discredit all these accounts; and it appears that even at that early time all knowledge of its origin and intention had passed away. Inigo Jones is of opinion that it was a Roman temple, from a stone, 16 feet long and 4 broad, placed in an exact position to the eastward, altar-fashion. Dr Charlton attributed it to the Danes, who were two years masters of Wiltshire. Many other theories have been since propounded, and supported with more or less ingenuity and plausibility; but in a matter so obscure little more than a probable conjecture of the truth can be hoped for. It seems most likely that Stonehenge was erected by the ancient Britons for solemn religious rites; and from the art displayed in its construction, it could not have been much earlier than the time of the Roman conquest. In the vicinity of Stonehenge are the remains of what seems to have been an ancient race-course; and as in early times the public games were generally connected with religious celebrations, it is highly probable that this was in connection with the temple at Stonehenge.