Norman Couple Recreate Stonehenge In Time For Summer Solstice

Stonehenge has been a source of mystery and intrigue for centuries.

Archaeologists still don't know why it was built roughly 5,000 years ago. The monument is aligned with the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

Norman resident Dr. Jack Beller is one of the many that is fascinated by the prehistoric landmark.

"The more I read, the more interested I became," Dr. Beller said.

Dr. Beller, who is an avid gardener, wasn't content to just read about it.

"Eventually I thought, I think I can build one of those,” he said.

Dr. Beller and his wife, Ruth, got to work planning and assembling a 1/9th-scale model over the course of three months in 2006, using some tools the original builders didn't have.

"Now, you can get on the internet and find anything you want,” Dr. Beller said. “Just started digging holes, and Ruth and I put the rocks in.”

The weather didn't quite cooperate this year, but Jack and Ruth built the model, so that you can experience the sunrise in Norman almost exactly like visitors at Stonehenge do every year on the Summer Solstice.

"Standing at this spot, you look between these stones and those stones and over that stone, to get where the sun comes up,” Dr. Beller said.

A site that Jack and Ruth saw in full scale 10 years after building their model.

"Walking up to it, it was almost an ethereal experience,” he said. “I kind of knew every rock that was out there."

Jack isn't sure if he'll add another landmark to the backyard, but he does have one in mind.

"I keep thinking about doing the great pyramid,” Dr. Beller said. “I got a spot out there it would fit."