A Stonehenge conservation group is furious over a UNESCO decision that would keep the UN organization from listing the site as endangered, ostensibly allowing a planned highway expansion.
British planners say the roadwork, which includes not just expanded highway lanes but a tunnel that would run under a portion of the Stonehenge site, would improve traffic flow and also eliminate the sight and sound of traffic from the ruins. Critics allege the plan was concocted with improper public consultation and poses a threat to the site’s geology, which could in turn damage the remains. There’s also undiscovered archaeology to consider.
On Wednesday, a UNESCO committee voted against adding Stonehenge to the organization’s List of World Heritage in Danger. If the effort to add Stonehenge to the list had succeeded, it could have forced the British government to revamp or abandon the highway plans.
The List of World Heritage in Danger is meant to raise international awareness of threats to some of the planet’s oldest and most cultural, historical, or scientifically significant sites. UNESCO also allocates financial assistance to preserve locations on the list.
“This is a dark day for Stonehenge and a hollow victory for the UK government as this decision won’t stop the harm to the World Heritage Site,” said Stonehenge Alliance chair Johns Adam in a press release. “We should not forget that this scheme failed the planning test. It was recommended for refusal because of the ‘permanent and irreversible’ harm it would do.”
The plan had been approved by the country’s Conservative Party, which was ousted in an election on July 4. Adams said it’s his hope that the new Labor government will abandon the highway plan.
“This is a travesty of justice,” said Stonehenge Alliance president Tom Holland. “The weakness of the Government’s case can be measured by the grotesque lengths they have gone to in their attempts to cover it up. If Labour ministers are complicit in this, then it disgraces them.”
UK ambassador to UNESCO Anna Nsubuga praised the committee’s vote, saying the planned tunnel does not justify adding Stonehenge, which was made a World Heritage site in 1986, to the danger list.
“The UK looks forward to continuing our work on the proposed Scheme, which would reconnect the Site, restore peace and tranquility, and give the stones and landscape the respect and setting they deserve,” she wrote on X.
Stonehenge (a magic place, where the moon doth rise with a dragon’s face) has undergone several restorations and repairs. Most recently, in 2021, the rocks resting atop the support stones were coated with anti-weathering cement mortar, which also helps to secure them in place.
The original purpose of Stonehenge, which dates back to 3700 BC, is still not entirely settled, though one theory that’s gained traction in recent years posits that it served as a memorial site. Others have wondered whether it was a religious temple or a timekeeping device.
More: Ancient Britons Traveled Hundreds of Miles to Attend Pork Fests at Stonehenge
