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A New Dawn for Stonehenge

26 07 2012

Stonehenge Improvements: Work Starts On Site

Work to realise the long-held vision to return Stonehenge to a more tranquil setting and improve its visitor facilities has officially started. Successful fundraising also means that virtually all of the total project cost has now been secured with only £500,000 left to raise, English Heritage has announced.

School children from Greentrees Primary School near Salisbury on a recent visit to Stonehenge.

Contractor VINCI Construction UK has taken possession of the site at Airman’s Corner, 1.5 miles to the west of the Stones, to start construction of the new exhibition and visitor building out of sight of the stone circle. In September, the Highways Agency will start work to upgrade Longbarrow Roundabout prior to the closure of the A344 in April 2013.

The £27-million project is financed almost entirely by Heritage Lottery Fund money, commercial income and philanthropic donations including significant gifts from the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Linbury Trust and the Wolfson Foundation.

A new dawn

Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: “A new dawn at Stonehenge is truly upon us. Though the stones themselves have never failed to awe visitors their setting has been a national embarrassment and disgrace. After nearly 30 years English Heritage finally has a scheme that will transform the setting of the stones and our visitor’s experience of them. The restoration of the landscape together with a major new exhibition on site will finally give our greatest and most famous monument the treatment it deserves.

“Almost all the money to achieve our vision comes from commercial or private sources. We are tremendously grateful to have so many partners and private sector sponsors supporting us along the way.”

Heritage Minister John Penrose said: “People have been talking about the project for nearly 30 years and so I’m absolutely delighted that work is finally underway to preserve this internationally recognisable prehistoric World Heritage Site, and to improve the visitor experience for those who come to marvel at it too.”

Transforming the setting of Stonehenge

The project, developed with the support of the National Trust, Wiltshire Council, the Highways Agency, and Natural England, will transform the setting of Stonehenge. The section of the A344 which currently runs past the monument – almost touching the Heel Stone – will be closed and grassed over, reuniting the stone circle with its ancient processional way and the surrounding landscape. The remaining part of the A344 will be closed to public vehicles, and will become the route of a new visitor shuttle service to the stones.

The existing outdated facilities, car park, fences and clutter near the monument will be removed. Visitors will be welcomed at the new facilities located at Airman’s Corner and, instead of approaching the stone circle from the east on a busy road, they will approach over chalk downland from the west either via a 10-min journey on the visitor shuttle, or on foot.

New exhibition, education rooms and more

A visit to the stones will, for the first time, be enhanced by a large exhibition which will tell the story of this complex site and its relationship with the wider landscape. It will feature important objects excavated near Stonehenge on loan from the Wiltshire Heritage Museum and the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum.

Sensitively designed by Denton Corker Marshall, the low-key visitor building also features education rooms and much improved amenities with full disabled access.

Visitor centre opens Autumn 2013

The Stonehenge project will be completed in two phases:

In autumn 2013, the new visitor facilities and galleries will open and the A344 will be closed to traffic. (The section of the A344 adjacent to the stones will already have been closed earlier in 2013.) Visitors will be taken to near the stones on a low-impact shuttle, with the option to disembark mid-way at a landscape viewpoint and walk to the stones from there.
By summer 2014, the existing car park, toilets, shop and fencing near the stones will have been removed and restoration of the landscape will be well underway. Visitors will be able to walk and enjoy the wider landscape and other outstanding prehistoric monuments.

Throughout the construction, Stonehenge will continue to welcome visitors as normal at its existing facilities. An opening date for the new visitor building will be announced in 2013, and the switch-over to the new facilities will be overnight so that there will be no disruption to visitors.

Visit the English Heritage website for more details: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk

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Merlin @ Stonehenge

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Categories : stonehenge funding, stonehenge landscape, Stonehenge news, Stonehenge tours, Stonehenge Visitor Centre, wiltshire, world heritage site

Stonehenge upgrade to finally begin

8 07 2012

Work to improve the environment of Stonehenge gets under way next week – after decades of wrangling and many millions spent on schemes and consultations that came to nothing

The A344 is due to close in April 2013 and the new visitor centre to open in autumn 2013

“It’s the official start,” said Renée Fok of English Heritage, which manages the World Heritage Site. “Things are finally getting done.”

The mysterious monument in Wiltshire is one of the most famous tourist sites in the world. Each year it receives more than a million visitors, half of them from overseas. But while the stones themselves continue to amaze, Stonehenge’s setting and facilities have come in for withering criticism. Simon Jenkins, the chairman of the National Trust, has called the site a “national disgrace”.

The principal problem is that Stonehenge is beset by traffic and roads – the always-busy A303, and the A344 that branches from it and passes close to the stone circle. The car parks become overcrowded in summer and the visitor centre is dated. Under the new scheme, which will cost £27 million, English Heritage promises “a landscape transformed”.

