Carparking can be found at the Woodhenge Carpark where you will find some information boards about the surrounding area.
This area is open access land but PLEASE take note of the following. The National Trust request you to Please Close all gates. Avoid getting between animals and their young. Keep your dog on a short lead or at your side.If ponies or cows approach let your dog off the lead. Having said that I have rarely seen any animals in the fields or along the footpaths.
The Science Lesson.
Between 60 and 40 million years ago, silt and sand were laid down, either as river-borne alluvium or as marine sediments, across parts of southern England. Then, around 35 million years ago, these layers
of sand were covered up by additional deposits and were subsequently saturated with silica-rich groundwater.
Over time, the concentration of silica increased further – possibly as a result of increases in acidity or the evaporation of the water in which it was dissolved. When the water could no longer hold the silica in solution, the mineral precipitated out and filled the pores between the grains of sand. As the precipitation continued, the silica began to act as a mineralogical glue, sticking trillions of grains of sand together to form a two-metre-thick layer of solid rock, known as sarsen, immediately below what had originally been the water table.
Over the past three million years – particularly during the last ice age – water erosion, freezing and then thawing processes exposed, eroded and broke up this layer of sarsen into millions of loose boulders that remained scattered across the landscape. Many of these massive rocks gradually slid down into the valley, accumulating at the bottom of the slope.
This bizarre, boulder-strewn terrain survived until medieval and early modern times. But as agriculture increased and became more intensive, water erosion washed soil from ploughed fields down onto valley bottoms, burying huge numbers of sarsen stones. Many of the remaining rocks were then cleared in order to increase the amount of arable land. And as towns developed and grew, large numbers of sarsens were broken up for use as building material. Today, only a few small areas are left.
The Cuckoo Stone is in its original position. Archaeological excavations in 2007 showed that during the Neolithic period it was a standing stone as the pit it once stood in was discovered.
In the 1990’s two Roman Coin Hoards where also discovered close to the Cuckoo Stone. The hoards are (as far as we know) now housed in the Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum.
When you have your answers please message or email them to us via our profile page. Once you have sent your answers, you can log a find. We will only contact you if your answers are wrong.
The answers are NOT on the Information Boards.
1) On the South Side of the Cuckoo Stone are some whitish marks; what are they and how where they formed?
2) Why are the whitish spots mainly on the South Side?
3) The Cuckoo Stone itself is sitting on another type of rock, what rock is it?
4) Measure the longest part of the Cuckoo Stone.
5) (This is Optional) Please post a photo of yourself at The Cuckoo Stone
Please DO NOT POST ANSWERS IN YOUR LOG!!
Rosette Designed by and © Copyright of *Geocass*
FTF Honours goes to "37251"
Logging Etiquette: Geocache hiders sometimes go through a great deal of planning to place their caches. As a result, they'd like to hear your feedback on whether you liked or disliked any aspect of the hide, the journey or location, or if you feel that some cache maintenance is required. Single word, acronym, or "copy and paste"logs may be easier when you have a lot of caches to log, but it doesn't tell the hider or other finders anything about your adventure (or lack thereof) in finding the cache. Please keep this in mind when entering your log.