olympics | london 2012 - bob ellis international 'o...

OLYMPICS | LONDON 2012

Olympic Equestrian EventsLondon 2012

Saturday 4th August 2012

Jumping Individual 1st Qualifier and Jumping Team Qualifier for Round 1

Produced by Bob Ellis Equestrian Services Ltd3

London 2012 – Jumping Team

Course Designer BobEllis(GBR)

Assistant Course Designer/Artistic Designer KelvinBywater(GBR)Assistant Course Designer BernadoCostaCabral(POR)Assistant Course Designer AlanWade(IRL)Assistant Course Designer GuilhermeJorge(BRA)

President of the Ground Jury StephanEllenbruch(GER)Ground Jury JonDoney(GBR)Ground Jury KimMorrison(CAN)Ground Jury FreddySmeets(BEL)

Arena Decoration AngieMurray(GBR)Arena Decoration NickKirby(GBR)

FEI Technical Delegate FrankRothenberger(GER)

Pleasenote:Artisticfencesinthisbookletareanartistsimpressionofthefenceandthecontentandfillmayvaryfordifferentcompetitions.

Acknowledgements

ArtisticDesignofthisbooklet MartinPedleyArtisticDrawingssuppliedinthisbooklet ChristineBousfieldInformationandTextsuppliedinthisbooklet StephanieDewittCopyrightofthisbooklet BobEllisEquestrianServicesLtd

Fence 1 - Old Royal Naval College and Queens House

Fence 1 - Old Royal Naval College and Queens House

Fence 1 - Old Royal Naval College and Queens HouseThere has been a royal palace at Greenwich since about 1427. It was rebuilt by the Tudor King Henry VII as the Palace of Palentia. His son, King Henry VIII, spent much of his time here and his three legitimate children (the future King Edward VI, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I) were born here. This Tudor style building was later demolished.

In 1616, the first Stuart King, James I, commissioned the architect Inigo Jones with the construction of the Queen’s House, a summer residence for his wife, Anne of Denmark. Jones designed the house in an elegant Italian Renaissance style and it is considered the oldest English Palladian building. Construction of the house started in 1616 and it was completed in 1637 by Inigo Jones’ student John Webb.

The Queen’s House was used as a royal residence by both Charles I and Charles II. King Charles II wanted to turn the estate into an English version of Versailles and even employed André le Nôtre, the landscape architect of the French palace. He also started to construct a new wing along the River Thames.

However, the next King, William III, preferred to live at Hampton Court and so he commissioned Christopher Wren to convert the existing building into a residence for wounded and retired marines, the Royal Naval Hospital. The result was a complex of four separate, majestic buildings which were positioned in such a way that the Queen’s House would have an uninterrupted view of the River Thames.

This hospital closed in 1869 after which the buildings were used as a training centre for naval officers, the Royal Naval College.

In 1998 the training centre moved to Dartmouth and the complex of buildings is currently used by the University of Greenwich. The Queen’s House is now home to the National Maritime Museum.

Greenwich’s maritime area was awarded World Heritage Site status in 1997.

Fence 2 - London Montage


“Earth has not anything to show more fair;Dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its majesty;This City now doth like a garment wearThe beauty of the morning; silent, bare,Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lieOpen unto the fields and to the sky;All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.”

Composed upon Westminster Bridge - William Wordsworth (1807)

What would Wordsworth make of present-day London and its skyline?

Motorised transport has replaced horses and carts. Red buses and black taxis ferry people around. Only on ceremonial occasions are horses seen in the streets.

Cruise liners and tourist boats motor up and down the River Thames.Sailing ships are now mainly of historical interest. A replica of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind is moored on the south bank of the River Thames at Southwark.

All around is evidence of the inventions of the modern era - red post boxes and telephone boxes.

Wordsworth would recognise: The Tower of London, built in the 11th century by William I (William the Conqueror) using stone brought all the way from Caen in France. The Tower now houses the Crown Jewels, the Beefeaters (Yeomen Warders of the Tower) and the ravens. Legend has it that the Tower will fall if the ravens leave, so their wings are clipped to prevent this; The dome of St Paul’s, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built after the Great Fire of London in 1666;

St Martin-in-the-Fields, “the church of the ever-open door”, at the edge of Trafalgar Square. The present building was completed in 1726 to replace the original built by King Henry VIII.

