Stonehenge to undergo first major repairs in 60 years to fill cracks and holes in monument

Weather has taken its toll on 4,500-year-old circle

(Getty/iStock)

Stonehenge will undergo its first renovation in more than 60 years to fix cracks and holes caused by wind and rain.

Laser scans had detected some erosion in the lintel stones, which are the stones that have laid across the tops of the vertical stones for thousands of years. There is also some damage in the joints and concrete mortar.

Scaffolding will be erected around the prehistoric structure, and the deteriorating concrete mortar that was added to some of the stones in the 1950s will be replaced with a more breathable lime mortar.

A lintel numbered 122 fell and cracked on 31 December 1900, after its vertical support stone number 22 had toppled over.

Pictures of stone 122, on website Stones of Stonehenge, shows a line where about a third of it had broken off after it had fallen.

In 1958, the stone was repaired using concrete and was lugged back to its place on top of two vertical stones.

Stones 122 and 22 had been the first stones to fall since 1797, when a rapid thaw followed a severe frost.

The new repairs by specialist conservators are expected to take two weeks to be completed.

Senior curator Heather Sebire said: “Stonehenge is unique among stone circles by virtue of its lintels and the special joints used to secure the lintels in place.

“Four and a half thousand years of being buffeted by wind and rain has created cracks and holes in the surface of the stone, and this vital work will protect the features which make Stonehenge so distinctive.”

Some of the natural holes in the stones are “really deep” and the weather having become “more extreme” can make the holes worse due to the stones drying out in summer and puddles forming in torrential rain, Ms Sebire said.

English Heritage has invited a man to replace, during the new works, a halfpenny he placed under one of the stones in the 1950s.

Richard Woodman-Bailey, 71, will replace the original 1958 coin that he placed there when he was eight.

He is the son of the chief architect for ancient monuments, TA Bailey, who oversaw the work on the structure – situated in Salisbury Plain – in that year.

English Heritage has arranged with the Royal Mint to produce a special commemorative 2021 coin so Mr Woodman-Bailey can stick it into the new mortar holding the lintels in place.

Director of Collector Services at The Royal Mint Rebecca Morgan said: “We were delighted to invite Richard to The Royal Mint to strike his own coin that will take its place in history.

“In honour of the ancient site, we struck a 2021-dated £2 silver coin featuring Britannia.

“This symbol of Britain first appeared on UK coins 2,000 years ago, and has been carried by visitors to Stonehenge for centuries.”