English Heritage is offering visitors the chance to win 20 minutes of solitude at the heart of Stonehenge throughout August. Buyers of advance tickets will be automatically entered into a draw for alone time at the monument, a first since admission charges were introduced 125 years ago.
A Rare Quiet Moment
Usually, the monument is cordoned off with rope barriers, and visitors view the stones from a surrounding path. For a recent visit, supervisor Nick Morabito unhooked the rope shortly after 9am. Rules remain—visitors must not touch, lean on, or sit on the stones—but there is more opportunity to appreciate the heft and details, such as lichen patterns, deep fissures, and thistles poking out from under some stones.
The site is quiet but not silent. The A303 passes nearby, but traffic sounds are a hum rather than a roar, allowing the song of skylarks, bleat of sheep, and a warm southerly breeze—what Thomas Hardy called a “temple of the winds”—to be heard.
Staff Perspectives
Morabito said he cherished moments of solitude at the stones: “At the end of a busy summer’s day it’s lovely to sit in the circle for a few minutes and remember what it’s all about.” Security officer Ray Bulpitt relished the tranquility of night shifts: “You hear the hares and sheep moving around.” Occasionally an interloper tries to gain access. “We had a couple last night,” Bulpitt said. “We asked them to leave – no problems.”
Georgia Butters, English Heritage’s head of operations for Stonehenge, agreed that spending time in the stone circle was special: “It is a spiritual place for many people but even if you’re not spiritual in that way there’s just something wonderful about the landscape – it has a presence, a stillness.”
Other Ways to Access
Solitary access can also be achieved through fame—Barack Obama visited while US president, and Buzz Aldrin wore a Mars T-shirt when he popped by. At solstice, people are allowed into the circle for free but share the space with many others. Otherwise, solitary time usually costs nearly £1,500 for an “explorer tour.”
Butters said winners of the August draw could take along other members of their party who booked at the same time, or opt to go completely alone. “Everyone’s different, aren’t they? Some may want to run in and out of the stones, some may want to have a cup of tea there,” she said. “They’re massive stones and there’s something about standing right next to one and getting the scale of them. It makes you think, how did people get these things here 5,000 years ago?”
Some winners will want to take pictures for social media. “That’s fine,” said Butters. “But I’d like to think that they’ll be able to just spend some time and have a moment of peace.”
