More than a million people visit Stonehenge in England each year. It’s a popular tourist destination, but did you know there’s something similar right here in Wisconsin?
While it’s not prehistoric like Stonehenge, Kinstone is a sculpture garden that also features massive stones arranged in different circles and patterns.
Kristine Beck founded the park in 2011. She calls in a modern megalithic site.
"Kinstone is similar to Stonehenge and other ancient megalithic circles in that it is a circle of standing stones, and that's about where the similarity kind of ends. The first circle that I created is the largest one at Kinstone, and it is called the Great Stone Circle. And I do have two other stone circles on the property that are made up of smaller boulders," Beck explains.
You'll find about 15 stone features on a picturesque hillside in western Wisconsin including a labyrinth and a dolmen.
"So far to date, I've brought about 189 granite standing stones and boulders to the land. And in addition, we've built some artistic structures here. There are three cordwood buildings and a light straw-clay cabin. In 2013, I planted 1.5 acres of native prairie. And that has since spread out quite a bit and it is full of pollinators and birds and all kinds of life," Beck says.
Beck says the thatched-roof cordwood chapel is the crown jewel of the park.
"It's just an exquisite example of a thatched roof, beautiful artistic building. About 110 people worked on the chapel...it's a hexagonal building and it has this beautiful petrified wood," Beck describes.
On September 22nd, Kinstone will hold an Autumnal Equinox event at sunset to celebrate the changing of the seasons. There will also be an event the following morning at sunrise. Beck says some of the sculptures at the park were specifically designed to observe the seasonal solstices and equinoxes.
Just as important as the sculptures in the park are the feelings that people experience on a visit.
"I really needed a place to be, that was connected to the land, that was connected to the beauty of the place and to living things. And I needed a piece of peace amidst chaos. And so I started creating this," Beck says.
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