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| Stone Formation Archive 2003 |
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 Stone Formations news, views, gallery and archive brought to you by Weird Wiltshire Introduction Latest News News Archive Stonehenge Stonehenge Project Stonehenge 360 Avebury Saviours Stones Village Solstice Wayland Smithy Long Barrow Woodhenge Gallery Summer Solstice Gallery 2002 Summer Solstice Gallery 2004 Postcards Wallpaper Links  |
First
published April 16 2003 WORK at one of Avebury's 4,500-year-old giant standing stones has revealed it to be 25 tons heavier than originally thought. 
It is one of the two tilting stones that are currently being excavated
for the first time by engineers working for the National Trust.
The Trust had been planning to straighten both the stones - known as
Adam and Eve.But digging as revealed that the larger of the two stones extends nine feet into the ground - twice as much as was originally thought. That means the 18-foot high stone, which weighs more than 100 tons, no longer needs to be straightened The smaller of the two stones also extends further into the ground than was originally thought. It weighs around 40 tons and goes down about five feet into the ground - also about twice as deep as was expected. Straightening work on that stone is currently being carried out using scaffolding and hydraulic jacks. Although many of the Avebury standing stones were moved in the 1930s these two have been untouched. In recent years they have had to be roped off because they are tilting and it was feared they could topple over at any time. Work to excavate and straighten them began at the start of this month. National Trust site manager Rob Mimmack said: "There is no need to move the larger of the two stones because it so deep in the ground. "We are just going to fix it in a lime cement mix. "The other stone will still have to be straightened out - using two big jacks we will gently push it into an upright position. "The reason it is tilting is because the foundations have been weakened by building over the last 300 years. "We are taking measurements at the moment and hopefully when these are analysed they will tell us a lot more about these stones." He said the once the work is complete the ropes will be removed allowing members of the public to get a close up look at the two standing stones for the first time in six years. Back to 2003 index |
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