Stukeley was one of the initial learned gentlemen to be attracted to speculative freemasonry. His Diary and Commonplace Book of June 6, 1721 says "I was made a Freemason at the Salutation Tavistock Street, with Mr. Collins, Capt. Rowe, who made the famous diving Engine."

It may be his medical education that gave him his acute eye for detailed observation - a quality that makes the 'Itinerarium' a valuable record of monuments, buildings and towns before they were subjected to the ravages of the agricultural and industrial revolutions. He deplored the destruction of monuments and realized the significance of recording accurately what he saw as a way of preserving information about the past.

In 1718 he became the first secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London. His activities in the field included excavations at Stonehenge and Avebury, in 1742 he visited the Royston Cave at Royston, Hertfordshire and a year later he published his Palaeographia Britannica or discourses on Antiquities in Britain no. I, Origines Roystonianae, or an account of the Oratory of lady Roisia, Foundress of Royston discovered in Royston in August. He was enthralled by the Druids and made complex descriptions of their practices and beliefs.

However, he was also the first to recognize the alignment of Stonehenge on the solstices, and saw the value of exploring the wider relationship between monuments and putting them into their landscape context.

In true Enlightenment fashion, Stukeley's interests were wide. He was interested in other aspects of British history, including the story of Robin Hood, wrote music for the flute and produced treatises on earthquakes and medical subjects. In 1730, he changed career and was ordained as vicar of All Saints Church in Stamford in Lincolnshire.

Stukeley died in London on 3 March 1765