Work Starts on New Stonehenge Visitor Centre

Preparation work began this month with pre-construction tests being carried out to allow building work to begin next month on the new Stonehenge visitor centre scheduled to open in Autumn 2013.

Construction firm Vinci has secured the £15 contract to build the new Stonehenge visitor centre. The scheme will see the existing visitor centre and car park on the A344 closed and grassed over with new exhibition and education facilities built at Airman’s Corner, just over a mile to the west of the megalithic monument.

Royal Engineers based at Tidworth assisted English Heritage in moving Airman’s Cross Grade-II listed memorial at Airman's Corner on 25 June. The memorial formerly sited at the A360 - A344 road junction near Stonehenge has been removed to make way for an access upgrade with the construction of a new roundabout to manage traffic diverted by the closure of the A344 in spring 2013.

The new Stonehenge visitor centre

The A344 and A360 junction will be remodelled and changed into a roundabout to accommodate traffic diverted by the closure of the A344 in addition to providing access to the new visitor centre. Works to upgrade Longbarrow Roundabout will begin this autumn, and will be completed before the A344 is closed.

The Airman's memorial is to be resited at a permanent home in the grounds of the new Stonehenge visitor centre. The memorial commemorates an early aviation accident on 5th July 1912, in which the pioneer British aviator Captain Eustace Loraine and his passenger Staff Sgt Richard Wilson became the first members of the newly formed Royal Flying Corps to die while on duty.

The Airman's Memorial

Loraine and his passenger Staff Sergeant R H V Wilson were flying a Nieuport Monoplane out of Larkhill on a routine practice sortie. They were executing a tight turn when the aircraft fell towards the ground and crashed. Wilson was killed outright and although Loraine was speedily transported to Bulford Hospital in a horse-drawn ambulance, he succumbed to his wounds only a few minutes after arriving at the Hospital.

The memorial inscription reads:

'To the memory of Captain Loraine and Staff-Sergeant Wilson who whilst flying on duty, met with a fatal accident near this spot on 5 July 1912. Erected by their comrades'.

The Royal Engineers will be working closely with Wessex Archaeology to protect the cross during the move which will be put into safe storage at Perham Down Barracks for the interim.

English Heritage says the memorial will be reinstalled in a prominent position within the precincts of the new visitor centre before it reopens in 2013.

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Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery

A new book by Mike Parker Pearson

"A striking and original interpretation of the awesome Stone Age site from one of the world's foremost archaeologists on death and burial"

With bookshelves the world over threatening to give way under the weight of books written on this, the most enigmatic of ancient monuments, one could be forgiven for asking if we really need yet another book on Stonehenge?

But this is not just another work on Stonehenge; this book offers the latest theories on the monument and brings us up to date with results of the archaeological work of the Stonehenge Riverside Project (SRP) led by Mike Parker Pearson. Here the work from the SRP years is presented in one volume Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery (Simon & Schuster, June, 2012).

In this new book Parker Pearson argues that the previous chronology and dating of the monument was wrong and presents the SRP's corrected version. He also recalls the discovery of Bluestonehenge, a circle claimed to have held 25 bluestones from south-west Wales.  Parker Pearson further presents the theory that Stonehenge was a monument of the dead based on the finding of more than 64 cremation burials at the site spanning the monument's use during the third millennium BC.

Through years of extensive work at Durrington Walls, Parker Pearson and the SRP team uncovered  evidence that the settlement was connected to Stonehenge by the River Avon as part of a larger site complex within the Wessex landscape. Further developing what started as a hypothesis that wood represented the land of the living and stone that of the dead, the book explores the theory that the people of Durrington Walls built Stonehenge and that the choice of stone for constructing Stonehenge has a significance so far undiscovered.

Not everyone will agree with the SRP's interpretations of the archaeological finds, however, it cannot be denied that our knowledge of Stonehenge has changed dramatically as a result of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. This book threatens to challenge the way that we think about Stonehenge and will prove to be an essential addition to the Stonehenge bookshelf.

Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery 
Mike Parker Pearson
Simon & Schuster UK, June 2012
Hardcover, 416 pages
ISBN-10: 085720730X
ISBN-13: 9780857207302

From the publisher Simon & Schuster:

“Our knowledge about Stonehenge has changed dramatically as a result of the Stonehenge Riverside Project (2003-2009), led by Mike Parker Pearson, and included not only Stonehenge itself but also the nearby great henge enclosure of Durrington Walls. This book is about the people who built Stonehenge and its relationship to the surrounding landscape. The book explores the theory that the people of Durrington Walls built both Stonehenge and Durrington Walls, and that the choice of stone for constructing Stonehenge has a significance so far undiscovered, namely, that stone was used for monuments to the dead. Through years of thorough and extensive work at the site, Parker Pearson and his team unearthed evidence of the Neolithic inhabitants and builders which connected the settlement at Durrington Walls with the henge, and contextualised Stonehenge within the larger site complex, linked by the River Avon, as well as in terms of its relationship with the rest of the British Isles. Parker Pearson's book changes the way that we think about Stonehenge; correcting previously erroneous chronology and dating; filling in gaps in our knowledge about its people and how they lived; identifying a previously unknown type of Neolithic building; discovering Bluestonehenge, a circle of 25 blue stones from western Wales; and confirming what started as a hypothesis - that Stonehenge was a place of the dead - through more than 64 cremation burials unearthed there, which span the monument's use during the third millennium BC. In lively and engaging prose, Parker Pearson brings to life the imposing ancient monument that continues to hold a fascination for everyone.”

From Amazon.com:

“In lively and engaging prose, this book brings to life the imposing ancient monument that continues to fascinate, exploring the theory that the people of Durrington Walls built both Stonehenge and Durrington Walls, and that the choice of stone for constructing Stonehenge has a significance so far undiscovered—that the stone was used for monuments to the dead. Through years of work at the site, the author and his team unearthed evidence of the Neolithic inhabitants and builders which connected the settlement at Durrington Walls with the henge, and contextualized Stonehenge within the larger site complex, linked by the River Avon, as well as in terms of its relationship with the rest of the British Isles. This book corrects previously erroneous chronology and dating; fills in gaps in knowledge about its people and how they lived; identifies a previously unknown type of Neolithic building; discovers Bluestonehenge, a circle of 25 blue stones from western Wales; and confirms what started as a hypothesis—that Stonehenge was a place of the dead—through more than 64 cremation burials unearthed there, which span the monument's use during the third millennium BC.”

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A forthcoming talk by Mike Parker-Pearson:

New Light on Stonehenge
13 November 2012 - Salisbury Guildhall - Salisbury

A talk by Professor Mike Parker-Pearson, University of Sheffield, Leader of the Stonehenge Riverside Project and author of Stonehenge: exploring the greatest Stone Age mystery, published by Simon & Schuster in June 2012. This lecture will present new findings by the 'Feeding Stonehenge' project about the people who built Stonehenge, and about the sources of its stones in Wales and north Wiltshire. It will examine the latest theories about when and why Stonehenge was built, and will present new discoveries from Wales as well as the Stonehenge area.

Booking required: £8.00 in Advance; £10.00 at the door.
7.00 pm refreshments, 7.30 pm lecture.
To book contact Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum.
This is a fund raising event.

Note: this event is at Salisbury Guildhall, Market Place, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 1JH

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