Kathy & Ron Dew Great Britain and Ireland: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford University

Taking a day off from the London sights, we decided to take a day tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. We had planned to visit these places at the beginning of the trip ... so it worked out well to catch a one day tour.

Windsor Castle is the official home of England's royal family for over 900 years. The Queen frequents Windsor and conducts many of her state functions here.

A portion of Windsor Castle

Another portion of Windsor Castle

The central tower of Windsor Castle

St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle where many royals are buried including Henry VIII and Charles I (the only English king that was beheaded (but they sewed the head back on for burial)

Stonehenge was a significant location for prehistoric peoples ... but no one really fully understands the how or why of Stonehenge. Maybe it's enough to appreciate that this man-made structure that was built over 3,000 years ago is still standing.

Note the size of the people in the distance compared to the stones.

Stonehenge is the only stone circle that uses lintels (horizontal cross-pieces) on top of the standing stones. The top of the standing stones are actually grooved to support the lintels.

Stonehenge is thought to have been built in phases between 3000 and 1500 B.C. It still functions as an accurate celestial calendar.

The "Henge" is the ditch that surrounds the stone circle. Beyond the ditch appear to be agricultural fields.

However, the mounds in the fields are actually prehistoric burial grounds.

From just a short distance away this appears to be just a random circle of stones in a field.

Oxford is more than the university (it actually has in its suburbs one of England's most important car factories) ... but Oxford University, consisting of 36 colleges, is the identity of Oxford. The colleges of the university were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. The colleges were built along the lines of monastic buildings, since at the time of their creation, scholarship was the domain of the church.