Stonehenge: the henge that isn't

Strictly speaking, what we think of as Stonehenge isn't a henge at all. The term is used by archaeologists to refer to a circular or oval area enclosed by a bank and an internal ditch. A stone circle is not a henge; and in any case the stone circle at Stonehenge was built hundreds of years later than the original earthwork enclosure on the site. Nor is there an internal ditch.

Nonetheless, Stonehenge is the origin of the term 'henge'. The Middle English form of Stonehenge was Stanenges, which is made up of 'stan', or stone, and 'heng', probably meaning hinged or hanging. It is thought that Stanenges, or hinged or hanging stones, referred to the great trilithons of the monument.

The term 'henge' is first recorded as a distinct word in the 18th century, and its use in the modern archaeological sense is attributed to Thomas Kendrick, who later became Keeper of British Antiquities at the British Museum, in 1932.

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