Achievable Stonehenge
Submitted by Thorgrim on Sunday, 12 February 2006 Page Views: 6303
Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: England County: Wiltshire Type: Stone CircleInternal Links:
A303 Stonehenge Improvement – an alternative lower cost scheme.
Scheme Review – Public Consultation
This considered response meets the requirements of a reduced costs, phased scheme that will meet the expressed aims of the Project.
Summary of this Proposal.
The prohibitive cost of tunnelling or re-routing the A303 should not be allowed to delay the closure of the A344, existing car park and facilities. The restoration of the wider Stonehenge landscape is seen as the priority for Phase 1. This is a viable and attractive low cost option.
Aims of the Project
“To restore the dignity and isolation of Britain’s greatest prehistoric monument and enable people to enjoy and appreciate it fully”. The keywords here are “dignity” and “isolation”.
Phase 1
A “Removing the visual impact and noise of roads and traffic from the vicinity of the Stones”
1 Close and remove all traces of the A344 together with its hedges and fences. Turf the area with appropriate wildflower grass mixtures.
2 Remove all traces of the car parks and visitors centre. Retain visual evidence of postmarks, re-turf as above.
3 Remove all security fencing from the proximity of Stonehenge and secure the site at the boundaries of the present National Trust land. See D1 below for access.
4 Defer A303 improvements and carry on independently with all other improvements until Phase 1 is complete.
B “Reuniting Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments in their natural chalk downland setting”
1 Abandon the Northern Route as a viable option. There is too much archaeology to the north and easy access to the Cursus, Woodhenge and Durrington Walls is seen as a vital and integral part of the Stonehenge experience.
2 Perimeter fencing should be secure but unobtrusive. Wherever possible, it should be hidden by earth banks or in sunken ditches on the ha-ha principle.
C “Creating the conditions for improved biodiversity with flowers, butterflies, birds and insects flourishing”
1 Maximise the extent of the traffic free area to encourage undisturbed wildlife.
2 Manage natural chalk grassland and ban all chemical spraying. Be aware of drift from adjacent farms.
3 Ban military aircraft from over flying and control private aircraft that currently “buzz” Stonehenge for aerial views. Set height limit.
D “Providing improved access, enabling people to roam freely and at no cost throughout the World Heritage Site.”
1 Pedestrian access to the Stonehenge landscape should be free of charge as stated in your aims. However, free access should only be from controlled distant points on the perimeter. Pedestrians would pay to park their cars outside the access points. Car parking should be at Countess East, but also to the north and west near Durrington and Shrewton.
2 Free and unlimited access to the Stones is seen as an impractical ideal. We remember the severe erosion around the Stones in the 1970’s and no natural grass can resist such heavy foot traffic as is anticipated.
3 Run ample low impact shuttle buses over variable strengthened trackways from distant access points to the current pedestrian tunnel.
4 Taking operations at the Irish sites of Newgrange and Knowth as examples of good practise, visitors could arrive at Stonehenge from one direction and leave by another. This would give non-pedestrians good, fairly long distance views of the surrounding monuments from different directions. This would also prevent buses leaving the Stones from blocking the view of those arriving. Abandon the idea of a land train as this would be unsightly, permanent and intrusive.
5 Set the cost of the shuttle bus at £10 (to include car parking) with reductions for children and free for the disabled. This will enable disabled visitors to reach the Stones, while others may wish to hop on and off to walk part of the way.
6 Live or recorded guide commentaries would remove the need for an over elaborate Visitor Centre – see below.
E “Building a new world-class visitor centre outside the World Heritage Site at Countess East
1 The estimated cost of £60 million is excessive but will inevitably be exceeded. That amount of money could better be spent elsewhere in the heritage remit.
2 Over exposure to amenity interpretation, visual aids, reconstructions etc can be counter productive and can diminish the visitors’ experience when actually arriving at the monument itself. Too much hype may lead to disappointment. Stonehenge should remain true to itself and can speak for itself as an enigmatic mystery. Too much “explanation” will diminish the sense of awe and mystery that is its key attraction.
3 Provide a limited visitors centre at the shuttle bus departure point. This to provide restrained interpretation with toilet facilities and a point of sales outlet. With reference to facilities provided at equivalent monuments elsewhere, a highly effective interpretation display could be provided at a fraction of the mooted £60 million. The Bru na Boinne Centre provides a good example with reasonable food and interesting displays while visitors await their shuttle bus.
4 A limited visitors’ centre and shuttle bus departure point could be located at Countess East or possibly to the north or west of the World Heritage Site near Durrington or Shrewton.
5 At Stonehenge itself, the metalled pedestrian path that cuts across the site must be removed and could be substituted by a removable pedestrian trackway. A toilet block and custodian office could usefully be located out of site in the present pedestrian tunnel.
Phase 2
As outlined in our summary – we believe that expensive and time costly improvements to the A303 should not prevent an early start to improving the Stonehenge landscape. However, a final solution is required in the longer term and we see that being Phase 2. Our comments on each option follow:
1 Published Scheme. A long bored tunnel would be our ideal solution.
2 Northern Route. We are opposed to this as it is far to disruptive to the archaeology, too close to the Cursus and cuts off Woodhenge and Durrington Walls from the Stonehenge landscape.
3 Southern Route. This is our preferred option if the ideal solution is not to be adopted. The new route should be outside of the southern extent of the National Trust land. Even so, the new road should be hidden by earth banking to hide its visual impact and to reduce noise. A better option would be to sink the road in a cutting.
4 Cut and Cover Tunnel. This is unsupportable. Disruption and landscape scarring will be extensive and intolerable during its prolonged excavation and construction. More so if the road is to be a dual carriageway. Traffic vibration and fumes would remain hazardous to the Stones and the environment.
5 Partial Solution. Our proposal offers a variation of the Partial Solution as Phase 1. This is not a permanent solution as the A303 must ultimately be re-routed.
This proposal will be sent to:
The Stonehenge Project
Highways Agency Zone 2/26-H
Temple Quay House
2 The Square, Temple Quay
BRISTOL, BS1 6HA
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