Dating after the poem and before Wordsworth’s death in 1850: Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner was built between 1826-30to commemorate the Duke of Wellington’s victories. It originally had a large equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington on top but this was removed in 1912 and placed near the Garrison Church at Aldershot. It was replaced by a huge bronze quadriga (chariot pulled by four horses) - the largest bronze sculpture in Europe - depicting the angel of peace descending on the chariot of war, the charioteer being a small boy.

Nelson’s Column was erected in Trafalgar Square by public subscription in 1842.The purpose of the two fountains was to reduce the amount of open space available in the square and thus the risk of riotous assembly! The original stone basins were replaced in the late 1930’s and presented to the Canadian Government. The new fountains were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and are memorials to Admirals Lord Jellicoe and Lord Beatty. New lighting has been designed especially for the London 2012 Olympics and will project different combinations of colours on to the fountains. This new lighting has a low energy requirement, reducing the carbon footprint by around 90%.

Building of the new Houses of Parliament and Big Ben commenced in the 1830’s but were not completed until 1870.

The Royal Albert Hall was opened in March 1871 by Queen Victoria who had laid the foundation stone and dedicated the building to the memory of her late husband and consort, Prince Albert. This concert hall, located in South Kensington, is best known for holding the annual summer Promenade Concerts (the Proms) since 1941.

The city’s most widely recognised examples of modern architecture are:

One Canada Square, a skyscraper in Canary Wharf in the Docklands. From 1991 to 2010 it was the second tallest building in the UK and the tallest in London, having 50 storeys and standing 235 metres (770 feet) high. Its pyramid roof adds another 5 metres to its height and has a flashing aircraft warning light on it. It was surpassed in 2010 by the Shard London Bridge which was completed in July 2012 at a height of 309.6 metres (1016 feet).

“The Gherkin” at 30 St Mary Axe, is situated on the site of the former Baltic Exchange and opened in May 2004. With 41 floors and measuring 180 metres (591 feet) tall, it is the second tallest building in the City of London, the sixth tallest in the whole of Greater London.

Both of these buildings dwarf the London Eye at 135 metres (443) feet.

All these iconic images of London are only a fraction of those available for visitors to see. But no trip to London would be complete without going to Buckingham Palace, the residence of HM Queen Elizabeth II, to watch the changing of the Guard. The Queen’s Guard is formed from one of five regiments of Foot Guards in full dress uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats.


Fence 3a & 3b - Naval Ship of the Line

Fence 3a & 3b - Naval Ship of the Line

Fence 3a & 3b - Naval Ship of the LineIn the 18th century Britain’s strength lay in the Royal Navy. When sailors were needed they were often obtained by force of the Press Gang. In seaside towns a party of cutlass-wielding sailors, led by an officer, would enter taverns, shops and markets to seize any likely-looking man, preferably an experienced merchant sailor, and carry him off to serve at sea. Almost 40% of the Navy’s crews were pressed into service.Naval sailors at this time had no official uniform but the mark of a seaman was his thick, short pigtail, stiffened with ship’s tar or grease, giving sailors the nickname of “Jack Tar”.

The ships they sailed on were traditionally built of native oak. A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through to the mid-19th century to take part in a naval tactic known as “the line of battle”. This required ships to form long, single-file lines and close with the enemy fleet on the same tack, battering the other fleet until one side had had enough and retreated. Any manoeuvres would be carried out with the ships remaining in line for mutual protection. These engagements were usually won by the heaviest ships carrying the most powerful guns.

Lighter ships were used as scouts and for relaying signals between the flagship and the rest of the fleet since, from the flagship, only a small part of the line would be in clear sight.

Ships of the line had between two and four decks and carried between 50 and 140 cannon. The most common size was the “74” (named for its 74 guns).

The only original ship of the line remaining today is HMS Victory, preserved as a museum to appear as she was while under Admiral Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar.

This fence is built to resemble such a ship of the line with its mast wings, complete with a crow’s nest, sails tied to the yardarm and ships wheel and cannon.

