The Ancient Peoples of Britain
One of the most underwhelming things I have seen is Stonehenge. All the pictures, videos, and accounts that I have heard have made it out to truly be this grand spectacle. When visitors arrive they have to park quite a ways away at the visitor's centre. then either walk or take one of the free shuttles to the site itself. When you get to the site, off in the distance you can see it on a slight hill overlooking all the green fields around it. At first it seems like it will be large and magnificent, instead, it is small, both in height and in width. Visitors can't walk through the stones themselves because of conservationists wanting to keep it intact for future generations. Visually, the site is not what I was expecting, but historically it holds true to being one of the Man-Made Wonders of the ancient world.
Historians are unsure how exactly Stonehenge was built. They think that the ancient peoples of the area built ut in order to worship the sun. At the Summer and Winter Solstices, the sun lines up perfectly in between the spaces of the stones. The site has been dated back to 3000 BCE and the stones have been said to come from Wales. Experts think that the stones were cut in Wales and rolled by logs to England, where they used ropes and manpower to put the stones upright. Archaeologists believe that there have been multiple building phases of the site dating over thousands of years, though they have conclusive evidence on how or why the site was built. It is one of the great mysteries of history. Not only does Stonehenge suggest that the ancient peoples of Britain were capable of amazing feats of creation, it also shows that they expected to be permanent residents.
In 42 AD, the Romans came into the British Isles and conquered them. In an area we now know as Bath, they found a natural hot spring. The local Celts in the area worshipped their goddess Sulis, who was seen as the deity of these magical springs. When the Romans got there, they thought that this Sulis diety was similar to Minerva, so they created a new goddess specifically for this spring called Sulis-Minerva. They built a temple and harnessed the water to create a local bathhouse. These ruins have been excavated and are at the heart of this beautiful southern English town. Though the water is no longer as welcoming as it once was, it is a beautiful spot to reminisce about the ancient peoples of Britain. It also shows, once again, that the Romans were a very proud and technologically advanced people. They did things that we can do today, though with different technology.
Bath feels like a little bit of central Europe. Other sites to see are the Abbey, which is a beautiful Gothic building that towers over the baths, the Circus, which is a perfectly round group of houses that overlook a perfectly round street, and the Royal Crescent, which is a row of houses in a long crescent that is pretty cool. My friends and I stumbled our way through the rain, saw the Crescent and the Circus, and ended up finding the local park, Victoria Park, which has a flourishing garden. It was a beautiful way to enjoy the rain, hearing the birds, and admiring the hundreds of plants that were in bloom. The town closes down at about 5 pm, and I learned my lesson to always carry an umbrella with you in England, especially when there is even the chance of rain. On our walk, my friends and I failed to bring an umbrella between the four of us and were resigned to literally, take a bath in Bath. Another thing I will note about Bath is that it was once the home to Jane Austen, and has been used in many different film versions of her books.
The UK seems to have always been inhabited, though, with each new invading force, a new culture has assimilated the people taking with it parts of the old. It seems that the people of this country are well adaptable, though they are very proud to be British. Their culture has been influenced by many others. Though they could argue that their roots have always been there, the citizens of the UK have a unique identity and culture that is a melting pot of rulers and immigrants from outside the isles.
Historians are unsure how exactly Stonehenge was built. They think that the ancient peoples of the area built ut in order to worship the sun. At the Summer and Winter Solstices, the sun lines up perfectly in between the spaces of the stones. The site has been dated back to 3000 BCE and the stones have been said to come from Wales. Experts think that the stones were cut in Wales and rolled by logs to England, where they used ropes and manpower to put the stones upright. Archaeologists believe that there have been multiple building phases of the site dating over thousands of years, though they have conclusive evidence on how or why the site was built. It is one of the great mysteries of history. Not only does Stonehenge suggest that the ancient peoples of Britain were capable of amazing feats of creation, it also shows that they expected to be permanent residents.In 42 AD, the Romans came into the British Isles and conquered them. In an area we now know as Bath, they found a natural hot spring. The local Celts in the area worshipped their goddess Sulis, who was seen as the deity of these magical springs. When the Romans got there, they thought that this Sulis diety was similar to Minerva, so they created a new goddess specifically for this spring called Sulis-Minerva. They built a temple and harnessed the water to create a local bathhouse. These ruins have been excavated and are at the heart of this beautiful southern English town. Though the water is no longer as welcoming as it once was, it is a beautiful spot to reminisce about the ancient peoples of Britain. It also shows, once again, that the Romans were a very proud and technologically advanced people. They did things that we can do today, though with different technology.
Bath feels like a little bit of central Europe. Other sites to see are the Abbey, which is a beautiful Gothic building that towers over the baths, the Circus, which is a perfectly round group of houses that overlook a perfectly round street, and the Royal Crescent, which is a row of houses in a long crescent that is pretty cool. My friends and I stumbled our way through the rain, saw the Crescent and the Circus, and ended up finding the local park, Victoria Park, which has a flourishing garden. It was a beautiful way to enjoy the rain, hearing the birds, and admiring the hundreds of plants that were in bloom. The town closes down at about 5 pm, and I learned my lesson to always carry an umbrella with you in England, especially when there is even the chance of rain. On our walk, my friends and I failed to bring an umbrella between the four of us and were resigned to literally, take a bath in Bath. Another thing I will note about Bath is that it was once the home to Jane Austen, and has been used in many different film versions of her books.
The UK seems to have always been inhabited, though, with each new invading force, a new culture has assimilated the people taking with it parts of the old. It seems that the people of this country are well adaptable, though they are very proud to be British. Their culture has been influenced by many others. Though they could argue that their roots have always been there, the citizens of the UK have a unique identity and culture that is a melting pot of rulers and immigrants from outside the isles.
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