If you have been browsing the news this week, you may have seen the breathtaking images captured by renowned photographer Andrew Fusek Peters. His photos, featured (so far!)by the Daily Mail and Birmingham Mail and others, show a “mesmerising rainbow of light” flooding the inner chamber of the Soulton Long Barrow.
2025 Winter Solstice light in Soulton Log Barrow (Copyright Andrew Fusek Peters)
2025 Winter Solstice light in Soulton Log Barrow (Copyright Andrew Fusek Peters)
2025 Winter Solstice light in Soulton Log Barrow (Copyright Andrew Fusek Peters)
2025 Winter Solstice light in Soulton Log Barrow (Copyright Andrew Fusek Peters)
2025 Winter Solstice light in Soulton Log Barrow (Copyright Andrew Fusek Peters)
2025 Winter Solstice light in Soulton Log Barrow (Copyright Andrew Fusek Peters)
As the sun reached its lowest point on December 17th, the light passed perfectly through our stained-glass window, illuminating the stone chamber in a spectrum of vibrant color. As Andrew described it, the transformation felt “like something from Indiana Jones.”
We wish to correct the claim found in some articles that the Soulton Long Barrow dates back 5,000 years. It is a modern structure completed in 2021, though its design is deeply rooted in Neolithic heritage.
The “Solstice Rainbow” is a deliberate piece of design. The window was strategically aligned so that for just ten minutes, once a year, the setting midwinter sun hits the glass at the perfect angle.
We are grateful to Andrew for capturing this fleeting moment so beautifully, using both high-end equipment and his iPhone 16 Pro Max to show that even modern technology can capture the magic of ancient-style architecture.
