SALE OF STONEHENGE

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1721, 11 April 1913, Page 6

SALE OF STONEHENGE

' o HISTORIC LAWSUIT THAT SAVED SITE. The announce aont i'hat Stoiiehcnge is for sale by private contract Ims recalled the historic suit that was fought between the representatives of the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society and Sir Edmund Antrobus, t'he owner. Jlr. Lawrence W. Chubb, secretary of the society, • eaid rece.itly, in an interview, that much indignation was aroused at the time of the action owing to the enclosure of the monument by a barbed wire fence. The public faikd to maintain a right-of-way to the monument, and it transpired' during the proceedings that the owner had previously offered the monument, with 1200 acres of adjoining down-land, to the Government for <£125,000. At the same time, a suggestion was made that some American millionaire would be prepared to. . acquire Stonehenge and tranship it across the Atlantic. , At that time Lcrd St. Aldwyn was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was reported to have stated that if' any attempt was made to remove the stones the Government would send a regiment of soldiers to protect them. Eventually till owner agreed to sell the monument, with .about eight acres of land, for J!o0,000. This was felt to be an excessive amount, and to avoid litigation the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society offered to raise .£IO,OOO for the purchase oi' Stonehenge if the owner would sell it, so thaiit might be preserved as a national monument. This was the price paid for Kirkstalt Abbey, and is also the value placed by tlio Commissioners of Woods and ]"oii>ts mion' Tintern. Abbey The owner,declined to fell at the price named, and (lie negotiatijuis fell through. Stoiiehenge is scheduled for protection under the Ancient Jlonuments Act, which, however. cani|ot lie put into operation agaimt Dm owner's wishes.