Julian Richards at the Town Hall Monday 6th June

Stonehenge: old rocks, new discoveries

It is easy to believe having worked at Stonehenge since 1980 your enthusiasm might fall especially when it is impossible to verify any hypothesis for the iconic stones existence. Not so with Julian Richards, bubbling with enthusiasm, the engaging author of the official guide to Stonehenge enthralled an audience of 150 at his Devizes Arts Festival talk last week.

Identifying advances in technologies such as electromagnetic imaging and carbon dating enabling accurate data Julian debated theories for Stonehenge’s purpose - a place of death or of healing: the certainty that the sarsens came from near Marlborough whereas the blue stones from the Preseli Hills could have originally formed another monument elsewhere in Wales. Explaining the lack of evidence to prove the relocation of blue stones within Stonehenge or interaction with Durrington Walls enabled Julian to intrigue his audience.

This was a splendid talk and made it a must to view all the best finds now housed in the Wiltshire Museum.

Mike Sanders