Stonehenge Theories:
Built by Druids
Stukeley believed that the builders of Stonehenge aligned the monument with the magnetic North. Although incorrect, he was the first to attempt to connect Stonehenge and natural phenomena.
Dr. William Stukeley was an 18th Century physician who had a parallel career as an investigator of antiquarian ruins, and also dabbled in mysticism (he was one of the first prominent English gentlemen to become a Freemason). In 1740, Stukeley published Stonehenge, A Temple Restor'd to the British Druids, a work that he envisioned as part of a multi-volume history of mankind. Stukeley argued that mankind started out with a single, universal patriarchal religion, which as it spread was altered and subverted by pagan idolatry before ultimately being restored by Jesus. By Stukeley’s account, England was visited in 460 BC by travelers from the Middle East—possibly Phoenicians, a seafaring people who lived to the just north of ancient Canaan, the land conquered by the Israelites. The visitors, who were followers of the ancient meta-religion, founded the pre-Christian Celtic religion of the Druid priests, and built Stonehenge as a place of worship. Stukeley’s wildly errant calculation of the monument’s age was based upon his belief that the builders understood the principles of magnetism and had aligned the monument with magnetic North, which he assumed oscillated in a regular pattern (rather than wandering randomly, as it actually does). As later researchers discovered, Stonehenge actually was far older than the Druids. Stukeley was, however, the first to try to connect Stonehenge’s location and design to natural phenomena.
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