A RETIRED building engineer believes Stonehenge was built on the edge of the largest hot water lake in Europe.

Simon Mallon from Frome, says his research, conducted over six years, has revealed that the prehistoric landmark was not built “in the middle of a mundane chalk landscape” but on the eastern edge of a lake.

Mr Mallon believes the lake stretched from the Avon gorge near Bristol and was rich in sulphates that would have dissolved limestone. An ice sheet blocked river outfalls on what is now the Somerset coast, causing a lake to form on land now occupied by Bristol and Bath.

He said although Stonehenge is well positioned for astronomical observations, that is not the only reason the ancients constructed it where they did.

He said: “The Neolithic sites of Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Orchardleigh and Durrington Walls are all built on contour 100m. The same height as the top of Clifton gorge. I suggest they were built at the edge of the largest lake in Europe and hot water, to boot.”

Some of Mr Mallon’s ideas are in his book Edge of the Blue, which is published by Pegasus.