The Stonehenge Picket - the story so far
What was the reason behind the picket?
PRESS RELEASE
Stonehenge was presented to the Nation after the Great War in 1918. Sixty years later in 1978 a fence was erected around it. Thirty years on what's changed?
NOTHING, LESS THAN NOTHING.
After spending many years and an obscene amount of public money on consultations, enquiries and the commissioning of countless reports and architectural drawings, the Stonehenge Vision as expressed by English Heritage, to return the Temple to a natural environment and remove the fence that holds it in a stranglehold like a snared animal, is dead in the water. Why?
Because since 1918 H M Government, Her Loyal Opposition and agents, English Heritage, Wiltshire Constabulary, The Highways Agency, The Department of Transport, Salisbury District Council, The Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport, Wiltshire County Council and their predecessors, have been all equally complicit in the mis-management and failure to comply with their duty of care for this living, working Temple that was left to us, the people of this once green and pleasant land.
Countless enquiries amount to nothing because no one is prepared to invest in what is after all A World Heritage Site and, incidentally, the biggest cash cow in English Heritage's arsenal.
The Authorities have shown their gross incompetence in their mis-management of Stonehenge and therefore, on behalf of the Nation and the people therein, I lay claim to this Temple and will mount a legal, moral and political challenge to their custodianship.
In the meantime, I have spent the best part of twenty years in negotiations with said agencies, only to have it brushed aside with the stroke of a pen. It is now my intention to celebrate Solstices and Equinoxes in the environs of Stonehenge but I will not enter the Temple until their promise is realized and the fence removed.
My mistake was, I dared to dream, dared to believe and to work for their vision. I too have a vision, to re-erect the fallen Stones, replace the lintels and rebuild our Temple. I call upon leaders of other religions, belief-structures and philosophies to support me in this. I call also upon the people of Salisbury to support me through the ballot box and to send a peoples' champion to Westminster to represent them in Parliament - by, for and of the people.
Arthur Pendragon /|\
PRESS RELEASE
Stonehenge was presented to the Nation after the Great War in 1918. Sixty years later in 1978 a fence was erected around it. Thirty years on what's changed?
NOTHING, LESS THAN NOTHING.
After spending many years and an obscene amount of public money on consultations, enquiries and the commissioning of countless reports and architectural drawings, the Stonehenge Vision as expressed by English Heritage, to return the Temple to a natural environment and remove the fence that holds it in a stranglehold like a snared animal, is dead in the water. Why?
Because since 1918 H M Government, Her Loyal Opposition and agents, English Heritage, Wiltshire Constabulary, The Highways Agency, The Department of Transport, Salisbury District Council, The Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport, Wiltshire County Council and their predecessors, have been all equally complicit in the mis-management and failure to comply with their duty of care for this living, working Temple that was left to us, the people of this once green and pleasant land.
Countless enquiries amount to nothing because no one is prepared to invest in what is after all A World Heritage Site and, incidentally, the biggest cash cow in English Heritage's arsenal.
The Authorities have shown their gross incompetence in their mis-management of Stonehenge and therefore, on behalf of the Nation and the people therein, I lay claim to this Temple and will mount a legal, moral and political challenge to their custodianship.
In the meantime, I have spent the best part of twenty years in negotiations with said agencies, only to have it brushed aside with the stroke of a pen. It is now my intention to celebrate Solstices and Equinoxes in the environs of Stonehenge but I will not enter the Temple until their promise is realized and the fence removed.
My mistake was, I dared to dream, dared to believe and to work for their vision. I too have a vision, to re-erect the fallen Stones, replace the lintels and rebuild our Temple. I call upon leaders of other religions, belief-structures and philosophies to support me in this. I call also upon the people of Salisbury to support me through the ballot box and to send a peoples' champion to Westminster to represent them in Parliament - by, for and of the people.
Arthur Pendragon /|\
The Petition
Return Stonehenge to its natural environment petition:
"We, the undersigned, wish to petition UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on behalf of the special interest groups - including and inclusive of the tourists - who visit Stonehenge to put pressure on Her Majesty's government to resolve the problems caused by the proximity of the roads at what is - after all - a World Heritage Site and to encourage English Heritage and National Trust to return the temple/monument to the sacred landscape and environs allowing Free and Open Access to Stonehenge.
Statement from Arthur Pendragon."
