Stonehenge
- Episode aired Oct 19, 2010
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Documentary Showing how Stonehenge's Significance Has Been Remade Over the Centuries
Stonehenge is one of those mysterious places whose meaning alters for different groups. To the majority of visitors it is a British symbol, one of those places that must be visited, even if one doesn't quite understand its significance. To the druids it is symbolic of an ancient power, something that transcends orthodox religion. To English Heritage - the current custodians of the site - it is both a moneymaker and a site to be managed. This documentary traces the history of the site, and how it was first exploited for tourism purposes in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; until 1900 at least, it was a popular picnic venue and privately owned. It was sold to a buyer in 1915 who had bought it for his fiancée; as she was not particularly impressed with the gift, he gave it to the nation at the end of World War One. Since then the site has become popular with those seeking alternative lifestyles; in the Sixties and Seventies it was the venue for a popular series of free concerts, but this practice was brutally stamped out by the late Eighties in a series of often violent police raids. Now the site is being redeveloped once more; one of the roads bisecting it has been filled in, and the protective fences surrounding the stones have been removed. A new Visitor's Center, located a mile or so away from the property, houses an exhibition of rare artifacts. Many of the druids believe that the site's religious significance has been diminished by such changes; but it seems that Stonehenge will always be a subject of controversy between different interest groups. This is its charm as well as its 'problem'.
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- l_rawjalaurence
- Jun 27, 2014
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