Stonehenge: a topical question by Julian Richards

Yesterday in our article A bigger and better Stonehenge Round Table? we mused that the setting up of a new public forum to discuss the management of Stonehenge might mean a wider degree of involvement and interaction with the monument which could only be a very good thing. Today we noticed that writer and broadcaster Julian Richards will be giving the ICOMOS-UK Christmas lecture  with the chosen subject of “Stonehenge – Whose Culture?”and will be making some salient observations:

“The imminent opening of the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre offers an opportunity to reflect on why this monument has become so important in our culture and history. Stonehenge is the most important and studied prehistoric site in Europe, yet still remains an archaeological enigma. But it is also an international cultural icon, its stones instantly recognizable, providing inspiration for medieval manuscript illuminators, artists such as Turner and Constable, among others, and generations of writers, photographers and craftsmen. It seems as if everyone has wanted a piece of Stonehenge, literally so in past centuries, and today the question of ‘Stonehenge – whose culture?’ is as passionately argued over as ever before. ‘Heritage’, tourist magnet or living temple?”

All please!