The money will help to fund improvements aimed at elevating the 5000-year-old site's status as an international tourist attraction


A £27 million project to build a new visitor centre at Stonehenge received a boost today when the Heritage Lottery Fund confirmed it was contributing £10 million to the scheme.

Plans for the new visitor centre and a nearby road closure had been put on hold after the funds promised by the last government were dramatically withdrawn as part of public spending cuts.

Labour had agreed to part-fund a project to improve the area allowing a new timber and glass visitor centre to be built 1.5 miles away from the stones and the closure of the A344 which runs close to the site.

The stones - one of the most substantial examples of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Europe - have two major A-roads nearby. Plans to place the traffic-laden A303 in a tunnel to reduce its effect on the site were withdrawn in 2007.

The £10 million funding confirmed today is more than double what the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) initially earmarked to put towards the scheme and English Heritage said the cash considerably narrowed the funding gap for the project.

The heritage body still needs to find around a third of the cost of the project.

Baroness Andrews, chairwoman of English Heritage, said: "We are tremendously grateful for this generous grant.

‘Not only does it help to narrow the funding gap for the project considerably, it also sends out a message of confidence about the transformational benefits that the project will bring - to tourism, local economy and the conservation and public enjoyment of Stonehenge and its landscape.’

HLF chairwoman Dame Jenny Abramsky said Stonehenge was one of the archaeological wonders of the world.

She added: "It demonstrates the vital role heritage plays within the UK's tourism industry as well as being a great example of our fascinating history.

‘This Heritage Lottery Fund investment will help transform this site and give people a much greater understanding of why it is significant.’

The improvements were aimed at elevating the 5000-year-old site's status as an international tourist attraction.

Efforts to improve the facilities and surroundings of the site have been dogged with problems over the years.

In 2000 two projects were planned - to remove roads from around Stonehenge by placing the nearby A303 in a tunnel and to relocate visitor facilities to a new centre away from the stones.

But the Government pulled the plug on those proposals in 2007 when it said it would not proceed with the A303 tunnel in view of estimated costs of around £500 million.

Visitor numbers to Stonehenge have increased year-on-year and it is a popular spot to celebrate the summer and winter solstice.

The site, which was constructed between 3,000 BC and 1,600 BC, attracts around 900,000 visitors a year.

It is still shrouded in mystery as nobody is sure how or why the giant boulders were transported hundreds of miles to be constructed at the site.

However, scientists now believe that Neolithic engineers may have used ball bearings in the construction of Stonehenge.

The same technique that allows vehicles and machinery to run smoothly today could have been used to transport the monument's massive standing stones more than 4,000 years ago, according to the new theory.


source: dailymail