A sentimental & practical guide to Amesbury and Stonehenge

In Short

Lady Florence Antrobus provides a comprehensive manual for visitors traveling from Salisbury across the bleak Wiltshire downs to Amesbury and Stonehenge. Combining local history, architectural notes, and excavation reports, the book traces the region’s evolution from ancient Pagan sun worship and Arthurian myth to monastic life and modern legal battles over public access. Through a blend of romantic reflections, architectural critique, and practical hotel tariffs, Antrobus attempts to capture the landscape's mysterious heritage while offering real-world guidance to contemporary travelers navigating the changing countryside.

The Story

The narrative follows a geographical and historical journey beginning at Salisbury and extending across the sweeping downs toward Amesbury and the sacred circle of Stonehenge. Traveling along the Upper Road, the route passes the brooding earthworks of Old Sarum—a abandoned fortress-city cooped up within a deep ditch, whose cathedral was torn down in the fourteenth century to build New Sarum. Arriving in Amesbury, the text explores the town's rich monastic heritage, beginning with Queen Elfrida’s Benedictine nunnery, established in 980 as penance for murder. The account details the abbey’s rise under the French Abbey of Fontevrault, its medieval royal associations, and its eventual surrender during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII despite the brave resistance of Prioress Florence Bormewe.

Moving beyond the town, the text traverses the grounds of Amesbury Abbey—associated in legend with Queen Guinevere's penitential retirement—and highlights landmark structures like the Inigo Jones Palladian mansion, the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry’s estate, and the cave where the poet Gay wrote. Following the river Avon, the reader reaches Stonehenge itself. The guide immerses the reader in the atmospheric power of the great trilithons, contrasting the enchanted, storm-swept plain with its historical realities. It presents competing theories on the structure’s origins, citing opinions that range from Phoenician origins to 1000 B.C. sun worship, before detailing the groundbreaking 1901 excavations under Mr. W. Gowland. These excavations unearthed flint hatchets, sarsen mauls, and stone tools, confirming that the monument dates back between 3,000 and 4,000 years to the late Neolithic or early Bronze period.

The story concludes by addressing the modern controversies surrounding the monument. Antrobus details the controversial erection of a protective wire fence around the circle to prevent vandalism following the establishment of nearby military camps and railway lines. This culminates in a transcript of the 1904 High Court legal battle between the Attorney-General and Sir Edmund Antrobus regarding public rights of way and access. Finally, the book turns to practical travel logistics, offering commercial hotel tariffs, carriage services, and local directory listings for travelers making the journey.

How It Unfolds

The road from Old Sarum The journey departs Salisbury across bleak, open downs, passing the solemn, earthwork-encircled ruins of Old Sarum. The narrative outlines the ancient city's decline, driven by scarcity of water, harsh winds, and friction between cooped-up soldiers and priests, which led to the creation of New Sarum.

Monastic life at Amesbury The text examines Amesbury’s sacred past, focusing on Queen Elfrida’s 980 A.D. nunnery and its growth under the Abbey of Fontevrault into one of England's wealthiest religious houses. It highlights key historical figures, including royal nuns and the courageous Prioress Florence Bormewe, who refused to willingly surrender her house to Henry VIII's emissaries.

The magic of Stonehenge Arriving at the stone circle, the guide shifts to an evocative exploration of the ancient temple under tempestuous autumn gales and summer sunrises. It contrasts romantic legends of Druid mistletoe rites and Arthurian travel with scientific attempts to calculate the monument's age using astronomical alignment.

Unearthing the Neolithic past The account details the 1901 underpinning of the Leaning Stone, recording the discovery of heavy sarsen mauls, flint axes, and stone implements buried deep underground. These physical finds establish that Stonehenge belongs to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, disproving earlier medieval theories.

Preservation and modern conflict The final sections cover modern conservation debates, documenting the installation of a wire fence to protect the site from nearby military camps and railway tourists. This leads directly into the official 1904 High Court of Justice claim over whether public rights of way exist through the ancient monument.

The People

• Lady Florence Antrobus — The author and local custodian who seeks to preserve the historic integrity of Amesbury and Stonehenge. She defends ancient architecture against careless local restorations and advocates for structural preservation over heavy-handed alteration.

• Queen Elfrida — The tenth-century Anglo-Saxon queen who founded the Benedictine nunnery at Amesbury in 980 A.D. She built the religious house as a penance to atone for the murder of her step-son, Edward the Martyr.

• Prioress Florence Bormewe — The resolute head of the Amesbury monastery during the Reformation. She steadfastly refused to submit to King Henry VIII’s emissaries, declaring she would rather beg her bread than surrender her house.

• The Duchess of Queensberry (Lady Catherine Hyde) — An energetic eighteenth-century noblewoman who lived at Amesbury. She famously defied King George II and Queen Caroline to defend her friend, the poet John Gay, and his controversial work, The Beggar's Opera.

• Sir Edmund Antrobus — The landowner and baronet who undertook the physical underpinning and preservation of the stone circle. His decision to enclose the site with a wire fence made him the defendant in a major 1904 High Court lawsuit over public rights of way.

In Its Own Voice

"The great hollow enclosure of Old Sarum, girt by its frowning earthwork (not unlike the crater of a volcano), is certainly a solemn and desolate place."

Describing the desolate impression left by the ancient earthworks of Old Sarum when approached from the Salisbury road.

"To my mind the magic of Stonehenge is never more powerfully felt than during the wild, tempestuous autumnal gales, that usually sweep across the Plain in October."

Reflecting on the unique atmosphere and emotional impact of the ancient stone circle under shifting autumn skies.

"No 'restorations' (so called) should ever be allowed for these buildings, only 'repairs.'"

Arguing against modern architectural alterations that damage historic churches and parish monuments in the neighbourhood.

What It's Really About

The book explores the tension between preserving ancient heritage and adapting to modern change. Beneath its dual identity as a traveler's guide and antiquarian survey, it examines how physical landscapes hold layers of human memory—from Neolithic ritual space and Saxon monastic penance to Georgian aristocratic leisure. Antrobus argues forcefully that the duty of the present is stewardship rather than alteration, taking a firm stance on conservation over destructive "restoration." Whether criticising local clergy for installing cheap yellow stone in historic churches or defending the necessity of a wire fence around Stonehenge, the text wrestles with how a nation ought to protect its sacred, mysterious, and vulnerable past from modern encroachment and neglect.

Why Read It Today

This guide offers a fascinating snapshot of early twentieth-century British antiquarianism at a literal turning point in history. Readers who enjoy local history, landscape literature, and archaeology will appreciate the book's blend of poetic mythmaking and rigorous physical documentation. It records the precise historical moment when Stonehenge transitioned from an open, un protected romantic ruin into a managed national monument subject to scientific excavation and High Court legal battles.

The text reads briskly, alternating between romantic descriptions of Druidic sun worship and pragmatic details like exact stone counts, excavation tool weights, and historic hotel tariffs. While modern readers may find the inclusion of dense legal filings, architectural lists, and local lodging menus somewhat dry or disjointed, these elements give the work an authentic, period-specific charm. It leaves the reader with a deep appreciation for the Wiltshire downs and a vivid sense of how deeply the past is embedded in the physical soil of the English countryside.