Scientists shed new light on Stonehenge amid night row

t.cork@bepp.co.uk

Heritage bosses have said they have no plans to light up Stonehenge at night, but admitted it could be done on special occasions.

A national debate on whether the ancient stones should be illuminated at night was sparked by Lady Mimi Pakenham, from Warminster in Wiltshire, who called for the site to be given 'dignity' by being illuminated at night in much the same way many ancient cathedrals are today.

Her call came on the day archaeologists showed that even before the famous stone circle was erected, the site was an important spot for celestial observations, and it is that link between Stonehenge and the sun, moon and stars that means English Heritage say they are not keen on artificial illumination.

Archaeologists have discovered that people were mapping the rising and setting sun at Stonehenge at least 500 years before the famous monument was even built.

The scientists surveyed the ancient Cursus pathway, which they think formed a processional route towards the stones.

Using geophysical imaging technology, they found two pits that had previously not been spotted by archaeologists – and the pits, which date from 5,000 years ago, are in line with the midsummer and midwinter sunrise and sunset.

Two teams of archaeologists from the University of Birmingham and the Boltzmann Institute in Vienna, have been carefully mapping the area around Stonehenge for 18 months, looking for areas that have not been seen before. Lady Pakenham said that it was necessary to 'add some magic' to Stonehenge, and called for a return to the days of the 1970s and 80s, when the stones were illuminated.

She said adding lights to show off the stones after dark would 'add to their dignity', but English Heritage said not only were the stones built to be observed against a starry night sky, but the lights were taken down in the 1980s partly because a number of car crashes on the nearby A303 were attributed to drivers being distracted.

A spokesman for English Heritage said: "As there is even more traffic today on the A303 there are on a purely practical level some serious safety issues to consider."

But English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley, who ended being interviewed by Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans on the issue, said he would 'never say never'. "It might be a nice thing to do once or twice as a one-off for special events, perhaps, and I'd never say never. But overall, it's not something we are considering," he said.