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Travel back in time almost 4000 years and see Stonehenge as it was when it was first constructed.
The iconic henge in England gives a glimpse of what the original construction would have been like but the full-sized
reconstruction near Esperance shows just what Stonehenge looked like around
1950 BC.
Modern construction methods made the Esperance Stonehenge a 'little' easier to construct than the original but even so, it
was a huge undertaking. Modern machineary including a 140 tonne crane and 988B loaders were used to transport and lift the huge
granite blocks into place. The relative ease of construction today leaves the mind somewhat staggered when you consider
the primitive technology used to construct the original in England.
The massive stones, weighing up to 50 tonnes each had to be transported to the site from the quarry and then errected to
align with the summer and winter solstice. The 30 stones of the outer circle were errected in just two days.
The project was originally supposed to be constructed in the Margaret River area of W.A. but fiancial trouble led to it
being taken over by long term Esperance residents, Kim and Jillian Beale in 2010.
The construction was completed on October 26th 2011.
As someone who has been to both the English Stonehenge and the Esperance Stonehenge, I have to say that while the original may have
an amazing depth of history attached to it, the Esperance Stonehenge stands alone as a stunning representation of what the historic site
would have looked like and gives a real insight into the difficulties that must have been faced to construct such a structure 4000 years ago.
This certainly is one of the 'must see' attractions in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.
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