The story of Stonehenge through the 20th century is a sometimes surprising one. This talk will focus on some key events – the re-erection of a leaning stone in 1901, the sale of the monument at auction in 1915 and subsequent donation to the nation, the excavations of the site in the 1920s and the restoration of a sarsen trilithon in 1958. These will be illustrated with historic photographs and, in the case of the latter, excerpts from recently collected oral histories which add colour to the recent history of this unique monument.
Susan Greaney is Senior Properties Historian at English Heritage, the charity with responsibility for maintaining and presenting Stonehenge. Her specialist interest is the Neolithic and early Bronze Age of Britain and Ireland, and she is nearing the completion of a PhD on Neolithic monument complexes at Cardiff University. Susan has worked for English Heritage for 16 years, working on the presentation and interpretation of prehistoric and other sites, and was involved with the creation of the new visitor centre at Stonehenge which opened in 2013.
