Stonehenge, a photograph of 1944

The monument owes its present appearance to repeated interventions in its structure.

In 1901 the first major restoration was carried out, with the participation of the archaeologist William Gowland, who straightened and secured one of the stones, which was in danger of falling. In the process the stone was moved by more than a metre from its original position.

In the 1920s the archaeologist William Hawley excavated the foundations of six stones and the outer trenches around the monument.

In 1958 three stones were re-erected and set in concrete bases.

In 1963, after one of the stones had fallen, the last major restoration was undertaken, returning it to its place and fixing it there.

In 2021 Stonehenge was partly taken apart altogether, so that the concrete mortar introduced into the structure in the twentieth century to bind the stones could be replaced with a breathable lime one.