24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
CBA Calls For Dramatic Rethink Over Stonehenge Road Tunnel Plan
By Caroline Lewis
21/07/2005
Image: Shows a photo of Stonehenge at sunset
Stonehenge World Heritage Site needs a world class solution to the problem of the surrounding traffic infrastructure. © English Heritage
The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) has responded to news that the proposed tunnelling of a main road past Stonehenge is to be reviewed after its estimated cost doubled. The CBA hopes the Government will reconsider the whole scheme.
“We were strongly opposed to the planned tunnel,” said Mike Heyworth, Director of the CBA. “Now it sounds as if they’re going to kick it into the long grass.”
In 1998, the Government announced plans to take two kilometres of the A303 underground to improve the environment around Stonehenge. After consultation with English Heritage and the National Trust, and a Public Inquiry, the Government was satisfied that the case for the scheme had been made, at a slightly longer length of 2.1km.
However, the Highways Agency’s estimated cost of £284m (assuming construction would begin in spring 2005) has since risen to more than £470m - forcing a re-think. The increase in price is due to large quantities of soft chalk and a high water table, which would significantly complicate the tunnelling process.
Image: Shows a photo of Stonehenge on the horizon from a fork in the road.
The stones as they look today from the junction of the A303 (left) and the A344 (right).
A statement from the CBA confirmed that it remains: “resolutely opposed to the proposals for a short tunnel, which removes the A303 from the immediate vicinity of the stones but only at the cost of major damage to the rest of the World Heritage Site.”
“The CBA believes that it is essential to look beyond the area visible from Stonehenge itself, as its prehistoric builders so clearly did, to appreciate the extraordinary landscape of ceremonial and funerary monuments around it.”
Commenting on the Government's proposed review, Roads Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman said: “Our recognition of the importance of Stonehenge as a World Heritage Site remains unchanged but given the scale of the cost increase we have to re-examine whether the scheme still represents value for money and if it remains the best option for delivering the desired improvements.”
Mike Heyworth explained that for the CBA, the most pressing issue is the closure of the A344 (which runs right by the stones) and the relocation of the visitor centre. He believes there are other options that haven’t been explored, in particular a new surface route outside the World Heritage Site, which the CBA will be strongly pushing for.
Image: Shows a photo of Stonehenge with only a bridleway where the road was before.
Stonehenge as it might look in the future, with a roadless landscape.
However, Tim Jones, Highways Improvement Manager for Wiltshire County Council, believes that the A344 cannot be closed before work is done to improve the capacity of the A303, which will have to take the diverted traffic.
“The queues on the A303 go back miles during peak times,” he said. “The traffic from the A344 will only make that worse.”
Mike Heyworth, on the other hand, insists there is no strong case for keeping it open and believes work could be going ahead now, meaning that English Heritage’s £67m new state-of-the-art visitor centre could also get underway. Wiltshire County Council will not consider the closure until a decision is made on the A303.
While both Mike Heyworth and Tim Jones agree that the junction of the two A-roads is an accident blackspot – particularly because of drivers looking at the stones – the highways manager calls into consideration the local community, who desperately need a bypass and road improvements.
Image: Shows a diagram of a tunnel under the World Heritage Site
The planned tunnel, which might now be too expensive.
“My personal view is that the village of Winterbourne Stoke tends to get overlooked,” said Tim Jones. “The delay is disappointing for the community.”
In a statement, Jane Scott, leader of Wiltshire County Council, said: "As the government has decided upon a review, we look forward to a quick resolution and emphasise that the solution it finds must comprehensively address the question of Stonehenge and the preservation of one of Britain's most important landmarks."
"We understand that the government has to ensure that the public are getting value for money,” she added. “However, we are very concerned about the impact this review will have on the proposed road scheme and on local communities who are suffering from the effects of traffic passing through their villages.”
Mike Heyworth commented: “It is ironic that the Government has made this announcement during National Archaeology Week ... The CBA urges the Government to use the forthcoming review to seek a world class solution for a world class archaeological landscape.”
Stonehenge
Stonehenge, SP4 7DE, Wiltshire, England
Open: Opening Times:16th - 23rd October: 0930 - 1700; 24th October - 15 March: 0930 - 1600; 16th March - 31st May: 0930 - 1800; 1st June - 31st August: 0900 - 1900, 1st September - 15th October: 0930 - 1800.
Recommended last admissions no later than 30 mins before closing time. Stonehenge will be closed promptly 20 mins after advertised time.
Related Articles
Archaeologists Date Stonehenge And Say It Was A Healing Centre
Stonehenge Proposals Go On Show At Wiltshire Heritage Museum
Summer 2008 Holiday Ideas At UK Heritage Sites And Museums
Stonehenge Latest - More Plans Put Forward For Consultation
Stonehenge - Public Consultation Begins In Mid-July
News In Brief - Week Ending June 15 2008
Archaeologists Return To Stonehenge To Unlock Its Mysteries
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Black Watch Museum Appeal Seeks To Raise £3million
News In Brief - Museums, Galleries And Heritage News
Newly-Accredited Medical College Invests In Mysterious Portrait
Photos Of WWII Codecrackers Go On Sale At Bletchley Park
Painting Returns To Queen Victoria's Dressing Room After 166-Year Absence
Cartoon Awards Ceremony Celebrates UK's Top Scribblers At Mall Galleries
Made08 - The Brighton Craft Fair 2008
Library Thief To Be Sentenced At Wood Green Crown Court Today
New Look For The Relaunched Garden Museum In Lambeth
Write Queer London Competition Holds Inspiration Day At The British Museum
Downs House Darwin Discovery Project Wins Funding Go-Ahead
British Museum Gets Set For Historic Egyptian Tomb Gallery
Stunning Wedgwood Relaunch Celebrates Potteries Heritage
Library Bid To Save Earliest Surviving Score Of Opera In English Language
Ryedale Folk Museum Lands Significant Harrison Collection
Portable Antiquities Scheme Is Fit For Purpose Say MLA
Leading Academics Call For Art Funding Support In Wake Of Titian Pledge
Glasgow Police Museum Edges Closer To A New Home
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.