Prehistoric Monument Stonehenge at Risk of Being Delisted From UNESCO World Heritage Due to Road Tunnel Project
Stonehenge could be delisted from the UNESCO World Heritage list due to a road tunnel project. Campaigners are calling out the government against the billion-dollar project.
Stonehenge Could Be Removed From UNESCO World Heritage
Thousands of locals and tourists flock to see the prehistoric monument. However, despite its popularity, it risks being delisted from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
This would be "the direct result" of the government's decision, according to attorneys for Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS), and would be "the first step being taken towards delisting."
Transport Secretary Mark Harper's support of proposals to revamp eight miles of the A303, including the two-mile tunnel, is being contested by SSWHS.
It further mentions that the High Court revoked the road tunnel's development consent order in July 2021 due to worries about the project's potential environmental effects.
However, on July 14 of this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) approved the tunnel in Wiltshire to connect Amesbury with Berwick Down.
During a Tuesday hearing in London, the campaigners' attorneys requested authorization to make another attempt to stop the proposals.
According to the government, the benefits of the program and its necessity "outweighed the harms," which included "less than substantial harm to heritage assets."
National Highways claims their tunnel design will shorten travel times and eliminate the sight and sound of passing cars.
SSWHS's David Wolfe KC stated in written submissions that activists had outlined the consequences of UNESCO delisting the site, claiming that its "importance... need to be taken into account for both the current and next generations.
He emphasized that this is significant not just financially but also in terms of research value, cultural significance, symbolic value, and the UK's reputation as a country that upholds its commitments under the World Heritage Convention and looks after its World Heritage Site.
According to Mr. Wolfe, the authorized plan would "destroy" about seven hectares of the world's historic site, marking a "permanent and irreversible" alteration.
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Stonehenge History
Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle monument, cemetery, and archaeological site. It is located approximately eight miles (13 km) north of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, on Salisbury Plain.
The function of Stonehenge remains unclear, but it was most likely a place of worship and a display of the riches and influence of the chieftains, aristocrats, and priests who commissioned its construction. Many of these individuals are interred nearby in the many barrows.
It may have been used to calculate the farming calendar and observe the Sun and Moon because it was oriented toward the Sun. Alternatively, it's possible that the location served as a healing facility or was devoted to the realm of the dead, cut off from the living. Every year, people gather in the area for the midsummer sunrise.
The military has left its mark on the area since the Ministry of Defense purchased a sizable portion of Salisbury Plain for army training exercises in 1897Barracksks, firing ranges, field hospitals, airfields, and light railways were built. Some of these have been destroyed, like the Stonehenge airfield from World War I. However, others, like the airfield sheds at Larkhill, are still standing and play a significant role in early military aviation history.
Prior to 1918, when Cecil Chubb, a local merchant who had bought Stonehenge from the Atrobus family at an auction three years earlier, donated it to the country, the monument was privately owned. The state was then tasked with maintaining the monument.
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