The Stonehenge Byways and the Threat to their Existence

There are a number of Public Rights of Way (PRoW) that run through the Stonehenge World Heritage site.

You can find them marked on the Ordnance Survey map (Explorer sheet 130 "Salisbury and Stonehenge"), on the Wiltshire Council's Rights of Way Explorer GIS (try searching for AMES12) and see how their routes have remained mostly stable over the last 200 years using the National Library of Scotland old map archive.

Here's the closeup from Wiltshire Council's website.

PRoW include footpaths, bridleways and byways open to all traffic ("BOATs") and afford the public the right to travel along them freely. England and Wales's PRoW network was codified in 1949 in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, where ancient tracks and paths were formally set down in Definite Maps and Statements that described their routes and enshrined them in Law.

If a PRoW is a footpath you can only walk along it, for a bridleway you can walk, cycle or ride a horse. For BOATs you can do all of that, and you can use a motorised vehicle along them as well.

It's the local Council's responsibility to maintain these PRoW in a fit state to be used as intended, and it's an offence to block them up to prevent the public using them (something certain landowners will sometimes do, illegally).

The BOAT that runs past Stonehenge comprises a collection of routes known as (from South to North) Berwick St James 11, Wilsford-cum-Lake 1, Amesbury 12 (these three are the long dotted green and brown line in the map above) and Durrington 10 (the solid brown line continuation at the northern end). For the purpose of this post, this is called "the Drove".

The shorter dotted green and brown line that stops at the A303 comprises (from South to North) Wilsford-cum-Lake 2 and Amesbury 11.

For generations, people have made use of the Drove to get to the vicinity of Stonehenge, stop, and walk up to (and originally into, before it was fenced off) the monument and out into the wider landscape.

Ever since the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre was built about 10 years ago, when the old main road that used to also run right past Stonehenge (the A344) was closed and grassed over, the Drove has been the only way that people in motorised vehicles have been able to approach the area "out of hours".

So if you want to see Stonehenge at dawn, for example, you can drive down the Drove and park on the side of it near where the old Visitor Centre used to be, get out of your vehicle and walk along the "Permissive Path" (not a PRoW, but an informal public path along the route of the old A344) to get quite close to Stonehenge. For free. Whenever you like.

So Far So Good, but...

It came to light recently, quite by accident, that Wiltshire Council have invited a select group of "user groups and interested parties" to offer their comments on "measures they feel would be appropriate and proportionate to address the problems being experienced."

I quote the communication that was sent out by the Council in full, below:

I am writing to you in relation to the Byways Open to All Traffic contained within the vicinity of Stonehenge. For some time, the current level and type of use of these Byways Open to All Traffic has resulted in a number of issues around damage to the surface of the Byways Open to All Traffic and degradation of the environment within the World Heritage Site (WHS). While it was thought that the promotion of the Stonehenge Tunnel Scheme would have addressed a number of these issues, its cancellation means that this opportunity has now disappeared.

Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan (2015) sets out some specific objectives in relation to highways and public rights of way:

· Policy 6a of the Management Plan states the need to identify and implement measures to reduce the negative impacts of roads, traffic and parking on the WHS and to improve road safety and the ease and confidence with which residents and visitors can explore the WHS.

· Policy 6b states the aim to manage vehicular access to byways within the WHS to avoid damage to archaeology, improve safety and encourage exploration of the landscape on foot whilst maintaining access for emergency, operational and farm vehicles and landowners.

Most recent inspection of the Byways Open to All Traffic, carried out in conjunction with the “Winter Solstice” closures, identified the fact that the byway surface conditions had deteriorated to an unacceptable condition. This has necessitated the closures being extended to enable repair works to be undertaken.

Wiltshire Council as the Highway Authority is now seeking to develop a holistic approach that addresses Policy 6a and 6b of the Management Plan. To this end we are now looking to consult with user groups and interested parties for their views on what measures they feel would be appropriate and proportionate to address the problems being experienced.

We would be grateful if you could make any observations and respond to this correspondence by 21st March 2025 (UPDATE: now extended to 31st March - SB).

Responses can be returned to:

stonehengebyways@wiltshire.gov.uk

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

On the face of it, this might seem reasonable.

However, the Council has a history of trying to remove vehicular rights over these routes. The last time they tried to do so (before the Stonehenge Tunnel project attempt) was in 2010/11 when the Order to "Stop Up" the old A344 was subject to an Enquiry by an Inspector to determine whether or not it would be allowed. The Council had included in their application an attempt to remove the BOAT status from the byways around Stonehenge at the same time.

The Inspector denied that attempt and Wiltshire Council were frustrated.

This new invitation to offer observations on "a holistic approach" (whatever that is) seems to have behind it another attempt to remove the rights of motorised vehicles to use these routes.

If you should happen to think that this is wrong, and that there ought to be a way for people to readily access the Stonehenge area by motorised vehicle without relying on the Visitor Centre being open and using the shuttle bus (which means having to buy a ticket - currently £86 for a family of 5), then you have until Friday 21st March 2025 (UPDATE: Now extended to 31st March - SB) to let the Council know by emailing stonehengebyways@wiltshire.gov.uk

I've done so, and you can read my response here. It's quite detailed and digs into the World Heritage Site Management Plan 2015 to find out what Policies 6a and 6b actually say, and also checks out what the last Condition Survey Report from 2012 had to say about damage to archaeology as a result of vehicles on the byways. It turns out there's more to this that what Wiltshire Council have said in their communication.

There is no consultation page on the Wiltshire Council website about this, and a vast number of people and organisations who could rightly be called "user groups and interested parties" were not included in the list of recipients of Wiltshire Council's invitation.

It's almost as if they're trying to keep it secret, but let's not go down that route.

A Change.org petition has been set up (not by me), which you can sign, but even if you do that it's vital that you also directly email Wiltshire Council (stonehengebyways@wiltshire.gov.uk) to give your view.