Fence 4 - The Magna Carta and the Birth of Justice

Fence 4 - The Magna Carta and the Birth of Justice

Fence 4 - The Magna Carta and the Birth of JusticeOn 15th June, 1215, King John was forced by the barons to place his seal of approval to Magna Carta, the Great Charter, at Runnymede, an island in the Thames near Windsor. This was the first step in the progress of freedom and justice for all, a programme of reform. However, this peace between the King and the barons lasted only a few months before war broke out again.

After John’s death in 1216 a modified charter was reissued, then again in 1217 and yet again in 1225. It was the 1225 text that entered the statute book as the first and most fundamental of English laws. Three of its 63 chapters still stand, including the promise that freemen will be judged by their peers and that “to no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice”.

Magna Carta promised laws that were good and fair. It states that everyone shall have access to courts and that costs and money should not be an issue if someone wants to take a problem to the law courts.

The United States Constitution traces its lineage back to Magna Carta. In 1957 the American Bar Association erected the Runnymede Memorial.

In 1976 the UK lent an original 1215 Magna Carta to the United States for its bicentennial celebrations and also donated an ornate case to display it in, along with a gold replica of Magna Carta. The case and gold replica are still on display in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC.

Fence 5 - English Country Garden Gazebo & Bridge

Fence 5 - English Country Garden Gazebo & Bridge

Fence 5 - English Country Garden Gazebo & BridgeEnglish country gardens evoke a feeling of romance and tranquillity. They are informal and carefree and often incorporate architectural elements to add interest such as quaint footbridges and gazebos.

Traditionally built as a free-standing structure with a roof and walls that are open on all sides, a gazebo is the ideal place to sit and be shaded from the sun.

The word “gazebo” first appeared in England in about 1752. It is believed to be a combination of the English word “gaze” with the Latin suffix “-ebo” which means “I shall”. Thus “gazebo” means “I shall gaze”.

Gazebo-like structures have been found in the earliest gardens and in many cultures, both ancient and modern. Some believe that the earliest gazebos had their origins as Garden Temples.

Fence 6 - Light House and Thames Barge

Fence 6 - Light House and Thames Barge

Fence 6 - Light House and Thames BargeThe entrance to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is dominated by this lighthouse lamp which hangs down from the glass roof of Neptune Court, completed in 1999. The National Maritime Museum is formed from the Queen’s House and two separate wings, joined by colonnades, and was first opened in 1937.

Ships rely on lighthouses to warn them of danger and to guide them safely to land or a harbour. A traditional lighthouse is a tall, rounded tower on land near a coast. Modern lighthouses may be on land or they may be on a platform in the sea.

The main feature of all lighthouses is a bright light. It was the lighthouse keeper’s responsibility to keep this light burning in a lamp such as this. Most lighthouses nowadays have automatic lamps that need little tending.

The Thames sailing barge was a type of commercial sailing boat common on the River Thames in London in the 19th century. It had a flat bottom, perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary with its shallow waters and narrow rivers.

These barges also traded much further afield, to the North of England, the south coast and even to continental European ports. Cargoes varied enormously: bricks, mud, hay, rubbish, sand, coal and grain, for example. Due to the efficiency of a Thames barge’s gear, a crew of only two was enough for most voyages.

Most Thames barges were wooden-hulled, between 80 and 90 feet (25 - 30 metres) long with a beam of around 20 feet (6 metres). The hull was mainly a hold with two small living areas in the bow and stern; access was through two large hatchways.

They were usually spritsail rigged on two masts. The main mast could be lowered to clear bridges. Most had a topsail above a huge mainsail and a large foresail. The mizzen was a much smaller mast on which was set a single sail whose main purpose was to aid steering when tacking.

The typical rusty-red colour of the flax sails was due to the dressing used to waterproof them, traditionally made from red ochre, cod oil and seawater. In good conditions a sailing barge could attain a speed of over 12 knots.

At the turn of the 20th century over 2,000 Thames sailing barges were registered. Today only a small handful remain, converted to pleasure craft and commonly sailed in annual races which take place in the Thames Estuary.

Fence 7 - 2012 Olympic Fence

Equestrian events have played a part in every Olympics from 1912 up to the present day, now being governed by the FEI (Fédération Équestre Internationale). They are the only Olympic disciplines in which animals compete alongside humans and nowadays men and women compete on completely equal terms.

