Stonehenge : Interim Report on the exploration

Extract

After the death of Sir Edmund Antrobus of Amesbury Abbey, certain properties, including Stonehenge, were in 1915 sold by his representatives. Fortunately for all students of archaeology, Stonehenge was purchased by Sir Cecil Chubb of Bemerton, who generously presented it, together with some thirty acres of adjoining land, to the nation. The acquisition of this additional land has made it possible to set back an unsightly fence and divert a cart-track some distance from the monument. It was at once recognized by H.M. Office of Works that the monument required immediate attention, and it was therefore decided, by the advice of the Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments and the Ancient Monuments Board for England, that a careful examination of it should be made, and work for its preservation taken in hand. It was decided that the stones which were in a dangerous state should receive attention first, and then that those which had fallen in recent times should be re-erected, care being taken that all appearances of restoration should be avoided. By the courtesy of the Office of Works, the Society of Antiquaries was given every facility for carrying out a scheme of archaeological research on the site during the progress of the work, and the writer was appointed the representative of the Society. Preparations were begun in September 1919, but were much retarded owing to difficulties of transport and the delay in erecting two huts and the assembling of the large equipment necessary. It was not until the end of the year that work was actually begun.