Stonehenge: coincidence or naff PR by English Heritage?

What’s going on? These two stories are over 100 years old. Why has English Heritage tweeted them just now of all times?

Stonehenge@EH_Stonehenge (Sunday): “Stonehenge was in private ownership until 1918 when Cecil Chubb, who’d purchased Stonehenge at auction in 1915, gave it to the nation. It then became the state’s duty to conserve the monument: English Heritage perform this role on its behalf today.” [Link to “100 years of care”]

Stonehenge@EH_Stonehenge (Monday): “A programme of restoration began at Stonehenge in 1919 with the stones that were leaning the most, starting with Stones 6 & 7 of the outer sarsen circle.”

The contents and timing are, well, interesting. Could it be that on Sunday the public was being reminded English Heritage has a duty to conserve and on Monday a duty to restore – with the unspoken implication that therefore it has a duty to support a massive Government road scheme opposed by UNESCO?

If so, it was always a ridiculous stretch. When damage is huge it can no longer be said to be conservation or restoration – and particularly since last Friday when the true extent of the damage became evident. English Heritage is now in the position that it is supporting the destruction of the fundamental significance of the Stonehenge landscape. We hope it will now reconsider. Grant Shapps is back in the country this morning. Let them ring him.