Stonehenge (25 page)
Authors: Rosemary Hill
THE AGE OF AQUARIUS
A Sentimental and Practical Guide to Amesbury and Stonehenge compiled by Lady Antrobus
(1900) was the first guidebook of the twentieth century after the fence had gone up.
The Gate of Remembrance
, by F. Bligh Bond (Oxford, 1918), describes his Glastonbury seances. John Piper’s caustic account of his disappointing visit was published as ‘Stonehenge’ in the
Architectural Review
, 106 (1949), 177–82.
England and the Octopus
(London, 1928) and
On Trust for the Nation
(London, 1949), both by Clough Williams-Ellis, place Stonehenge in the context of pre- and post-war landscape, and two of Paul Nash’s Avebury-inspired paintings,
Landscape of the Megaliths
and
Equivalents for the Megaliths
, are in Tate Britain in London.
The revival of interest in Alfred Watkins and his ideas is discussed in ‘Notes Towards a Social History of Ley-hunting’ by Roger Sandell, based on ‘a talk given largely extempore, at the Anglo-French UFO meeting held at Hove in March 1988’, in
Magonia
, 29 (April 1988). The reputation of William Gowland has been steadily rising in recent years, largely due to the research of Simon Kaner. His ‘William Gowland (1842–1922): Pioneer of Japanese Archaeology’ appeared in
Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits
, Vol. VI, edited by H. Cortazzi (Folkstone, 2007).
The modern astronomical accounts of Stonehenge begin with
Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered
, by Sir Norman Lockyer (1906; second edition, London, 1909) and the debate starts with
Stonehenge Decoded
, by Gerald S. Hawkins in collaboration with John B. White (London, 1966). Hawkins’s book is easy to read if less easy, on reflection, to understand. ‘Moonshine on Stonehenge’, by Richard Atkinson,
Antiquity
(September 1966), was one of the first refutations of Hawkins’s case and does at least engage with the arguments.
On Stonehenge
, by Fred Hoyle (London, 1977), contains the articles previously published in
Antiquity
on the astronomical implications and is difficult to follow without some specialist knowledge. In
Secrets of the Stones: The Story of Astro-archaeology
(Harmondsworth, 1977) John Michell takes a lucid if particular view of the whole debate as it reflects on human beings, ancient and modern. His
The View over Atlantis
(London, 1969) was the manifesto of the earth mysteries movement. John North’s
Stonehenge: Neolithic Man and the Cosmos
(London, 1996), described as
‘a controversial throwback’, surveys the astronomical arguments from the point of view of a historian of science and is a dense but interesting read. The best and least partial academic study of the whole subject is
Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland
, by Clive Ruggles (New Haven and London, 1999), which discusses the ideas and their fraught history with fairness and humour. The story of the counterculture on Salisbury Plain is told in Andy Worthington’s witty and well-researched
Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion
(Loughborough, 2004). The Stonehenge sequence from
Spinal Tap
is on YouTube (
www.youtube.com
).
Outdated in some ways and overshadowed by the decline in his professional reputation, Richard Atkinson’s
Stonehenge
(Pelican edition, Harmondsworth, 1960) is nevertheless still a good read, a model, however flawed, of popular science writing. The recent troubles on Salisbury Plain were first tackled in print by Christopher Chippindale, who edited
Who Owns Stonehenge?
(London, 1990).
The Trials of Arthur: The Life and Times of a Modern-day King
, by Arthur Pendragon and Christopher James Stone (London, 2003), tells the story of Arthur’s remarkable life as a man and as an absurdist figure of protest. ‘Stonehenge: The Saga Continues’, by Elizabeth Young and Wayland Kennet,
Journal of Architectural Conservation
, 3 (November 2000), 70–85, recounts attempts to improve the site up to the millennium. To take the story further see
The Stonehenge Saga
, available on the Council for British Archaeology website,
www.britarch.ac.uk
, which brings events up to the present with links to other relevant sites and documents.
The A303 Stonehenge Improvement Review
is available as a PDF download in two parts from the Highways Agency website,
www.highways.gov.uk
.
‘The Age of Stonehenge’,
Antiquity
(September 2007), 617–39, by Mike Parker Pearson and thirteen others, is the most recent publication on the current research. News of current developments and discussions can be found in many places on the internet but the website
www.savestonehenge.org.uk
is probably a good place to start.
Endpapers: From William Stukeley’s
Stonehenge
, 1740
1
. Stonehenge and the surrounding area.
2
. A plan of the central part of the monument showing the numbering of the stones.
3
. Aerial view (courtesy of SacredSites.com).
4
. Drawing from a Scala Mundi, or Chronicle of the World,
c
. 1440–41. (Photo © Bm de Douai).
5
. The Wicker Man from Aylett Sammes’s
Britannia Antiqua Illustrata
of 1676.
6
. A drawing from William Stukeley’s manuscript. (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Gough Maps 229, fol. 107r.)
7
. Stukeley’s view looking up the Avenue. (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, Gough Maps 229, fol. 51r.)
8
. The figure of the Druid as he appeared in Stukeley’s
Stonehenge
of 1740.
9
. From William Cunnington and Richard Colt Hoare’s
Ancient History of Wiltshire
, 1810–12, a plate illustrating the four most important theoretical reconstructions to date.
10
. The ‘Grand Conventional Festival of the Britons’
from
Costumes of the Original Inhabitants of the British Isles
, by Samuel Rush Meyrick and Charles Hamilton Smith, 1815.
11
. Inigo Jones’s piazza and the church of St Paul, Covent Garden, by Wenceslaus Hollar,
c.
1658.
12
. The Circus, Bath, designed by John Wood and begun in 1754. (Photograph by Gavin Stamp, 1982).
