Stonehenge is one of the few places left in Britain where we can look at the world through the same eyes as the Neolithic peoples who built the giant structure, but a recent proposal is suggesting that the ancient stones require more “mystique” than nature provides.
One Lady Mimi Pakenham of Warminster originally proposed this concept, and it then debated on Radio 4’s influential Today Programme, so we know middle-England is now aware of it. One could look at Stonehenge and compare it to say the many castles and other monuments around Britain which are flood-lit nightly – Edinburgh Castle being a classic example.
However, somehow Stonehenge sits apart from all other monuments perhaps because of the ongoing questions surrounding its original purpose, or maybe it is simply the sheer scale of the task of building such a structure.
We can probably assume that if such an idea were to gain momentum, English Heritage – under whom Stonehenge is governed – would be a little more subtle than to install giant floodlights. But still with all the talk of the need for dark sky areas of the world and English Heritages’ seeming desire to ensure no human hand can damage the stones, there is a real risk any artificial lighting could spoil the effect of the stones looming out of the darkness on a moon-lit night.
Lighting the stones has been tried previously back in the late 1970s to be precise, but the lights were removed not because of aesthetics and mystery, but the more practical problem of drivers on the nearby A303 looking at the stones and not keeping an eye on the road.
The chances of this ever getting past a letters page in the Times newspaper are very slim, but stranger decisions have been made so perhaps by stimulating this debate, Lady P is in her own little way helping to ensure the sanctity of Stonehenge for generations to come.
You can add your say at the bottom of this page (or click the speech bubble if on the front page). Should we ever even consider lighting up Stonehenge or leave nature to do that?
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