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Posted on 01/26/2002 11:30:03 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
AMESBURY, England -- People from all over the world flock to see the mystical monument known as Stonehenge, and most of them deliver the same verdict: nice rocks, shame about the place.
Rising up from a heath in southern England, the 5,000-year-old circle of stones still has the power to inspire wonder and worship. The problem is, you need earplugs to block out the noise.
In a startling example of how not to treat a national treasure, Britain long ago sandwiched Stonehenge, which remains a shrine for mystics, between two highways. Today, traffic thunders by just a few feet from one of the towering rock slabs. Planes and helicopters from a nearby military base roar overhead.
Wandering around the huge stones, hunting for a place to take a photograph that won't have a truck or a bus in the background, Tracy Munoz, 42, a tourist from San Antonio, is appalled.
"For me, the sanctity and mysticism of the place are spoiled by the noise from the highway," she says. "I can't believe the British have done this to one of the world's great monuments."
Many Britons can't believe it either, which is why, after years of soul-searching, the country has finally come up with a master plan to restore dignity and quiet to Stonehenge. The government has earmarked $190 million to eliminate one of the roads skirting the monument and bury the other in a tunnel.
Yet the plan has sparked debate. While most people agree Stonehenge should be a silent haven, shielded from the ravages of tourism and traffic, critics warn that digging a tunnel could do structural, even spiritual, damage to the surrounding area, which is strewn with ancient burial sites.
"It's horrifying that our government wants to cut a massive trench through one of the most important archaeological landscapes in the world," says Mike Birkin of the environmental group Friends of the Earth. "Stonehenge is more than just the stones that everyone knows so well. The whole area is littered with ancient remains that deserve the strongest protection."
Stonehenge, regarded as the jewel in Britain's archaeological crown, is no stranger to controversy. Even in the academic world, scholars still cannot agree on how -- or why -- Bronze Age man built a meticulous network of earthen dikes and 50-ton rocks. Was Stonehenge an early fortress? A temple?
Given that some of the stones cast specific shadows at daybreak on the summer and winter solstices, many think it was a giant calendar.
Alongside the historical debate, Britons have bickered long and hard over how to manage Stonehenge, whose setting was described by a parliamentary commission as a "national disgrace."
The government's master plan for the monument is as bold as it is controversial. The aim is to sink the A303 highway, a major east-west artery, into a shallow tunnel 110 yards from the famous stones. The other road and the parking lot would be covered with grass. Talks are underway to divert military flights from the area.
The plan also envisions a lavish visitors center and museum two miles from Stonehenge. The current center, a scrappy outpost with a snack counter, two portable toilets and a gift shop selling T-shirts and coffee mugs, would be torn down and grassed over.
The last piece of the puzzle would be to allow the public to explore, either on foot or in electric trains, the archaeological treasures sprinkled around the surrounding area.
"We are finally going to turn Stonehenge into a world-class heritage site," says John Maloney of English Heritage, a historical association. "By restoring the original landscape, so that there is nothing but grass around the stones, we are going to bring back the ancient atmosphere and magic."
Giving Stonehenge a better deal could also make it easier for Britain to defend world heritage sites abroad. The British are often the first to object when other countries mistreat their monuments, a recent example being the outcry over the Taliban's destruction of the giant Bamiyan Buddahs in Afghanistan.
"Until we treat Stonehenge with the respect it deserves, how can we lecture other countries on how to look after their own world heritage sites?" says Nicola Beith, an Oxford-based archaeologist.
Yet the master plan faces opposition.
Some mystics warn that tunneling near Stonehenge could disrupt the powerful energy lines that supposedly converge on the monument. Britain's white witches, who believe in a benevolent "universal force" that can be harnessed through meditation and magic, are also alarmed by the prospect of sending in heavy machinery. Kevin Carlyon, the movement's high priest, mutters darkly about construction workers unleashing a disaster of "biblical proportions."
In a nation where major road-building projects often trigger a backlash, environmentalists complain that upgrading the A303 will simply suck more traffic into the region.
Preservationists, meanwhile, complain that tunneling will wipe out several ancient burial sites that date from the time of Stonehenge itself. Though none has been formally excavated, some are visible to the naked eye as bumps in the grass. A few have already been damaged by farmers from earlier centuries.
English Heritage promises that any harm done to the burial sites will be minimal and that full records of all lost sites will be archived. But for some, that is not enough.
"Once these ancient remains are lost, we can never get them back," warns Birkin.
To avoid damaging sites buried near the surface, critics recommend boring a tunnel that would pass many yards below the entire Stonehenge area. The government says, however, that a tunnel deeper than the one planned would be too expensive.
So Britain looks set for what the tabloids are sure to dub the Battle of Stonehenge. Five contractors have already been asked to tender bids on the tunnel project. If, as expected, the master plan clears bureaucratic hurdles, construction work could start as early as 2004.
One road protester, who calls himself Pete, promises "a nasty surprise" when the bulldozers turn up at the monument.
"Loads of people will be inspired to come out and protest," he says. "You mess with Stonehenge at your peril."
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Auction it off on Ebay then?
: )
I do hope that you were trying to be funny, and not serious. If you were serious, the Taliban would just ove yeou to bits. : - (
Maybe, but shipping costs would be prohibtive. Better, just spray paint the Stonehenge arches orange and put up a McDonalds right smack in the middle of it.
I think London Bridge was sold and shipped to Arizona.
: )
You can't possibly be this ... ummmmm ... irrespsonsible, can you ?
I agree and I do not like the idea of a shallow tunnel nearby!
You can't possibly be this ... ummmmm ... irresponsible, can you ?
Why don't you suggest that we tear down the White House, while you're at it ? I bet you thought that the Clintons turning it into a bed & breakfast was a great idea.
I vote for preserving the highways. If the Druids who built these monoliths came back, they'd knock down their stones and worship our structures.
Amen
There is an area around Sedona, AZ that has the "harmonic convergence" label. It started out as an art colony-swimming creek village and now it's high priced homes and shops. Take plenty of money for crystals.
I wonder if London Bridge has a McDonald's on it now?
: )
Now there's a thought! Wouldn't that set the wood nymphs and mystics a flutter?!
I've heard of that other place. NO THANKS ! I'm not into that sort of stuff. LOL
London Bridge is in Arizona.
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