STONEHENGE

We explore key moments in the history of the Neolithic marvel and its impact on British culture over the past two centuries

- PAUL BLOOMFIELD

CENTRE OF ATTENTION, C1830 

From the 17th century, some four millennia after the great stone monument was erected on Salisbury Plain, it was increasingly visited by antiquarians such as John Aubrey who studied the site in 1666 - and tourists. This soldier was painted amid the huge sarsens and bluestones c1830.

ROYAL REVIEW, 1877

The advent of the railways made access to Stonehenge easier, bringing more visitors. These included Prince Leopold, Queen Victoria's son, pictured reclining during a picnic (centre, looking at camera) in 1877 the same year Charles Darwin undertook experiments within the stone circle.

FIRST FLIGHTS, 1911

In 1897, the War Office bought a huge swathe of land on Salisbury Plain, and military activity is ever-present around Stonehenge to this day. An airfield was built at nearby Durrington Down (renamed Larkhill) in 1909. Two years later - around the time this photograph was taken - the first British military aeroplane unit, No 2 (Aeroplane) Company of the Royal Engineers Air Battalion, was formed at Larkhill.

REVIVING ANCIENT RITES, 1930

The Romantic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries sparked a revival of interest in Iron Age beliefs - or what modern people thought prehistoric folk believed. Druid organisations emerged, and members came to Stonehenge, particularly at the summer solstice (20 or 21 June). The self-professed druids in this picture are worshipping the Sun at the Heel Stone on the 1930 solstice.

THE HENGE CHANGES HANDS, 1915