English Heritage says it has unearthed what is believed to be the earliest family photo ever taken at Stonehenge.

The charity had asked the public to send in pictures of the famous neolithic Wiltshire monument to mark 100 years of publlc ownership.

Among the 1,000 plus snaps are some from 1875, which experts believe are the oldest family photos at Stonehenge.

The oldest picture without a family dates from 1853.

One picture shows the group sitting on the stones – which is now only allowed on special occasions – with a picnic rug and what appears to be a bottle of champagne.

In another, some of them are in a horse-drawn carriage.

“They’re wearing fashionable outfits and hats,” said English Heritage historian Susan Greaney.

“Right up until the 1920s and ’30s people did dress up for days out like this, in their Sunday best, suits and hats.”

The pictures will feature alongside more than 140 others, in the Your Stonehenge exhibition which runs from today to late August 2020 at Stonehenge.

Also included will be more modern pictures, such as the snap by photographer Martin Parr of a couple kissing in front of the stones during the 2019 Autumn Equinox. He now wants to track down the pair.

Ms Greaney said: “The exhibition shows how photography has changed – the rise of the selfie stick and the smartphone and how taking a photograph is a very different thing now.

“The way that people pose – people’s faces have got closer to the camera until they are taking a picture of themselves more than they are of Stonehenge.”

Of the possibility of finding an older family photograph, she said: “It would be quite nice if somebody comes forward and says ‘We’ve got an earlier one’.”

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