What is a Henge?
Some of the most iconic Neolithic sites in England are henges, but what actually is a henge?
Spend time flicking through the English Heritage handbook or website and sooner or later you’ll come across a site described as a ‘henge’.
Access to most of these sites is free, but at first glance, you might not actually see very much. But look again. Henges are some of the earliest and most intriguing monuments you can spot in the English landscape and they’re definitely worth exploring. In this article author and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota tells us exactly what to expect from a henge.
A henge by definition
A henge is a prehistoric circular or oval earthen enclosure, dating from around 3000 BC to 2000 BC, during the Neolithic (also known as the new Stone Age) and early Bronze Age.
There are fewer than 100 henges still surviving across Britain and Ireland, although it’s very likely that there were originally more. The key feature of every henge is a ring-shaped bank on the outside and a ring-shaped ditch on the inside that mark out a central, circular area. Some henges have multiple rings of bank-and-ditch, and some have additional structures (like standing stones or timber posts) inside the henge earthwork. They all have openings, or ‘causeways’ that pass through the earthwork circuits into the central circle. If there are two causeways, they often face one another across the circle.
Most henges are somewhere between 20m and 100m in diameter, but there are a few monster exceptions known as ‘superhenges’, like Durrington Walls and Avebury, both in Wiltshire.
The term ‘henge’ actually derives from Britain’s most famous prehistoric monument, Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, where lintel stones balance across pairs of verticals, forming what are known as trilithons (tri- three, lith- stone). ‘Henge’ is possibly an Old English word for ‘hanging’ or ‘suspended’, and the common interpretation is that the name means ‘the Hanging Stones’, referring to the huge lintels suspended in space.
Stonehenge's lintel stones forming a trilithon
Stonehenge's lintel stones forming a trilithon
Ironically, even though Stonehenge has an earthwork circle around it (the earliest phase of the monument), it isn’t officially a ‘proper’ henge, as the main ditch is external to the main bank. It has to make do with being a ‘proto-henge’.
Images: Henges seen at Arbor Low in Derbyshire and Avebury and Stonehenge in Wiltshire all © Historic England
What was life like back then?
This was a time when people were farming, and mostly living in small settlements in extended family groups. The weather was similar to our modern climate, and people successfully raised cattle, sheep and pigs, grew crops including barley, and foraged for wild plants too.
They had pottery, and stone, bone, antler and wooden tools, and people were accomplished at making textiles from plant fibres and leather. Much of life was focused on the immediate landscape and the annual cycle of seasonal farming, but we know that at least some people were travelling long distances, as we know that some of the animal bones found at Durrington Walls, a henge near Stonehenge, were from animals not raised on the local chalk geology.
There was no currency system at this time, so trading may have been based on dowry or marriage exchange, direct exchange for other valued goods or slaves, or through a more ritualised gift-giving network.
Although we can piece together a fair amount of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of people’s lives and livelihoods, it’s much harder to get into the spiritual mind of the ancestors. It’s one of the reasons henge sites are so intriguing.
Images: Reconstructions of Durrington Walls and Avebury stone circle © Historic England
What were henges for?
We don’t really know. Because the ditch sits inside the bank, it seems pretty clear that they weren’t defensive structures, designed to keep people out. Perhaps they were designed to keep things in, but whether that’s for practical purposes or something more mystical and spiritual, we can’t be sure. The effort to hand dig these structures is significant, so they must have been important.
Archaeological excavations often reveal deposits in the henge ditches, particularly at the ‘terminals’ – where the ends of the ditches meet the causeways. Archaeologists have found deer antlers that have been used as pick axes (probably to dig the ditch itself), animal bones, pottery, flint tools and pottery – both complete vessels and broken pieces. These might not all be intentional ‘offerings’ but some of them certainly are.
