Video: Summer solstice celebrated at Stonehenge despite rain English Heritage put the crowd at the summer festival at 14,500, well below figures which typically hover around 20,000. But through the wind and rain, drummers inside the ancient stone circle kept up their thumping rhythm, new age pagans kept up their chaotic dance, and visitors kept up their sense of humour. The ancient stone circle on the Salisbury Plain about 80 miles southwest of London, was built in three phases between 3000 BC and 1600 BC. It is one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions with over 850,000 visitors a year. Mr Somers added: "People were standing where we are standing today and celebrating 5,000 years ago and they will probably still be doing so in 5,000 years time." The climax of the ceremony, which took place at the pockmarked Heel Stone at the edge of Stonehenge, involved chants of "All hail the sun!" even though the sun was nowhere to be seen amid the thin grey-white fog that settled around the Stonehenge's muddy fields.