PETITION NOW CLOSED
"We, the undersigned, wish to petition UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on behalf of the special interest groups - including and inclusive of the tourists - who visit Stonehenge to put pressure on Her Majesty's government to resolve the problems caused by the proximity of the roads at what is - after all - a World Heritage Site and to encourage English Heritage and National Trust to return the temple/monument to the sacred landscape and environs allowing Free and Open Access to Stonehenge.
Statement from Arthur Pendragon."
PETITION NOW CLOSED
Notice to Quit
17th July 2008 - At the Stonehenge Consultation held in Amesbury, King Arthur nailed this "Notice to Quit" on the front door of Antribus House.
"NOTICE TO QUIT
I Arthur Uther Pendragon being a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Chief Druid & representative there of:
Do hereby exercise my legal right to ownership to the Temple & property variously known as 'Merlin's Enclosure', 'The Giants Dance', and 'Stonehenge'.
In as much as:
It was left to the people of Britain after the Great War in 1918 And has since been in the care and control of OUR elected representatives (H.M. Government) who have acted on our behalf.
It is my contention that successive Governments, and Her Majesty's Loyal opposition and their agents, have since that time woefully failed in their duty of care, for & on my behalf, at Stonehenge of this World Heritage Site
And that the Executive Non Departmental Body, English Heritage, have been grossly incompetent, since their establishment in Statute in 1986 and squandered funds raised for and on my behalf at Stonehenge That they and other Government Departments, Eleven years & thirty seven million pounds later, have expressed a wish to squander yet more of our monies is a further demonstration of their Gross Incompetence.
I therefore give "NOTICE TO QUIT" to English Heretics & H.M. Government "Pick up thy fence & Walk"
And return it to its rightful owner
The peoples of this Once Green & Pleasant Land"
"NOTICE TO QUIT
I Arthur Uther Pendragon being a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Chief Druid & representative there of:
Do hereby exercise my legal right to ownership to the Temple & property variously known as 'Merlin's Enclosure', 'The Giants Dance', and 'Stonehenge'.
In as much as:
It was left to the people of Britain after the Great War in 1918 And has since been in the care and control of OUR elected representatives (H.M. Government) who have acted on our behalf.
It is my contention that successive Governments, and Her Majesty's Loyal opposition and their agents, have since that time woefully failed in their duty of care, for & on my behalf, at Stonehenge of this World Heritage Site
And that the Executive Non Departmental Body, English Heritage, have been grossly incompetent, since their establishment in Statute in 1986 and squandered funds raised for and on my behalf at Stonehenge That they and other Government Departments, Eleven years & thirty seven million pounds later, have expressed a wish to squander yet more of our monies is a further demonstration of their Gross Incompetence.
I therefore give "NOTICE TO QUIT" to English Heretics & H.M. Government "Pick up thy fence & Walk"
And return it to its rightful owner
The peoples of this Once Green & Pleasant Land"
Eviction from The Drove - 24th April 2009
Wiltshire Council issued an eviction order against Arthur which he vowed to fight. A court date was set 3 days later and the judge ruled that Arthur must leave The Drove by 3rd May 2009. Arthur refuses to leave and is denied any appeals. Arthur prepares for a legal fight in a higher court. No one turned up to evict him …
Salisbury Journal newspaper article (all rights reserved)
A JUDGE has ordered Druid protester King Arthur Pendragon to dismantle his camp at Stonehenge and move out by Sunday.
Wiltshire Council, which sought the order, said he and his followers were blocking a public byway, which the council, as the highway authority, had a duty to keep open.
With no sanitation or facilities for rubbish disposal, and the prospect of more Druid supporters joining the picket as the weather warms up, there was every chance of "serious damage" to the World Heritage Site, said solicitor Roger Hodkinson. The right to protest did not give the Druids the right to trespass.
Mr Pendragon and three of his followers, who were served the court papers on Friday, were refused an adjournment to seek legal advice by District Judge David Asplin at the County Court hearing in Salisbury earlier today.
The judge also rejected a request that the case be transferred to the High Court, and refused them leave to appeal.
But outside the court after the case, surrounded by colourfully-clad supporters holding up banners proclaiming the Loyal Arthurian Warband and the Council of British Druid Orders, Mr Pendragon was in defiant mood.
He declared: "I have no intention whatsoever of moving at this stage. I will try to get this decision overturned. I will appeal to the highest court in the land if need be.
"All my human rights have been ignored. All my religious rights have been ignored.
"I will be conferring with other senior Druids and we will be contacting all the local MPs and taking legal advice."
He said that since he set up his picket last summer 8,000 people, including tourists from all over the world, had signed a petition supporting his cause. He wants the fences around the historic site removed, to open it fully to the public, with a tunnel under the A303 and grass over the A344.