13
. Plan of Bath, adapted from ‘John Wood and the English Town-Planning Tradition’ in
Heavenly Mansions
, by John Summerson.
14
. An unbuilt design by Andrew Mahaddie for the Central Park at Milton Keynes, 1975–6. (Illustration courtesy of Andrew Mahaddie.)
15
. Turner’s watercolour view of Stonehenge, engraved by Robert Wallis, 1829.
16
. William Blake’s
Jerusalem
.
17
. The miniature ‘Stonehenge’ at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, from
An Encyclopedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture
, by J. C. Loudon, 1835.
18
. John Britton’s grave, in West Norwood Cemetery, under a single megalith. (Photograph by Gavin Stamp, 2008).
19
. John Britton’s ‘Celtic Cabinet’ made in about 1824 in the shape of a trilithon. (Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society).
20
. James Barry’s
King Lear Weeping over the Body of Cordelia
, 1786–7, Tate, London 2008
21
. Diagram from Charles Darwin’s
The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms
, published in 1881.
22
.
The First Preaching of Christianity in Britain
, by J. R. Herbert, 1842, from an engraving of 1847 by Charles George Lewis.
23
. Astronomer John Herschel’s drawing of Stonehenge made on 12 August 1865 using a camera lucida and a camera lucida from the
Magazine of Science
, 1840. (Courtesy of Mac Holbert.)
24
. A tourist photograph of about 1896. (Courtesy of Peter Carson).
25
.
Punch
cartoon, 30 August, 1899.
26
. George MacGregor Reid and his fellow members of the Universal Bond of the Sons of Men celebrating the summer solstice, in 1913 or 1914 in front of curious onlookers. (Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.)
27
. Restoration of the monument, 1919. (© Crown copyright HMR.)
28
. Architect Clough Williams-Ellis’s critique from his book
England and the Octopus
, 1928.
29
. Edward McKnight Kauffer’s poster for Shell, printed in 1931.
30
. A diagram from Gerald Hawkins’s
Stonehenge Decoded
, 1966.
31
. Battle of the Beanfield, June 1985. (Photo courtesy of Tim Malyon.)
32
. Royal Mail celebratory stamp, 1990.
33
. Louis Hellman’s Martians, January 2008,
Architects’ Journal
. (Courtesy of the artist.)
34
. Watching for the sunrise, 2006.
I am grateful to Dave Batchelor of English Heritage, who cast an expert archaeologist’s eye over parts of the text and arranged for me to visit Stonehenge outside public opening hours, and to Mike Parker Pearson, who kindly shared his latest findings with me. Anne Janowitz and Gavin Stamp read parts of the book and commented on it constructively. Neil Mortimer helped me with images from Stukeley’s
Stonehenge
; Jan Piggott scanned his copy of Turner’s engraving and Calista Lucy delivered it to me. Jeremy Harte of the Bourne Hall Museum, Surrey, gave an inspiring lecture on John Aubrey and fairy tradition which prompted useful trains of thought and he patiently answered my questions afterwards; Michael Hall directed my reading on Lyell and Darwin; Larry Schaaf and Howard Mitchell told me about Herschel’s drawing of Stonehenge and Fox Talbot’s failure to photograph it; Andrew Mahaddie recalled his experiences of working on Milton Keynes and kindly allowed me to reproduce his drawing; Louis Hellman let me republish his cartoon; Ellis Woodman passed on James Gowan’s remarks about the Churchill College competition and Lucy Evershed and Stephen Fisher of the National Trust helped with information about the Trust’s holdings and their history.
A
A303 road and tunnel proposal
185
,
190
,
194
,
196
Acland, Sir Henry Wentworth, Bt
118
Albert, Prince Consort
121
Alliance of Pagan and Druid Communities
196
Alton Towers, Staffordshire
103
,
105
Amesbury Archer
198
Amesbury Parish Council
146
Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids
134
Ancient Druids Universal Brethren
99
Ancient Monuments Act (1931)
157
Ancient Monuments Protection Act (1882)
141
Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act (1913)
149
Ancient Order of Druid Hermetists
165
Ancient Order of Druids
55
,
89
,
150
Antrobus family
123
Antrobus, Sir Edmund, 3rd Bt
141
,
142
Antrobus, Sir Edmund, 4th Bt
142
,
146
,
148
,
149
,
150
,
151
,
195
Antrobus, Lady, wife of 4th Bt
146
archaeologists
2
,
33
,
40
,
60
,
148
,
149
,
153
,
161
,
163
,
165
,
166
,
168
,
170
,
171
,
183
,
184
,
198
,
211
also
see
Atkinson, Richard;
Burl, Aubrey;
Childe, Gordon;
Chippindale, Christopher;
Cleal, Rosamund;
Daniel, Glyn;
Darville, Timothy;
Gowland, William;
Hawkes, Jacquetta;
Hawley, William;
Parker Pearson, Mike;
Petrie, William;
Piggott, Stuart;
Pitt-Rivers, Augustus;
Pitts, Mike;
Ramilisonina;
Renfrew, Colin;
Richards, Julian;
Vatcher, Faith;
Wainwright, Geoffrey
Ardlunydd Pen-y-Garn,
see
Thomas, T. H.
Arminghall, Norfolk, wooden circle
155
Arnold, Matthew
118
Arnold, Dr Thomas
115
Arthur, King,
see
Pendragon, Arthur
Athelstan, King
21
Atkinson, Professor Richard John Copland
161–3
,
174
,
175
,
182–4
,
200
,
204
Aubrey Holes
11
,
19
,
31
,
42
,
152
,
161
,
168
,
202
,
207
Aubrey, John
21
,
27
,
29–34
,
37
,
42
,
55
,
63
,
67
,
71
,
152
,
173
Aurelius, King
22
Austen, Jane
82
Automobile Association
144