Stonehenge Restorations

Over the centuries, various attempts have been made to show how Stonehenge may have looked originally. Most of these have been accomplished only on paper. One of the earliest dates to the sixteenth century.

STONHING, 1575 (print by "R.F.")

The rustic quality of the 16th-century restoration, was transformed by the architect Inigo Jones in the 17th century into a model of order and precision. Incapable of thinking that Druids could have been responsible for such an imposing structure, Jones identified Stonehenge as a Roman Temple and 'restored' it accordingly.

Inigo Jones, 'Stonehenge Restored' (1655)

Later in the 17th century, John Aubrey argued that Stonehenge had indeed been built by the Druids, an opinion supported in the 18th century by William Stukeley. Stukeley's desription of Stonehenge, and Avebury as Druidic Temples, caught the popular imagination.

Druidic Festival at Stonehenge (colored Italian engraving, 1820)