Heelstone Ditch is a roughly circular feature surrounding the

Heel Stone The Heel Stone is a single large block of sarsen stone standing within the Avenue outside the entrance of the Stonehenge earthwork in Wiltshire, England. In section it is sub-rectangular, with a minimum thickness of , rising to a tapered to ...

at Stonehenge. It is not known if there was an intended relationship between the ditch and the heelstone although it is likely that the stone was in place either before or at the same time as the ditch. It has steep sloping sides which end at a narrow flat base, and is approximately 4 ft (1.2m) deep and 3.5 ft (1.1m) wide. It is some 12 ft (3.7m) from base the base of the Heelstone, with a diameter of roughly 32 ft (9.7m). A broad

arcing An electric arc, or arc discharge, is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The current through a normally nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma; the plasma may produce visible light. An ...

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

found in 1923 by Lt-Col William Hawley 9 ft (2.7m) wide cuts this ditch from the West, deepening towards the stone. Against the Heelstone Ditch (inside circle) is rammed chalk filled Stonehole 97, whose missing stone is known as Heelstone's twin although it is possible that the stone in Stonehole 97 was moved and is now the stone known as the Heelstone. The ditch was probably dug after the stone in Stonehole 97 was moved but possibly before that. Only a small part of the Heelstone Ditch, immediately behind the

Highways Agency National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

A344 roadside fence, now remains unexplored or undisturbed. General nature of the ditch and fill described in 1979 by Michael W. Pitts, ''et al.'

compares well with Hawley's (1923, 1925).

References

* Richard J. C. Atkinson, Atkinson, R J C, ''Stonehenge'' (Penguin Books, 1956) * Pitts, M W, ''On the Road to Stonehenge: Report on Investigations beside the A344 in 1968, 1979 and 1980'' (Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 48, 1982) * Hawley, Lt-Col W, ''Report on the Excavations at Stonehenge during the season of 1923'' (The Antiquaries Journal 5, Oxford University Press, 1925)

References

Further reading