The Jumping competition will consist of a Team event and an Individual event.

The Individual event will consist of five tests: the first individual qualifier, the second individual qualifier and the third individual qualifier, followed by round A and round B of the individual final.The Team event will consist of two tests: team round 1 and team round 2, which will also serve as the second and third individual qualifiers for the Individual event. In the Team event, the teams will be ranked by the lowest total number of penalties for the team’s best three riders in each round.

All riders will compete in the first individual qualifier. The top 60 individual riders (including all riders tied for 60th place) and all team riders ranked lower than 60th will progress to the second qualifier. The team results fromthe first individual qualifier test will be used to set the start list/order for the team round 1 for the Team event. After the second individual qualifier/team round 1, the best 45 riders (including all riders tied for 45th place), based on the combined score of the first and second individual qualifiers, and the best eight teams (including all teams tied for 8th place), based on the scores for the team round 1, will qualify for the third individual qualifier/team round 2.

After the third individual qualifier/team round 2, medals will be awarded for the Team event based on the combined results of team rounds 1 and 2. If two or more teams are tied for medal places with the same number of points, ties will be broken by a jump-off or jumps-off. In the Individual event, the best 35 riders (including all riders tied for 35th place), with a maximum of three riders from the same NOC after the third individual qualifier (based on the combined results of all three qualifiers), will qualify for round A of the individual final.

After round A of the individual final, the best 20 riders (including all riders tied for 20th place), based only on the scores of round A, will qualify for round B of the individual final. The final rankings of the Individual event will then be determined by the combined points earned in rounds A and B of the individual final. If two or more riders are tied for medal places with the same number of points, ties will be broken by a jump-off or jumps-off.



Fence 8 - Greenwich Meantime


Greenwich is a charming, historic area of southeast London, situated on the south bank of the River Thames. Its name comes from a Saxon word meaning “green village” and is known everywhere from the expression Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) by which the world sets its clocks.

As from 1884, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich became the home of GMT and the Prime Meridian of the World. At the International Meridian Conference it was decided that every day should start for the whole world at the moment after midnight on the Greenwich Meridian.

GMT therefore became the official time for the entire world, and the system of time zones that we know today has evolved from that point.

The Prime Meridian, established in 1851, was originally marked by a brass strip in the courtyard but subsequently upgraded to stainless steel. The meridian is an imaginary north-south line (longitude 0º) which divides the world into western and eastern hemispheres, and from which longitude and universal time are measured.

A viewing telescope on the Meridian was replaced by a stainless steel sculpture which, according to the PMSA (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association) was sculpted by Christina Garza and unveiled in June 1999. The sculpture depicts a compass needle pointing to the North Star, inclined at an angle of 23½ degrees to the vertical, an equatorial ring and two segmented sails.

Since 16 December 1999 the Meridian has also been marked by a powerful green laser shining north across the London night sky.

Until 1954 Greenwich Meantime was based on the time observations made at Greenwich, but this is no longer in operation. GMT is now often called Universal Time.

To help others synchronise their watches to GMT a time ball was installed by Astronomer Royal John Pond in 1833. This still drops daily at precisely 13:00 (1pm) to mark the exact time.

The Shepherd Clock on the wall outside the observatory gate is an early example of a 24-hour electric slave clock. The mechanism is controlled by electric impulses transmitted by a master clock inside the main building. This network of slave and master clocks was constructed and installed by Charles Shepherd in 1852. It was probably the first clock to display GMT to the public and is unusual in using the 24-hour analogue dial.

Underneath the clock are the British standard lengths of 1 yard (3 feet), 1 foot, 6 inches and 3 inches.

On July 27, 2011 OMEGA’s London 2012 Countdown Clock was unveiled, replacing the Accurist clock which had counted down to the Millenium and thence onwards.

The clocks on this fence indicate the relative times in London (2012 Olympics), Beijing (2008 Olympics) and Rio (2016 Olympics).


Fence 9a - 1908 Olympic Fence

The IV Olympiad in 1908 was originally scheduled to be held in Rome. However, Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1906, devastating Naples, so funds were diverted to rebuild the city. London was selected instead.

