Stonehenge is one of the most mysterious places in England, probably around the world as well. I always wanted to visit Stonehenge; the rock formation has been on my must-visit list ever since I first learned about it on TV when I was around 5. Seems like my childhood dream came true.
Photo of the Stonehenge
The Stonehenge was first erected more than 5000 years ago and being re-modified (categorized into 3 phases in general) until the most recent at around 1600BC.
There are a number of hypothesis for Stonehenge, but nobody really knows who and why they built the monument. The stones are said to be arranged astrologically and the general belief is that it was built for worship purpose.
My sister who visited the site earlier had warned me that the stones are much smaller than expected… it’s true. Stonehenge isn’t as gigantic as I anticipated, but it’s still pretty huge though. Set the size aside; I was really glad that I was able to see Stonehenge with my own eyes, it was a wonderful feeling.
What I didn’t expect was that the location of Stonehenge is actually pretty close to a highway (you can see the cars from the site). Modern development vs. prehistoric monument… such irony.
Lacock is a small place to navigate, and it’s impossible not to bump into the St Cyriac’s Church.
The wooden door of the entrance was pretty heavy; I got into the church and I was the only person around. The church was so quiet and peaceful, I felt like I could spend hours just sitting in the church even though I am not a Christian.
Read the rest of this post »
Lacock is a village in Wiltshire; most of its building constructed in the 18th century or earlier.
The driver first brought us to have a glance of Lacock Abbey, which was used for some filming of Harry Potter movies. I wonder why we were the only group of tourist there; the abbey should be flocked with Harry Potter’s fans if it was really used for the filming… perhaps it was still early. We then dropped by the village for an hour break…
The village itself is quite a beauty; with its old and nicely decorated buildings. The abbey and the village are mostly owned by the National Trust, which works to preserve and protect the coastline, countryside and buildings of UK.
In order to preserve the ‘originality’ of Lacock, TV aerials and overhead cables are not allowed in the village. Life should be ‘pretty interesting’ in Lacock, I guess.
Another attraction of Lacock is the Fox Talbot Museum that commemorates the life and work of William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), former resident of Lacock Abbey, and one of the pioneers of modern photography. The museum wasn’t opened when I visited there, too early.
