Bluestonehenge Archaeological Site

Address: Near Fargo Wood / Durrington Walls, Amesbury, Wiltshire; visible from public footpaths

Admission: Free (site on Salisbury Plain; access via public footpaths). Guided tours of Stonehenge pay; Bluestonehenge itself has no formal entrance fee.

Bluestonehenge is a prehistoric stone setting near Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, identified by archaeologists in 2009. It consists of a ring of stone-holes and features interpreted as a bluestone circle or setting.

The visible remains are primarily a ring of pits and post-holes marking where stones once stood rather than intact standing stones. The feature has an approximate diameter of 10 metres and sits close to the River Avon and the approach route to Stonehenge.

Archaeological excavation in 2009 revealed the ring of pits and associated prehistoric deposits. Radiocarbon dates and stratigraphy place its use in the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age, and some researchers have suggested its stones may have been removed and reused elsewhere in the Stonehenge complex.

The site lies on the Avon floodplain near the Durrington Walls area, roughly 1.5 km south-east of the Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire.

• Discovery and setting: Excavated as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2009, revealing a ring of stone-holes and related features. The site lies on the River Avon floodplain about 1.5 km south-east of Stonehenge.

Bluestonehenge lies on Salisbury Plain near Durrington Walls, Wiltshire. Access is on foot from the A345 and the Stonehenge visitor routes; the site is visible from public footpaths along the River Avon. Nearest towns: Amesbury (4-6 km) and Salisbury (12 km).

• Walk from the A345 car park near Durrington Walls for the best access - the site is beside the River Avon and marked by interpretive signs.
• Visit at dawn or dusk when photographic light softens the chalkland and river reflections; mid-day brings contractors and school groups.
• Don't confuse Bluestonehenge with the main Stonehenge circle - it's a fragmentary site of stone settings and buried pits, best appreciated slowly.