Replica of pre-historic building
The largest replica of a pre-historic building has been created at Stonehenge.
English Heritage has unveiled a brand new creation, The Kusuma Neolithic Hall, reconstruction of a 4,500 year old Neolithic building. It was built using local resources and historically accurate traditional tools including flint axes, coppiced hazel and chalk daub. The methods used were based on evidence from nearby prehistoric structure of building techniques used by Neolithic people and to better understand the work and timescales that would have been involved.
The 7 metre high Hall took a team of over 100 volunteers nine months to complete.
It is the first phase of a large scale project by English Heritage to extend its capacity for learning visits and cross curricular opportunities at Stonehenge.
The hall will become a new learning space to become a living history learning experience for visitors and school groups of up to 30 students when they visit. It will enable students to gather around the hearth, handle replica tools, try out cooking and crafts, and discover what everyday life was like 4,500 years ago.
It is not clear what the original nearby Neolithic structure was used for. Excavations of the settlement have found many thousands of animal bones and a vast quantity of Grooved Ware pottery, which provide strong evidence for vast winter feasts. This suggests that the hall may have been a space for large gatherings and celebrations, rituals or even burial practices.
The hall a wonderful addition to the Stonehenge experience for both visitors and students. Also, by using historically accurate techniques and materials in its construction English Heritage have been able to develop a better understanding of everyday lives of the Neolithic people who settled around Stonehenge.
In addition to the Kusuma Neolithic Hall, English Heritage’s brand-new learning provision at Stonehenge will encompass a brand new environmentally sensitive Learning Centre (due to launch at the end of 2026) and an exciting new STEM in Heritage programme for school visits. Housing the Clore Discovery Lab, Weston Learning Studio, digital production studio, Wolfson Foyer and an open air courtyard to support sensory learning. The new Learning Centre will feature modern equipment and accessible, inclusive practical facilities, including a Changing Places space and a smaller breakout area for those with different educational needs.
School trips to Stonehenge incorporating a visit to the Kusuma Neolithic Hall are now available to book for 2026/2027, as part of the site’s new STEM in Heritage programme.
To find out more about Stonehenge:
www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge
Photograph: English Heritage