‘A space for solace’: Stonehenge show explores attraction of stone circles

Photography exhibition makes case for increasing importance of circles as people seek sense of belonging. The hundreds of stone circles, great and small, that dot the UK countryside inspire awe but there may be a temptation to regard them as wondrous relics of a long-gone age. An exhibition at Britain’s most famous prehistoric site by three young artists makes the case that in these difficult times they are ever more relevant and important, drawing an increasing number of people of all ages and beliefs searching for connection, belonging and peace.

The show, billed as the first major exhibition of new photographs hosted at Stonehenge, focuses not on the famed Wiltshire monument but on three lesser known stone circles in Dorset and Derbyshire. One of the artists whose work is being shown, Yuxi Hou, 20, who is based in Nottingham, said she believed stone circles were becoming ever more important for many people. “Stone circles bring people together,” she said. “I think people want to connect to nature, to the land, to the people around them. It’s a human thing, very natural.”.

Her images focus on Arbor Low, a stone circle high in the Peak District in Derbyshire. They capture people gathering to take part in celebrations and to meditate. In one photograph a woman bangs a drum at the stones; in another a man holds an Egyptian carving of a serpent to the sun. “Arbor Low has been a gathering place for thousands of years,” Hou said. “It is a living space. When I was there I felt like it’s really a safe space for everybody to find solace.”.

The English Heritage prehistorian Jennifer Wexler said there had been a noticeable rise in people visiting stone circles after the Covid crisis and as concerns about global issues such as the climate emergency have increased. She said: “Stone circles connect the past with the present, linking personal histories to community and memory to belonging. These sites continue to inspire us as symbols of connection, belonging and meaning.”.

The British-Thai artist Serena Burgis, 24, from Dorset, produced striking images of the Kingston Russell stone circle, where she spent a lot of time with her British father as a child. She said she found it a very “English” space but for this project worked closely with her Thai mother and other women from the local south-east Asian community, photographing them at the site. Burgis said: “Most of them had never been there so it was really fun. We had picnics, which is obviously a very English thing to do, but also a very Thai thing. There’s something about sitting on the earth, sharing food together.”.

The artists had been invited to take photographs of any free English Heritage sites but all, by coincidence, chose to turn their gaze on stone circles. Burgis said she felt stone circles were part of everyone’s history, rather than an elite few. “There can be something humble about them. They’re not a castle, not a wealthy place. They’re for everyone.”. The third artist, Sally Barton, 25, from Sheffield, was inspired by the Nine Ladies stone circle, also in the Peak District.

One of her images has been presented as a version of a trade union banner, a nod to her family’s links to the Labour party. Another shows a set of goalposts decorated with ribbons. “Football is a ritual to many people,” she said. For Barton, the Nine Ladies circle was one of her beloved playgrounds when she was young and she worked with local primary school children for some of her pictures in the exhibition. “I wanted to remind children local to the site that the stones are theirs.”.