Background information

This is our page of background information and links -- all those things that don't really fit neatly into our other pages. If you can't find what you want here, try our A-Z site index.

General information

Quotes: what people have said about the plans for Stonehenge
Events: past, present, and future events connected with the campaign
Parliament: news, debates, and questions asked about Stonehenge in the British Houses of Parliament

The Stonehenge Project and the Stonehenge Management Plan

The Stonehenge Project website is the official source of information on the new plan. Note the glossy presentation and the complete lack of information about all the drawbacks of the proposed scheme. Note the lack of information about the number of organizations who disagree with the plan. Our own website, by contrast, aims to provide a range of different views and to give you the opportunity to make up your own mind and comment about them.

In our view, the Stonehenge Project (formerly known as the Stonehenge Master Plan) is also fundamentally inconsistent with the Stonehenge Management Plan (the overarching plan for how the World Heritage Site should be managed). Read the article by Kate Fielden from RESCUE news, Spring 2002 for more on this.

Archaeology

Archaeology - Stonehenge

Council for British Archaeology Stonehenge page: A good summary of the history surrounding plans to improve Stonehenge.
The Stonehenge we deserve?: by Dr Peter Stone: An excellent, very balanced, very detailed article by Newcastle University lecturer.
Stonehenge: the saga continues by Elizabeth Young and Wayland Kennet, Journal of Architectural Conservation, No. 3, November 2000; pp 70-85: A detailed chronology of the planning history.
Proposals for a tunnel at Stonehenge: an assessment of the alternatives: A report to the World Archaeological Congress Executive by Robert Layton and Julian Thomas.
Impact of archaeology along tunnel route: NB: This is a fairly large (84K) image file. Some of the information it contains may now be out-of-date.
The Stonehenge Issue: papers (for and against the scheme) presented to the RESCUE meeting at the Society of Antiquaries in July 1999.
Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan (English Heritage don't seem to want people to read this, so they keep moving it about on their website. You'll need to use the search engine.)
Stonehenge, Avebury, and Associated Sites: UNESCO: World Heritage Convention listing. More details of the convention and the full text.
English Heritage: Science and Stonehenge
Wiltshire STONED: Mysterious Wiltshire revealed. A BBC site that includes all sorts of good stuff about Stonehenge, Avebury, and associated sites.
Stonehenge: An appeal to save it : The text of the original appeal to save Stonehenge, launched in the 1920s by the Stonehenge Protection Committee and the National Trust. Contains this wonderful quote: "...we have not two Stonehenges, and our generation will be vilified by all posterity if we allow the surroundings of this monument, the frontispiece to English history, to be ruined beyond repair." Eighty years later, the Stonehenge Project may achieve exactly that.

Archaeology, heritage, and sacred sites - General

Sacred Sites: Places of People and Power: Anthropologist Martin Gray spent 20 years as a wandering pilgrim to study and artistically photograph 1000 sacred sites in 80 countries. This web site features Martin?s sacred art photographs and shows the location of sacred places and pilgrimage shrines around the world.
What does heritage mean to you?: A MORI poll (published 26 September 2000) reveals "overwhelming support" for the historic environment, confirming that "Almost everyone feels the historic environment plans an important role in the life of the country [and]... that the historic environment is vital to educate children and adults about England's past".
Newbury - The Archaeology Bypass by Jill Eisele, Third Battle of Newbury: What happened to Newbury's archaeology when the roadbuilders came to town? With Newbury designers and consultant engineers Mott Macdonald now appointed to act on the Stonehenge scheme, will history repeat itself?
Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past: A project by Robert Wallis and Jenny Blain that "sets out who Pagans are, how and why they engage with archaeological monuments or �sacred sites�... and also outlines some implications for those concerned, including heritage managers, archaeologists, local communities, the tourist industry, and of course, Pagans themselves."
24-Hour Museum: "Gateway to information about 2500 UK museums, galleries, and heritage attractions."

Transport

Transport - Stonehenge

South West Area Multi Modal Study (SWARMMS) - the Stonehenge scheme is only part of a wider plan to create a continuous 4-lane dual carriageway from London to the South West via Exeter. Read about other areas under threat and how you can take action in this Friends of the Earth briefing. Note: This is an Adobe Acrobat PDF document. You will need to download Adobe Acrobat to open the PDF file if you do not have it already.
Highways Agency leaflet about the preferred route: You can get a glossy copy of this with a map showing the route by writing to: A303 Stonehenge Project Team, Highways Agency, Project Services, Room 414, Tollgate House, Houlton Street, Bristol BS2 9DJ, United Kingdom.
Friends of the Earth South West's Stonehenge briefing: Particularly good introduction to the transport issues.
A303 at Stonehenge: Review of English Heritage 2km Tunnel and Comparative Options: This is the executive summary of a much more comprehensive technical review document prepared for ministers in June 1998 by Halcrow and Partners. Although it purports to be a comparison of all the options for Stonehenge, it includes only the cut-and-cover tunnel and three alternatives that have long been out of contention. The long-bored tunnel is not considered at all. You can get a copy of the full document from the Highways Agency (address as above. It costs around £20 to cover colour photocopying.)
By rail to Stonehenge by Colin Hall: a paper examining light rail alternatives for linking Stonehenge to Salisbury and local villages.

Transport - General

ROADBLOCK: How people power is wrecking the roads programme: An inspiring history of the British anti-roads movement in the 1980s and 1990s, by Alarm UK
Newbury Bypass Factfile: How another road battle was fought, lost, and won.
Road Alert!: Long-running British anti-road campaign network, with an emphasis on direct action protest, community empowerment, and other good things.
Road rage: The UK road campaign resource centre - lots of information on other nasty roadbuilding schemes around the country.
"Formal demise of predict and provide" by Sally Cairns, Town & Country Planning, October 1998, 67 (9). A good brief overview of how UK transport policy has changed over the last few years.
Integrated Transport - UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions: a lot of useful information.
A New Deal For Transport: Better for Everyone: the Government's Integrated Transport white paper.
"Transport and the Economy" a report from the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) on whether road improvements bring economic benefits. Read the summary or full report

Brochures and maps

Our old maps were out of date and have now been moved to the archive.

Stonehenge Plan all mapped out - official but rather vague maps from the Highways Agency.
Current proposals - alternative map by Kate Fielden and Peter Goodhugh (NB: 270K GIF file - will take a little while to download).
Long-bore tunnel proposals - alternative map by Kate Fielden and Peter Goodhugh (NB: 270K GIF file - will take a little while to download).

Everything else