The keystone of the project is the closure of the A344, part of which will be grassed over. The existing buildings and car parks will be removed and a new “energy-efficient” visitor centre built, with a shop, café, “education space” and galleries. An adjacent coach and car park will be built 1½ miles west of the stones at Airman’s Corner.

A shuttle service will take visitors to the stones, and people will have the option of walking all or part of the way.

The scheme has received cautious approval. Nigel Swift, the chairman of Heritage Action, which is dedicated to the conservation of Britain’s prehistoric sites, expressed “sheer relief and gratitude that a nightmare that has lasted for many decades is over”.

Frank Somers of the Amesbury and Stonehenge Druids, who regard the site as a temple, said he was “broadly happy that some improvements are finally scheduled to happen”.

The A344 is due to close in April 2013 and the new visitor centre to open in autumn 2013. The area of the existing buildings will be returned to grass by the summer of the following year. Stonehenge will remain open during the building work. For more information, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge.

Aricle by By Nigel Richardson – Telegraph

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Merlin says “All good for wiltshire tourism”
Merlins @ Stonehenge Stone Circle

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Stonehenge visitor centre preparation work begins

26 06 2012

Preparation work has begun ahead of building a new multi million-pound visitor centre near Stonehenge.

Pre-construction tests are being carried out at the site and work on the centre itself will begin next month.

The visitor centre is expected to open in autumn 2013

The tests aim to see if a ground water source can provide sufficient drinking water and energy for a year-round heating/cooling system for the centre.The centre, about a mile-and-a-half (2.4km) west of the prehistoric stones, is expected to open in autumn 2013.

A Grade-II listed Airman’s Cross memorial at nearby Airman’s Corner will be re-sited in the grounds of the centre.

Link source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-18590301

Link: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/our-plans/

Sponsored by ‘The stonehenge Tour Company’ www.StonehengeTours.com

Merlin @ Stonehenge

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Stonehenge: Closure of A344 near monument to go ahead

1 01 2012

Plans to close a main road running past Stonehenge are to go ahead.

An aerial view of Stonehenge without the A344 road

English Heritage wants to stop traffic from travelling close to the stones and “restore the dignity” of the World Heritage Site by closing the A344.

The road from the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom to west of the visitor centre has already been approved for closure.

Now, following a public inquiry, Wiltshire Council has approved an independent inspector’s report to close the remaining section of road.

In June 2010 the council granted planning permission for a new visitors centre at Airman’s Corner, 1.5 miles (2km) west of Stonehenge.

And in November, roads minister Mike Penning approved plans to close an 879m (2,884ft) section of the A344 from its junction with the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom with a stopping up order.

Byways remain open

Now the council has approved a traffic regulation order (TRO) for the remainder of the A344 to Airman’s Corner.

But proposals to close a number of byways around the ancient monument were refused.

Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon said the inspector’s recommendations and resulting council decision had “erred on the side of common sense”.

“I invited the inspector to recommend a modification to the order be made in that should the stopping up order be placed on the lower section of the A344 the remaining section of the metalled road be restricted by a traffic regulation order as requested.

“And he recommended that the proposed TRO be made with modification to the A344 only, leaving the byways in the World Heritage Site still open to all traffic, as they have been.”

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-16352307

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Merlin says “Good news”

Merlin @ Stonehenge

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Stonehenge ‘should be lit at night’ campaigner claims

29 11 2011

Calls for Stonehenge to be lit up at night to capitalise on its appeal have been resisted by experts who claim it would spoil enjoyment of the prehistoric Wiltshire monument.

I was listening to this discussion on Radio 2 (Chris Evans) this morning so thought I would share this article by Andy Bloxham in the Telegraph today

Some people believe Stonehenge should be lit at night

After years of little progress, a multi-million-pound development plan was recently adopted to improve the site, which abuts the busy A303.

However, some people believe more could be done to ensure that Stonehenge can be appreciated around the clock.

They suggest the ancient stone circle could be lit at night “like the pyramids in Egypt or Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome”.

The discussion became a national debate when Lady Mimi Pakenham, of Warminster, in Wiltshire, raised it in a newspaper.

She said: “The magic of Stonehenge could be shared every evening with all who pass, many of whom can’t afford a ticket, just as it was a magical place thousands of years ago, sometimes with the Moon and clouds shining as well.

With subtle lighting sunk well out of view and endless possibilities of solar energy, the monumental power of ancient man’s achievement in another age would inspire all who pass by.

“Perhaps in depressing times a cocktail of cost-free magic is the very least we can expect from the guardians of the national heritage.”

However, some archaeologists disagreed.

Clive Ruggles, a professor of archaeoastronomy – the study of how ancient cultures understood the sky, said seeing Stonehenge alongside the stars was a key part of its appeal.

