Channel Five's ambitious Stonehenge Live project featured two live programmes set within a 360-degree replica of the famous monument, built by ourselves. Aired in June 05 the monument was used as the centrepiece for a number of experiments and discussions focussing on how the original Stonehnge was built, transported and constructed. The model was also the focus for a documentary for National Gepgraphic in the USA.

Our own experience of building the model was vastly different from those who built the original! After quickly realising that our studios were simply not big enough to house the model we set about finding alternative accomodation where we could build what turned out to be over 170 different stones.

We found an MoD logistics depot in Bicester that had around 10,000sq ft of workspace. The great advantage was that the space had a railway running through the workshop and the whole site was linked to the national rail network, enabling us to transport the finished set to the location for installation at half the cost of road transport. We hired our own train with 22 carriges/trucks and then had a 20 mile road journey, requiring 14 trips with 45ft long curtain sider trucks, to the final location, on a hill overlooking Salisbury Plain.

With a short timescale we swiftly decided upon a method of construction; polystyrene sheet was used for the sides of the stones, enabling us to carve and shape stones in an individual manner. An internal frame of thick cardboard tubes gave the structure strength and location sockets were placed in the corners to sit upon posts at the location. Once carved, the blocks were sprayed with a stone finish paint with a little dust of silver to provide a crystaline sparkle. When completed, the diametre of the Sarsen ring of stones was 30metres.

We were very lucky with the weather whist installing the set on location, because of the lightness of the blocks we had to keep them tethered with guy ropes, but two days before the deadline the wind became very strong and the rain swept horizontally across the top of the hill. We lost two sarsens, one heel stone and four sarsen lintels, but because of the construction technique used they were easily repairable on site.