It seems most likely that henges were ceremonial spaces. Maybe the earthwork marks out a special area, perhaps where spirits or ancestors reside, or where only certain people can go. Perhaps we should imagine the henge as a site for ritual or ceremonial performances – dancing, dispensing justice, conducting sacrifices, initiation or death rites. Or perhaps we should imagine bawdy get-togethers where people got drunk and had feasts, as well as performing important rites. As you can tell, we don’t have all the answers, but the questions are definitely worth pondering while you explore.
Images: Offerings being placed in the ditch of the henge at Stonehenge and reconstruction of Woodhenge by Peter Dunn both © Historic England and West Kennet Long Barrow at Avebury © Judith Dobie and Historic England
Unearthing the secrets of a henge
Explore a henge now, and you’ll usually be looking at a site that’s been built and modified for generations, and then had some 4,000 years to fade back into the landscape. The most diminished will now only be visible as cropmarks. This means there are no remaining earthworks, but the disturbance to the underlying soil structure makes modern vegetation grow differently. You won’t be able to spot cropmarks from the ground, but have a look at the satellite photo layer on a mapping app.
The earthworks of the henge around Knowlton Church in Dorset © Historic England
The earthworks of the henge around Knowlton Church in Dorset © Historic England
If you visit a surviving henge, remember that originally the ditches would have been deeper, with sharper edges, the banks would have been higher, and the causeways would have been much clearer. Follow the line of any earthworks, and look for places where the ditch seems to stop – this may be because a later feature has cut into it, or it may be one of the original causeway entrances. See if you can work out the alignment of the causeways, and look out at the wider landscape – does it seem like the henge has been positioned in reference to high ground, watercourses or any other natural or archaeological features in the landscape? Don’t be distracted by the modern lines of footpaths and gates.
There may be immediately intriguing features too. Stanton Drew in Somerset, Avebury in Wiltshire, and Arbor Low in Derbyshire have arrangements of stones within and around the earthwork henges, as well as evidence of timber structures. How different elements of these sites worked together continues to be investigated. See if you can identify any alignments, and explore whether these additional features change how you move around or see into the henge enclosure.
Images: Henges at Avebury and Stonehenge © Historic England
Later people may have also honoured henge sites too, perhaps trying to claim the power of the ancient monument, or make sense of it. The most arresting example of this is at Knowlton Church and Earthworks in Dorset, where a medieval parish church was built right in the middle of an enormous Neolithic henge.
The relationship with the wider landscape is important too. Woodhenge in Wiltshire has a fascinating relationship with its more famous cousin, Stonehenge, two miles away. Concrete posts now indicate where rings of vast timbers stood, encircled by a modest henge earthwork. At the centre of the site, the remains of a three-year-old child were buried. Woodhenge isn’t a perfect circle – it’s a slight oval, with its axis aligned to the sunrise and sunset. Next door, there’s the Durrington Walls ‘superhenge’, which is now looked after by the National Trust. Durrington enclosed similar timber monuments aligned with sunrise.
‘If you follow the River Avon from Woodhenge, you reach the Avenue earthwork that leads to Stonehenge. The stones at Stonehenge are aligned perfectly for midwinter sunset. We can’t be sure, but it’s possible that people began ceremonies and rituals at Durrington Walls and Woodhenge at midwinter’s dawn, then travelled along the river, and concluded their rites at Stonehenge at midwinter sunset.
Map of Stonehenge, Woodhenge and Durrington Walls © English Heritage
Map of Stonehenge, Woodhenge and Durrington Walls © English Heritage
It’s intriguing to imagine that this essential relationship between summer and winter, day and night, light and dark, life and death, may be the underlying logic to all henge monuments.
Images: The henge at Knowlton Church and Earthworks © Historic England and Woodhenge and Durrington Walls © Damian Grady and Historic England
About the Author
Mary-Ann Ochota is a broadcaster and author who specialises in archaeology and anthropology. She has written two books Hidden Histories: A Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape, which was shortlisted for Current Archaeology’s Book of the Year Award, and Secret Britain: Unearthing Our Mysterious Past.
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