Woodhenge Plaque

This object is an unusual one. It is modern, and it is now stolen. More accurately, this is a pair of objects – two bronze plaques with coloured enamelled details – beautifully made in the 1920s to help visitors interpret the site of Woodhenge in the Stonehenge WHS. They were placed at the site by the Ministry of Works who then cared for the monument, and as can be seen from the photos, were prised from their concrete plinth and stolen in November 2015.Woodhenge is one of the best places – along with Stonehenge itself – to understand the astronomical importance of the WHS, and what the heavens meant to the prehistoric peoples who built these monuments. The horizons around it are still relatively clear and unobscured, and it is easy to imagine what the rising midsummer sun and the setting midwinter sun meant to the original builders. These missing objects helped modern day visitors to understand the importance of these prehistoric ceremonial sites in relation to the heavens. Caption: Amanda Chadburn