Unhenged

Written by Dr Eamonn Butler
Wednesday, 02 August 2006
The first aerial photograph of Stonehenge was taken 100 years ago this week. And English Heritage , which controls this World Heritage Site, is thinking about how to present the monument over the next 100 years. The 'problem' is that the main A303 road goes within sight of Stonehenge, and the A344 branches off right past it, leading to the car park just yards away from the stones. But traffic makes it hard to appreciate the ancient landscape, says English Heritage. So they want to put the main road into a miles-long (and hugely expensive) tunnel, close the A344, and build a grand new state-of-the art visitor centre with a fine vista of the whole area. But it means a very long walk if you actually want to get near to the stones. And it forgets that 99% or more of people who see Stonehenge do so from the A303 as they come over the Amesbury ridge. It is one of the most thrilling sights in the world, and engages thousands of people with the monument; but it would be lost under this plan. Another option is a shorter tunnel (not quite so hugely expensive), though the purists still object that cars would be visible from the monument. So the debate between cost and purity carries on. A much better idea is that proposed by Heritage Action : simply to grass over the A344 spur. Access to the monument would be gained by going past it on the A303 to the Longbarrow crossroads, and turning right and right again on existing roads, to the car park – which is indeed right next to the stones, but in a natural hollow that renders it invisible from them. To me, this seems an eminently sensible solution. It is cheap, effective, quick to achieve. It greatly improves the vista, it allows easy access for visitors, and allows thousands of motorists to continue enjoying the sight of the monument from the main road. Far better than a hugely costly quango-cratic plan that sees human beings as somehow soiling the stones. But who were they built for originally? Bookmark Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. Powered by Azrul's Jom Comment for Joomla!