Archaeology & History

100 years ago Stonehenge sold for £6,600

By T.K. Randall
September 21, 2015

Image: Stonehenge, Wiltshire
Credit: Udit Kapoor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) The peculiar series of events took place 100 years ago when the wife of barrister Cecil Chubb sent her husband to an auction at the New Theatre in Salisbury to pick up a set of dining chairs.

While attending the event Chubb happened across the sale of Stonehenge and, rather than spending money on the furniture as his wife had asked, decided that the monument should go to someone from Salisbury and opted to place a bid on it. He ultimately won the auction for £6,600.

Rather than keeping it however he later decided to transfer the stone circle over to public ownership for which he received a knighthood and the local nickname "Viscount Stonehenge"."It is odd to think that just 100 years ago you could bid for Stonehenge," said curator Heather Sebire. “Who knows what would have happened to it if someone else had bought it ?"

The second highest-bidder at the auction had been a local farmer by the name of Isaac Crook.

"He was going to put sheep on to it," said his grandson Richard. "It's quite a thought that our family might have owned Stonehenge. But who knows what he'd have done with the stones ?"

Source: The Guardian

Tags: Stonehenge