The White City Stadium was quickly built to accommodate 68,000 spectators. King Edward VII opened the Games, the first time such a ceremony had been held.

It turned out to be the wettest Olympics in the history of the modern Games. Great Britain topped the medal table with 146 medals in total, 97 more than the United States in second place!

Although the modern Olympic Games were first held in Athens in 1896, no equestrian events were included until 1900 in Paris. In that year five equestrian events were contested but only three of these - a high jump, a long jump and individual show jumping - were considered to be Olympic sports by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The other two non-Olympic classes were for hacks and hunters combined and a mail coach event.

Only five nations sent competitors for these Olympic equestrian classes - Belgium, France, Italy, Russia and the United States of America. The total number of competitors in 1900 was between 37 and 64 but this is complicated by the fact that some riders rode more than one horse and may have been counted at least twice.

Belgium topped the medal table with two gold, one silver and one bronze. France and Italy tied for first place in the high jump competition and thus were both awarded gold medals, surely the only time in Olympic history that this situation has arisen!

No equestrian Olympic events were featured in 1904 but in 1906 the Swedish Count Clarence von Rosen proposed that equestrian sports should be permanently included in the Olympics. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, asked him to put a detailed proposal to the congress of the IOC in 1907. It was agreed that dressage, equestrian pentathlon and a game called “Jeu de Rosa” be included in the Games permanently.

These were to be held in London in 1908 and the committee of the International Horse Show agreed to run them provided there were a minimum of 24 competitors from six different countries. They actually got 88 entries from eight countries but, for some unknown reason, the equestrian events were dropped from the programme at the last minute.

However, van Rosen formed a committee with Prince Carl of Sweden as president and they produced three events for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm: a three-day event, dressage and showjumping. Rules for equestrian sport at Olympic level were drawn up for the IOC by this Swedish committee and were implemented at these Games.


Fence 9b - 1948 Olympic Fence

Known as the “Austerity Games”, the 1948 Olympics were the first to be staged for twelve years and London had only eighteen months to prepare for them. The budget was only £750,000 (this year’s Games will cost around £11 billion!) No new stadiums were built; instead Wembley Stadium, the Empire Pool in Wembley (now the Wembley Arena) and buildings from the 1924 British Empire Exhibition were used. Most of the competitors from the fifty-nine countries taking part slept in canvas tents in Richmond and were bussed to the venues. As rationing was still in place, participants had to bring their own food. However, the 1948 Games was a great success, even making a profit of almost £30,000!

Rooted in cavalry skills and classical horsemanship, up to and including the 1948 Olympics, equestrian competition was restricted to serving officers riding military horses. Female competitors were not even considered!

Saturday, August 14th, 1948 - the last day of the XIV Olympiad when the showjumping competition, or Prix des Nations, was held, the Team and Individual sections running concurrently. Eighty thousand spectators filled the Empire Stadium, Wembley, it was a hot, sunny day and the spectacle began with community singing!

Colonel Sir Mike Ansell was chairman of the selection committee for Great Britain and also responsible for the design and layout of the showjumping course. Blinded during WWII, Colonel Mike didn’t allow this handicap to hinder him. A friend made him a mass of small model fences to scale which were magnetised so that they would stick to a metal”Wembley Arena” base to help him to design suitable courses. A Mr Rodwell built all the fences at his home in Hampshire in secret. As with the current Olympics, no one was allowed to see them until the actual competition.

As the final day of the Olympics and the showjumping competition loomed, it poured with rain. A football match had been played in the stadium on the Friday, so the ground was completely churned up. Colonel Mike and his team were given access to the stadium at 9.30 on the Friday night. They had to build a course of 15 fences and dig 4 ditches and a water jump overnight! Every fence and barrowful of sand had to be manhandled over the muddy turf! They finished at about 3am!

Forty-four riders from fifteen countries competed, each fielding a team of three horses and riders, apart from Finland who had only two representatives. In the British team were Major Arthur Carr riding Monty, Lt. Col. Henry M V Nicoll on Kilgeddin and Lt.Col. Harry M Llewellyn with the renowned Foxhunter.

