Heel Stone - Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK
N 51° 10.759 W 001° 49.521
30U E 582105 N 5670422
The Heel Stone, located outside of the main circle of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, has its own entry on Wikipedia
Waymark Code: WMTATJ
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/24/2016
Views: 11
The world-famous Bronze Age monument at Stonehenge, a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site, is majestic, mysterious, and magnetic, all at the same time.
The exact meaning of the place is still being uncovered by archaeologists using the latest tools, but what is known points to an ancient temple and burial ground, aligned with the summer and winter solstices.
On the morning of the summer solstice, the sun rises over the Heel Stone when viewed from the center of Stonehenge. The Heel stone is part of the outer circle of Stonehenge. Here is a video of that magical moment: (
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From Wikipedia: (
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"The Heel Stone
The Heel Stone is a single large block of sarsen stone standing within the Avenue outside the entrance of the Stonehenge earthwork, close to the main road (Highways Agency A344). In section it is sub-rectangular, with a minimum thickness of 2.4 metres, rising to a tapered top about 4.7 metres high. Excavation has shown that a further 1.2 metres is buried in the ground. It is 77.4 metres from the centre of Stonehenge circle. It leans towards the Southwest (pictured view) nearly 27 degrees from the vertical. The stone has an overall girth of 7.6 metres and weighs about 35 tons.
Myths and legends of the Devil striking a "Friar's Heel" with a stone resulted in its eccentric name, Heel Stone. Some claim "Friar's Heel" is a corruption of "Freyja's He-ol" or "Freyja Sul", from the Nordic goddess Freyja and (allegedly) the Welsh words for "way" and "Sunday" respectively.[citation needed] It is doubtful whether any prehistoric standing stone has experienced as many name changes and interpretations.[citation needed] Only in the past three decades have scientists used the name Heel Stone consistently."