HERITAGE
The centre sets out to offer the latest knowledge on Stonehenge: what it is, why it’s there, who built it
to help us tell the story. Some of those archaeologists are featured in the exhi- bition itself, talking about the various theories surrounding the ancient site.
Do you expect dwell times to increase? Visitors previously spent around 45 min- utes to an hour, and we expect that to increase to around two hours. That time could even be extended when the weather is good, as people now have the option to walk all the way to the Stones, or start from a National Trust viewing point and walk the fi nal kilometre, passing other key ancient monuments on the way.
Do you expect numbers to increase? It’s never been an objective to increase visitor numbers, due to the sensitivity of
TIMELINE
The long road to a ‘new’ Stonehenge
the site. Plus we’ve been limited with the size of new car park we’ve been able to build. Stonehenge has been attracting around one million visitors per year, on a 70/30 international-domestic split. We expect that to rise to around 1.25 million and we’ll manage that on a timed ticket- ing system, so people will now have to book in advance to be sure of entry.
The visitor centre was the fi rst phase of the development. What comes next? The new centre was the main phase, and for the next six months we’re concentrat- ing on restoring the natural landscape, as well as building a new exhibit of Neolithic houses in our external gallery space. We advertised nationally for volun- teers to build them and we got a great
1930 This photograph (left) shows the approach along the A303 (with the A344 to the right) in about 1930
response. Visitors over the next six months will be able to watch them being constructed, and when fi nished by Easter 2014 they can go inside – there’ll be fi res lit and replicas of the type of furniture and implements used at that time.
Will your role as director change now the site has opened? When all the phases of the development are complete, this role will come to an end. I’ve been working on this project since 2008 and it’s been the biggest challenge of my career to date. I’ve enjoyed getting things done and
working closely with all the people and groups involved. Stonehenge WAS a national disgrace, and fi nally we’ve had the opportunity to put things right. ●
1968 First facilities, car park and pedestrian under- pass built
1979 Dept of Environment sets up Stonehenge working party to look into future management of the site
50
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AM 1 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
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