Heritage is GREAT - Part 2

Richard goes even further back in time – 4,500 years back! With the help of Susan Greaney, he investigates one of Britain's greatest and most mysterious sites – Stonehenge.

Transcript

Canterbury and Exeter cathedrals also boast magnificent architecture and attract visitors from around the world.

.....

Some historic treasures date back even further.

Stonehenge… This giant circle of stones stands out as one of Britain’s most famous and visited historical sites. Dating back thousands of years, its origins still remain a mystery and that's why it’s still so popular.

Susan Greaney is a historian.

Richard: Susan, what is Stonehenge?

Susan: Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone monument built about four and a half thousand years ago in what we call the Neolithic period. We think it was probably used as some kind of temple.

Richard: So why is it so important?

Susan: Well, Stonehenge is unique in the world. It's an incredibly complex monument and it's amazing that it's survived from so long ago.

Richard: Now you also do research here, so what have you discovered about the site?

Susan: Stonehenge has got lots and lots of secrets and archaeology is trying to reveal them the whole time. One of the most recent things we've been doing is a laser survey of the standing stones and that's telling us lots of new detail about how the stones were carved, and how they were set up, and the kinds of carvings and graffiti that are on the stones.

Richard: Tell me one of the famous myths around the circle.

Susan: Well, there's a really interesting myth about the fact that the stones were brought here from Ireland by the wizard Merlin and that was a myth that was popular in the medieval period. Actually, we know that some of the smaller blue stones here do come from the west, from Wales, so there's an element of truth underneath the myth.

So there you go. What a great heritage Britain has, as seen here at Stonehenge. I'm off to explore some more.

Task 1

Which is the best title for the video?

Exercise

Task 2

Watch again, and complete these notes with one word or a number.

Exercise

Task 3

Reorder the words to make sentences. 

Exercise

Task 4

Choose the three words which will fit into the spaces.

Exercise

Discussion

Topics

Average: 5 (2 votes)
Do you need to improve your English?
Join thousands of learners from around the world who are making great progress with their English level with our online courses.

Submitted by arashjahanbakht on Sun, 12/02/2023 - 01:16

Permalink

There are hundreds and hundreds of monuments across our country, Iran. Some of them are so old that even historians can't estimate their real ages. Iranian people value the monuments so much. On the one hand, the government don't pay attention well to the monuments. On the other hand, some Iranian people don't try enough to conserve them. Eventually, we should try much more to protect these treasures. They belong to not only the Iranians, but also all people around the world.

Submitted by Maria Letizia 9 on Thu, 04/04/2019 - 10:18

Permalink
I would like to advise that this video does not work. I saw it last year and used it for a lesson about Stonhenge and the class liked it a lot, so I would like to use it again, but I can't. Could you fix it?
Hello Maria, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with the video. I've checked the page and it seems to be working correctly, so I imagine it is a compatibility issue. The video is an mp4 format, so check your device/browser can play this. It's a good idea to try accessing the page on several devices to see if that helps, and to ensure that all devices/systems are fully updated, of course. Peter The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Marcos Martins on Thu, 12/07/2018 - 20:58

Permalink
To be honest, I have no idea of what the oldest monument from my culture is. But yes, I think the government should spend money, because it's our history. And I think that it's very important to know about our past.
Profile picture for user btriton

Submitted by btriton on Mon, 21/05/2018 - 13:33

Permalink
The oldest monument in my culture is Caral, was built around one thousand years ago, sorry I have never visit this place , but I will do soon, I don't believe that the government are spending money to discover new places like this, The private activity should be carrying out this job for sure.