{{short description|Type of sandstone block found in southern England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|Sarsens in a garden in Wiltshire '''Sarsen''' stones are silicified sandstone blocks found extensively across southern England on the Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire; in Kent; and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset, and Hampshire.
==Geology== Sarsen stones are the post-glacial<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Small |first1=R.J. |last2=Clark |first2=M.J. |last3=Lewin |first3=J. |title=The periglacial rock-stream at Clatford Bottom, Marlborough Downs, Wiltshire |journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association |date=January 1970 |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=87–98 |doi=10.1016/s0016-7878(70)80037-2|bibcode=1970PrGA...81...87S }}</ref> remains of a cap of Cenozoic silcrete that once covered much of southern England. This is thought to have formed during Neogene to Quaternary weathering by the silicification of Upper Paleocene Lambeth Group sediments, resulting from acid leaching.<ref name="Stewart Ullyot">{{cite journal |last1=Stewart Ullyot |first1=J. |last2=Nash |first2=D.J. |last3=Whiteman |first3=C.A. |last4=Mortimore |first4=R.N. |year=2004 |title=Distribution, petrology and mode of development of silcretes (sarsens and puddingstones) on the eastern South Downs, UK |journal=Earth Surface Processes and Landforms |volume=29 |issue=12 |pages=1509–1539 |doi=10.1002/esp.1136 |bibcode= 2004ESPL...29.1509U}}</ref>
==Etymology== There are several potential sources for the word "sarsen."
The first is that the word "sarsen" is a shortening of "Saracen stone" which arose in the Wiltshire dialect. In the Middle Ages, "Saracen" was a common name for Muslims, and came by extension to be used for anything regarded as non-Christian, whether Muslim or pagan in contrast to Christianity.<ref name="FS">{{cite book|last1=Stevens|first1=Frank|url=http://www.sarsen.org/2011_08_01_archive.html|title=Stonehenge Today & Yesterday|date=1926|publisher=HMSO|location=London|chapter=The Lithology of Stonehenge|oclc=1167089420}}</ref>
The second is that "sarsen" is a vernacular variation of the Indo-European "sasan," name given to the prehistoric vaults of the Chotanagpur plateau of Northern India.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Burl |first=Aubrey |title=Prehistoric Avebury |date=2002 |publisher=Yale University press |isbn=978-0-300-09087-1 |edition=New fully revised |location=London}}</ref>
The third possibility is that "sarsen" comes from the hybrid Anglo-Saxon "sar-stan" or 'troublesome stone.' "Sar" has the meaning of 'grievous.'<ref name=":0" />
==Human uses== The builders of Stonehenge used these stones for the Heel Stone and sarsen circle uprights.<ref>{{cite web|author=Bruce Bedlam|url=http://www.stonehenge.tv/stones.html|title=The stones of Stonehenge|access-date=16 November 2009|archive-date=30 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030072932/http://www.stonehenge.tv/stones.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/14/like-lego-rare-photo-reveals-stonehenge-construction-technique-stones|title=Like Lego: rare photo shows Stonehenge construction technique|newspaper=The Guardian|author=Steven Morris|date=14 April 2020}}</ref> Avebury and many other megalithic monuments in southern England are also built with sarsen stones.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/england/avebury.html|title=Stone ring of Avebury|work=Places of Peace and Power}}</ref>
While sarsen stones are not an ideal building material, fire and in later times explosives were sometimes employed to break the stone into pieces of a suitable size for use in construction. William Stukeley wrote that sarsen is "always moist and dewy in winter which proves damp and unwholesome, and rots the furniture".<ref>{{citation|author=William Stukely|year=1743|title=Palaeographia Britannica|volume=1}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=The Stones of Stonehenge|page=54|author=Edward Herbert Stone|year=1924}}</ref> In the case of Avebury, the investors who backed a scheme to recycle the stone were bankrupted when the houses they built proved to be unsaleable and also prone to burning down.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}} However, despite these problems, sarsen remained highly prized for its durability, being a favoured material for steps and kerb stones.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}}
==See also== * {{annotated link|Hertfordshire puddingstone}} * {{annotated link|Blowing Stone|Blowing Stone – Kingston Lisle}} * {{annotated link|Wayland's Smithy}} * {{annotated link|Fyfield Down}} * {{annotated link|Coronation Stone, Kingston upon Thames}} * {{annotated link|Ashdown House, Oxfordshire}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Commons category inline}} * [https://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=3671 Photo of Sarsens on Fyfield Down, Wiltshire] * {{cite journal |last=King |first=N. E. |title=The Kennet Valley Sarsen Industry |url=https://archive.org/details/wiltshirearchaeo6319wilt/mode/2up |journal=Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine |date=1968 |volume=63 |oclc=557553197 |issn=0262-6608 |pages=83–93 |access-date=23 November 2016}}
{{Stonehenge}}
Category:Megalithic monuments in England Category:Stone (material)