He had been sent to the auction by his wife, so legend has it, to buy a set of dining chairs. Instead, barrister Cecil Chubb’s eye was caught by lot No 15: a few acres of Wiltshire downland – plus one ancient, crumbling, mysterious monument.
Exactly 100 years ago, Stonehenge was sold to Chubb for £6,600. Three years later he gave the magnificent stones to the nation and since then it has become one of the most beloved and most visited historical sites in the world.
“It is odd to think that just 100 years ago you could bid for Stonehenge,” said curator Heather Sebire. “Who knows what would have happened to it if someone else had bought it? It was in a pretty perilous condition at the time and it appears that Chubb stepped in to make sure Stonehenge stayed in local ownership. Now it’s under the guardianship of English Heritage and is safe forever.”
Stonehenge had been a popular attraction since the Middle Ages but by the late 19th century tourists were regularly chipping away at the monument for souvenirs.
In 1900, one of the upright sarsen stones fell and the massive horizontal lintel it held in place snapped in two. There was an outcry, leading to the monument being fenced in and an admission charge introduced towards its upkeep. But the stones remained in a worrying condition.
Stonehenge had been owned by the Antrobus family since the early 1800s but when the heir to the Antrobus baronetcy was killed in the opening months of the first world war, the Amesbury Abbey estate was divided into lots and put up for sale.
The auction catalogue described Stonehenge as a “place of sanctity dedicated to the observation or adoration of the sun” and dated it to around 1800BC (actually it is now thought that the first phase was constructed as long ago as 3000BC).
At 2pm on 21 September 1915, the New Theatre in Salisbury was full. According to a report in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal: “Interest quickened when the auctioneer announced lot 15.” Auctioneer Sir Howard Frank began bidding at £5,000. It quickly reached £6,000 but then stalled.
Frank was not impressed. “Gentlemen,” he said, “it is impossible to value Stonehenge. Surely £6,000 is poor bidding, but if no one bids me any more, I shall set it at this price. Will no one give me any more than £6,000 for Stonehenge?”
The auction limped on until the hammer came down at £6,600. A clerk made his way along the dimly lit stalls and returned with the purchaser’s card in his hand. Frank announced the identify of the buyer to applause.
Chubb remarked to a reporter that he had not intended to acquire the ancient site. He added: “While I was in the room, I thought a Salisbury man ought to buy it.” Asked if he had any plans for the stones, he replied that he would protect the monument.
Apparently, Chubb’s wife, Mary, was not pleased when he broke the news and three years later in 1918, he donated it to the nation, writing: “I became the owner of it with a deep sense of pleasure … [but] it has been pressed upon me that the nation would like to have it for its own ...”
A special handing-over ceremony took place and Chubb received a knighthood, gaining the local nickname “Viscount Stonehenge”. One of the conditions was that local people would still be able to visit for free, which English Heritage honours.
But what would have happened if Chubb had not won the auction? It had already been afforded protection under the Ancient Monuments Act of 1883 so probably could not have been shipped overseas as London Bridge was half a century later.
The second-highest bidder was farmer Isaac Crook. His grandson, Richard, still farms nearby fields today. “He was going to put sheep on to it. It’s quite a thought that our family might have owned Stonehenge. But who knows what he’d have done with the stones? He was interested in the land rather than the stones but I like to think he’d have cared for them.”
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