He said: “Stonehenge is iconic of the connections between ancient monuments and the sky, not only with strong connections to the annual cycles of the Sun but also very likely to the Moon and stars.

“Lighting up the monument would cut the visual connection between the monument and the starry night sky at a stroke.”

A number of groups, including the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Astronomical Union, have been working alongside English Heritage for several years to try to preserve as dark a night sky as possible in the area.

They have also been exploring ways in which “night tourism” might be permitted and encouraged in the future, Prof Ruggles said.

However, the debate is likely to only make the ongoing struggle to acceptably improve the site more knotted.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/archaeology/8922352/Stonehenge-should-be-lit-at-night-campaigner-claims.html

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Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Haulage companies set to by bypass Stonehenge

5 11 2011

Fleet drivers will have to seek alternative routes when travelling through the county of Wiltshire later next year, following an announcement that roads around Stonehenge will be closed.

The news came after roads minister Mike Penning backed plans for a £3.5 million investment in diverting traffic away from Stonehenge in a bid to reduce congestion in the area.

Under the plans, the 879m length section of the A344 and its junction with the A303 will be closed.

Along with this, a 263m length segment of the B3086 and its junction with the A344 are also set to be closed under the scheme.

According to Mr Penning, further improvement will see “increased capacity delivered on the A360/A303 at Longbarrow Crossroads”, to compensate for the stopped up roads around Stonehenge.

The move was greeted positively by English Heritage, with Stonehenge project director Lorraine Knowles calling it “necessary in order to enable the Stonehenge Environmental Improvements Project to proceed”.

“It will significantly improve the experience of visitors to the Stonehenge monument and facilitate greater access to the wider World Heritage Site landscape,” she said.

At present, the Highways Agency is set to finish improvements to the Longbarrow roundabout in the area before closing the roads near the site from next year

Hope that will stop them ‘honking’ their horns as they travel passed as well (noisy bas***ds)

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Where will they go ?

Merlin ‘ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Categories : stonehenge 2012, stonehenge guide, stonehenge map, Stonehenge news, stonehenge photograph, Stonehenge tours, Stonehenge Visitor Centre, visit salisbury, wiltshire, world heritage site

Campaign launched to bring back Stonehenge Solstice Festival

3 11 2011

A CAMPAIGNhas been launched to bring back a summer solstice festival to

Stoneheneg free festival flyer

Stonehenge after more than 25 years.

Paul Hegarty travels from his home in London to Stonehenge four times a year and he is behind the campaign to see a legal, organised festival on land next to the ancient stones.

“We want to see the return of a festival site. Stonehenge is getting a lot of people turning up for the summer solstice, between 15,000 and 30,000, and the site just isn’t big enough,” he said. “We want to see the return of a more communal festival,” he said.

Mr Hegarty, 45, is currently in talks with English Heritage and the National Trust, who own the land, about whether or not it’s possible.

He said: “I’m waiting for something positive to come back and I would like to gauge the feelings of local people.”

The last solstice festival took place at Stonehenge in 1985 and it was stopped by police following rioting and violence but Mr Hegarty says after 26 years it is time for a legal, organised, licensed festival site.

He is asking for people to write to him with their thoughts to 725 Hobart House, Wandsworth Road, London, SW8 2JB

Sponsored by ‘The Stonehenge Tour Company’ www.StonehengeTours.com

Stonehenge Free Festival Campaign

Link: http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/henge-menu.html
Link: http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/

Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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Stonehenge A344 road closure approved

1 11 2011

Plans to close a main road running past Stonehenge have been backed by the government following a public inquiry.

An aerial view of Stonehenge without the A344 road

English Heritage wanted to stop traffic from travelling close to the stones and “restore the dignity” of the World Heritage Site by closing the A344.

Following a public inquiry, an independent inspector recommended part of the road could be closed off.

Roads minister Mike Penning has approved the plans and £3.5m will be used to improve nearby roads.

In June 2010 Wiltshire Council granted planning permission for a new visitors centre at Airman’s Corner, 1.5 miles (2km) west of Stonehenge.

At the public inquiry, opponents claimed the plans would give English Heritage a monopoly on access to the site.

The scheme will see an 879 metre section of the A344 from its junction with the A303 closed.

Part of the B3086 from its junction with the A344 will also be closed and “increased capacity” added at Longbarrow Crossroads.

A decision over the remainder of the A344 and other byways will be decided by Wiltshire Council.

“This is an important contribution to improve the setting of the monument and ensure its preservation as an iconic World Heritage Site,” said Mr Penning.

LINK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-15540031

Sponsored by the ;Stonehenge Tour Company’ www.StonehengeTours.com

Merlin @Stonehenge

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‘Standing Stones’ at Famous Wiltshire Site to be moved to London!

