How Britain’s ancient heritage first came into focus

2024 sees the 300th anniversary of publication of the ‘Itinerarium Curiosum’, a major work by pioneer archaeologist William Stukeley which launched the popular appeal of stone circles

A view of part of the stone circles of Stanton Drew, near Bristol, UK, drawn by William Stukeley who visited the site in July, 1723.

For fifteen years, William Stukeley, the leading antiquarian of the eighteenth century, was out and about, touring the countryside and, uniquely, romancing the stones of prehistoric England…