His supporters said that far from posing a nuisance, they helped English Heritage to keep the site tidy by picking up rubbish. And visitors loved to see them.
Reverend Kim Payne of the New Order of the Knights Templar, said: "We are being denied our legal right to worship. We want to get a Druid presence there all the time."
Arthur and his supporters met Salisbury MP Robert Key outside the court who stated he supported Arthur 100% with regards to the Stonehenge picket.
The Daily Mail will be running a two page feature on 25th April, which Arthur has been reassured that it will be accurate, fully factual and not misrepresent him - like the last three articles have… and it won't be Jane writing it!
Arthur has requested that this statement is issued:
"I am not promoting anyone to politicise any May Day gatherings or ceremonies at Stonehenge. Nor does he encourage anyone to break the law or be arrested if/as when the bailiffs try to move him on from the Drove. However, it is my personal intention to carry on as a I perceive this as a lawful protest."
Source: www.salisburyjournal.co.uk
Wiltshire Council, which sought the order, said he and his followers were blocking a public byway, which the council, as the highway authority, had a duty to keep open.
With no sanitation or facilities for rubbish disposal, and the prospect of more Druid supporters joining the picket as the weather warms up, there was every chance of "serious damage" to the World Heritage Site, said solicitor Roger Hodkinson. The right to protest did not give the Druids the right to trespass.
Mr Pendragon and three of his followers, who were served the court papers on Friday, were refused an adjournment to seek legal advice by District Judge David Asplin at the County Court hearing in Salisbury earlier today.
The judge also rejected a request that the case be transferred to the High Court, and refused them leave to appeal.
But outside the court after the case, surrounded by colourfully-clad supporters holding up banners proclaiming the Loyal Arthurian Warband and the Council of British Druid Orders, Mr Pendragon was in defiant mood.
He declared: "I have no intention whatsoever of moving at this stage. I will try to get this decision overturned. I will appeal to the highest court in the land if need be.
"All my human rights have been ignored. All my religious rights have been ignored.
"I will be conferring with other senior Druids and we will be contacting all the local MPs and taking legal advice."
He said that since he set up his picket last summer 8,000 people, including tourists from all over the world, had signed a petition supporting his cause. He wants the fences around the historic site removed, to open it fully to the public, with a tunnel under the A303 and grass over the A344.
His supporters said that far from posing a nuisance, they helped English Heritage to keep the site tidy by picking up rubbish. And visitors loved to see them.
Reverend Kim Payne of the New Order of the Knights Templar, said: "We are being denied our legal right to worship. We want to get a Druid presence there all the time."
Arthur and his supporters met Salisbury MP Robert Key outside the court who stated he supported Arthur 100% with regards to the Stonehenge picket.
The Daily Mail will be running a two page feature on 25th April, which Arthur has been reassured that it will be accurate, fully factual and not misrepresent him - like the last three articles have… and it won't be Jane writing it!
Arthur has requested that this statement is issued:
"I am not promoting anyone to politicise any May Day gatherings or ceremonies at Stonehenge. Nor does he encourage anyone to break the law or be arrested if/as when the bailiffs try to move him on from the Drove. However, it is my personal intention to carry on as a I perceive this as a lawful protest."
Source: www.salisburyjournal.co.uk
English Heritage Announcement - 19th May 2009
English Heritage finally make an announcement regarding the future of Stonehenge. The Picket is removed by Arthur as promised:
"As the government has made its decision about Stonehenge, I have honoured my word to the council and constabulary and removed the picket."
Conclusion is that the picket was conducted peacefully over ten difficult months. Thousands of signatures were obtained by visitors from all over the world condemning the condition of the so-called World Heritage Site. The consultation was always an expensive joke and perhaps there would not have even been the final one had Arthur not stood up and shamed them into finally doing something. Arthur and Kazz thank each and everyone of you who offered support, physically and spiritually. You all made a difference.
THE END....?
"As the government has made its decision about Stonehenge, I have honoured my word to the council and constabulary and removed the picket."
Conclusion is that the picket was conducted peacefully over ten difficult months. Thousands of signatures were obtained by visitors from all over the world condemning the condition of the so-called World Heritage Site. The consultation was always an expensive joke and perhaps there would not have even been the final one had Arthur not stood up and shamed them into finally doing something. Arthur and Kazz thank each and everyone of you who offered support, physically and spiritually. You all made a difference.
THE END....?