2 10 2011

Following discussions with the government the famous ancient standing stones of Wiltshire’s ‘Stonehenge‘ are not going to have to be destroyed after all. Instead they are to be carefully taken down from there present site at Amesbury then relocated to a new permanent site on East London’s Hackney Marshes. The idea is to have the job completed in time for the start of next summer’s Olympic Games.

Stonehenge megaliths to be moved to London

“Hackney Marshes is a stones throw from the Olympic park” said Prime Minister David Cameron after announcing the decision from number 10 yesterday, “so the many thousands of overseas visitors coming to watch the games next summer will also be able to visit the ancient stone circle and take some photos of them without having to take a long journey to Wiltshire. The M4 can also be hard going for drivers at that time of the year what with resurfacing work of the M4 usually taking place to coincide with Britain’s summer holiday period, and the many caravans being towed along the motorway as drivers head for the Devon and Cornish resorts with their families.”

Wiltshire’s councillors took the decision to order the removal of the large circle of standing stones from the hill at Amesbury after a sharp eyed official at their offices in Salisbury discovered they had no records to show planning permission had ever been granted for there erection.

The original purpose of erecting the stones is uncertain, though it is now thought most likely that they were intended just as the first few stones of what would then go on to become a giant pyramid, though Wiltshire council admit there is no evidence to show the construction was then abandoned when planning permission was turned down.

“The fact remains that there are no records to show planning permission was ever granted even for the stones that are there,” say Wiltshire council. “We feel that under the circumstances it would be wrong for us to make an exception in this case simply because of the long time they’ve already been there. Council rules clearly state that planning permission has to be obtained before erecting any intended permanent building or structure over six feet high. They are a lot higher than that, and the rules mean that these monstrous eyesores have to go.”

The first of the smaller standing stones was in the process of being removed from the hill near Salisbury this morning. It is expected to be standing on it’s new site on Hackney Marshes as early as tomorrow evening (Sunday). It should be clearly visible to people heading into work on Monday morning from the Essex side of London, and clearly visible to them from the flyover just after and on the opposite side from where the old Hackney greyhound stadium, now part of the Olympic Park, used to be.

Once all the old Stonehenge standing stones have been removed from the Wiltshire site the plan is to build a much needed new supermarket on the old Stonehenge hill.

“This will create much needed jobs in the area,” said a Wiltshire council spokesperson, “and the new supermarket will be erecting replica plastic standing stones for any tourists to admire and take some snaps of.”

Its not all serious…………..
Fictious story from ‘The Spoof’ website – http://www.thespoof.com/

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Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge Stone Circle Website

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The Stonehenge Landscape

8 09 2011

Stonehenge is the best known of all the prehistoric monuments in the British Isles and probably also in Europe. Along with the Neolithic monuments around Avebury situated 28km to the north, it forms a UNESCO recognised World Heritage Site (WHS), the parts of which are separated by the southern edge of the Marlborough Downs, Pewsey Vale and the Salisbury Plain military training area.

Much of the Avebury portion of the WHS, along with the military ranges, has been investigated from an archaeological landscape perspective during recent decades, as has the area to the south and west of the WHS, but ironically the Stonehenge area has not been treated in this way and it lacks the solid base of landscape surveys on which to build interpretations and understanding. The fresh Government-led imperative to ensure that new visitor facilities are in place by 2012 demands the provision of modern archaeological site plans, interpretations and other data which can feed into educational and presentational programmes as well as serving academic, management and conservation needs.

English Heritage are therefore undertaking an analytical landscape investigation of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. This draws upon the considerable existing work provided by excavation, aerial, metric and geophysical survey but it fills a gap in this suite because there has been no modern detailed survey of the earthworks and other upstanding historicphysical remains within the Site – the barrow cemeteries, field systems and linear ditches, but also the tracks, ponds and military remains of more recent date.

Consequently there are no adequate plans of most of the upstanding archaeological remains within the WHS and no synthesis of the landscape history, especially in regard to its medieval and post-medieval phases. Analytical earthwork survey and analysis,supported by aerial survey and lidar data, is the key to understanding landscape change and will provide the framework in which individual small-scale site specific interventions can rest. Recommendations for other work, eg geophysical survey or coring to explore the extent of buried land surfaces, may arise from this.

The knowledge gained from this project is needed to inform displays in the new Visitor Centre, but also to inform various ongoing management issues, such as visitor pressure, and animal burrowing. The requirements of the new Visitor Centre include the best possible visualisation of the stones and their environs; digital terrain modelling of the surrounding land surface will provide the latter while it is hoped that laser scanning of the former will complete the package
For further detaisl visit: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

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Merlin @ Stonehenge
The Stonehenge News Website