Solstice

At Stonehenge on the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone in the north-east part of the horizon and its first rays shine into the heart of Stonehenge.

Observers at Stonehenge at the winter solstice, standing in the enclosure entrance and facing the centre of the stones, can watch the sun set in the south-west part of the horizon.

Winter Solstice 2020

Winter Solstice sunset and sunrise to be live streamed from Stonehenge

Owing to the pandemic, and in the interests of public health, there will be no Winter Solstice gathering at Stonehenge this year. The Winter Solstice sunset and sunrise will instead be live-streamed from the stones on the evening of 20 December and the morning of the 21 December. It will be easy and free to watch on the English Heritage social media channels.

We know how appealing it is to come to Stonehenge for Winter Solstice but we are asking everyone to stay safe and to watch the sunset and sunrise online instead. We look forward to welcoming people back for solstice next year.

LIVE! See the skies above Stonehenge

The Skyscape website has been created by English Heritage to enable people around the world to experience the skies above the iconic stone circle, to learn about movements of the sun, moon and planets and to see the solar alignment at Stonehenge

Aside from the technical and informational aspects of Skyscape it’s also our hope that you’ll enjoy it from a more human perspective. We’ve created a webpage which offers a small escape, a pleasant place to visit, to which you can return frequently, even within a single day, and connect with the land, the stones and the skies above.

GO TO SKYSCAPE

Winter Solstice

The stones of Stonehenge have silently marked the winter solstice for thousands of years.

Find out what the winter solstice is and why our ancestors might have built this extraordinary monument

Find out more

Summer Solstice

Find out more about the importance of the solstice axis at Stonehenge and what else we have learnt about the alignment of the stones.

Find out more