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Chalk stones in place ahead of opening of new henge

Tony Fisher
BBC News, Bedfordshire
Matthew Rosier Workmen wearing high vis jackets with a digger working on what looks like a quarry but is in fact the start of a new henge. Large chalk stones form a circle and in the middle a workman is hammering something. There are trees in the background.Matthew Rosier
The chalk stones came from the Totternhoe quarry on the Dunstable Downs

Eight stones have been installed at the site of a new henge and land artwork project.

Luton Henge is being built at Marsh Farm, close to the town's ancient earthwork, Waulud's Bank, which sits at the source of the River Lea in Bedfordshire.

The eight stones have been carved from clunch - a type of chalk material quarried at Totternhoe on the nearby Dunstable Downs.

Matthew Rosier, the artist working on the project with Revoluton Arts and Nature Calling, said the team were "using the last ever stones from this ancient quarry, which has been used since Roman times".

Mr Rosier said that chalk "defines so much of all we love in" the Chilterns and Luton landscapes and was a "connecting material between distant, current and future occupants".

As well as chalk Luton Henge will be made up of sculptures and landworks from stone, earth and wood using the same local materials that would have been used in prehistoric times.

Tony Fisher/BBC Eight chalk stones form a circle as part of a new henge. There are trees in the background and the stones are surrounded by wispy grass.Tony Fisher/BBC
Eight standing stones are oriented toward key seasonal, local, and global landmarks

The site for Luton Henge is a former BMX track and Mr Rosier wanted to recognise and celebrate the efforts of the young people who fundraised to create the track more than 20 years ago.

The existing earth will be reused - to minimise disruption to the site - and it will be re-wilded as a chalk grassland meadow, introducing native wildflowers, grasses, plants and shrubs.

Matthew Rosier A circle of small stones with a rock in the middle. Outside the circle is a wheelbarrow full of chalk and there is an outer circle of big chalk stones.Matthew Rosier
The former BMX site is being transformed into the henge

Mr Rosier said: "This was going to be a temporary artwork originally, but through the process of working on-site, the community workshops and researching the history, the idea for Luton Henge evolved.

"A contemporary new gathering space for the residents in and around Luton to host activities and festivals plays to what is important to our wellbeing in these times - a connection to the landscapes and the people around us."

When it opens next month the space will be free to use as a formal and informal community gathering and leisure space.

To celebrate the opening on 26 July, there will be a dawn-to-dusk summer festival hosted by Nature Calling.

Tony Fisher/BBC A wooden bench in the foreground with chalk stones in the background with trees beyond.Tony Fisher/BBC
Benches carved from locally sourced wood will be placed along the perimeter of the site

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