The course consisted of sixteen obstacles including an In and Out (double) and one (treble) Combination, a total of 19 jumping efforts. It measured 870 metres in length and had a time limit of 130 seconds with ¼ fault incurred for each second over the time allowed (65 seconds).

Mexico took the Gold Medal, Spain the Silver with Great Britain winning Bronze, the first Olympic medal gained in showjumping by the British team. All other teams were eliminated!


Fence 10 - Royal Observatory - Greenwich

Fence 10 - Royal Observatory - Greenwich

Fence 10 - Royal Observatory - GreenwichIn Greenwich Park is the former Royal Observatory through which the Prime Meridian passes.

Charles II commissioned Christopher Wren with the construction of the observatory in 1675. The aim of the observatory was to help navigation of ships by studying the stars, creating maps and determining longitude when at sea. The first astronomer hired by the king was John Flamsteeds after whom the main building is now named.

Telescopes were installed at the Observatory and many painstaking observations were made. In 1714 the Longitude Act was passed which offered a prize of £20,000 to anyone who could discover a reliable method of calculating longitude. To measure longitude you need to know the time difference between where you are standing and some other known fixed point.

Captain James Cook had used Greenwich as a fixed point in calculating longitude, but other points were used by sailors from other countries.

In 1884, at the International Meridian Conference, Greenwich became the agreed official Meridian Line for all points of the globe. It was also decided that every day would start for the whole world at the moment after midnight on the Greenwich Meridian.

Open to visitors, the Royal Observatory is home to London’s only planetarium, the Harrison timepieces and the UK’s largest refracting telescope.

Fence 11 - Nelson’s Column

Fence 11 - Nelson’s Column

Fence 11 - Nelson’s ColumnThe Nelson Monument, commonly called Nelson’s Column, was erected in the centre of Trafalgar Square, the largest square in London, in 1842 by voluntary subscription to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson’s naval victory at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805.

Nelson was fatally wounded during the battle and his body was brought back to London in a barrel of brandy and buried in St Paul’s Cathedral.

The fluted granite column with a bronze Corinthian capital is approximately 170 feet (52 metres) high (including the base) and was built to a design by William Railton chosen from a selection of 124 competition entries.

On top of the column stands an 18 foot (5.5 metres) tall stone statue of Lord Nelson, created by Edmund Hodges. The four bas-relief panels on the pedestal depict Nelson’s famous naval victories.

Sir Edwin Landseer designed the four bronze lions, 20 feet long and 22 feet high, that were cast by Baron Marochetti and added to the base between 1858 and 1867.

Fence 12a and 12b - Stonehenge

Fence 12a & 12b - Stonehenge

Fence 12a & 12b - StonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle or henge monument on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, the biggest in Britain. A henge is a prehistoric monument built in a circular area with standing stones or wooden pillars, often enclosed by a bank or ditch and probably used for tribal or religious rituals.

It is believed that Stonehenge was built in three stages by three different cultures. The Windmill Hill people (3500 - 2600 BC) erected 30 large stones from nearby Avebury (30 kilometres away) on a ditch and bank enclosing a ring of 56 pits. The Beaker people (2600 - 2510 BC) added 60 bluestone megaliths (huge stones weighing about 4 tons) brought all the way from the Welsh Preseli Mountains, nearly 385 kilometres away. Next, around 2000 BC, the First Wessex people positioned 30 sandstone, 25 ton, 4 metre high, upright stones from Avebury called Sarsens in a circle and capped them with morticed stone lintels. In the centre were 5 Sarsen trilithons weighing about 45 tons.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people must have been used to transport the stones in a time when the wheel had not been invented. The stones from Avebury may have been dragged using rollers, sledges, ropes and levers. Perhaps they waited for winter to drag the stones more easily over snow and ice. The Welsh stones may have been dragged down to the sea and floated on huge rafts to the nearby River Avon and finally dragged overland.

Ditches and embankments would have been dug by hand using animal bones and deer antlers as pick-axes and shoulder-blades of cattle as shovels. It has been estimated that the three stages of construction required more than 30 million hours of labour.

The Stonehenge ditch is 320 feet (91 metres) in diameter, 6 feet (1.8 metres) high and wide. The stones of the main monument form layers of circles and horseshoe patterns. The key stones are aligned with major solar and lunar events including solstices and equinoxes.

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