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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 10h

So it's not Noddy Holder?

Reposted by Martyn Barber

Brian Edwards @public-history.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Both sides of a Stonehenge entrance ticket from 1901. Evidence from two other sources suggests the numbering had started at...? Answers on a postcard please.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I remember going down a shaft at Spiennes about 30 years ago - the bottom of the shaft was lit by dozens of candles placed in niches in the chalk, and there were three Belgians wearing blue and white hooped t-shirts selling bottles of beer.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I didn't realise it was still in print - 1999 was a long time ago

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Looks like it's changed a bit since I was last there...

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Reposted by Martyn Barber

Vinegar Tom Pullin @tom-pullin.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I like these weird silent credits from the Stonehenge episode of archaeology programme Buried Treasure (1954, currently on iPlayer), with triffid-like lurs held aloft

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Have you not heard the Neanderthal Man segment of Mike Oldifeld's Tubular Bells? Very un-Neolithic.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Errr... "The scientists attempt to "replay" events that happened around Stonehenge back in ancient Neanderthal times".

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Presumably, but I'd advise using a hammer to hit the chisel with.

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Reposted by Martyn Barber

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A while ago I said I might post about modern Stonehenge myths, some of which pop up frequently in all manner of places, including stuff written by actual archaeologists. So – to begin with, the old chestnut about (allegedly) being able to hire a hammer when visiting Stonehenge. #StandingStoneSunday

A colour photo showing two of the trilithons at Stonehenge, with a few other stones visible. In the foreground is a sign saying "No Admittance", while in between the two upright sarsens of one trilithon is an orange and white traffic cone.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

No, but for a few years some archaeologists hoped they were. Maud kept all the notes and correspondence because she didn't believe the person who gave them to the museum was their legal owner. As a result, it's possible to tell the story - chapter 2 in this: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/ancient-e...

bloomsbury.com

Ancient Egypt in the Modern Imagination

Ancient Egypt has always been a source of fascination to writers, artists and architects in the West. This book is the first study to address representations of…

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I am, however, eternally grateful that she kept all the notes and correspondence relating to tthe Egyptian scarabs from Stonehenge and Ludgershall...

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Sadly it's the case for lots of people - retained by the family and/or disposed of. Odds and ends do turn up - her annotated copy of the Woodhenge report, for instance - but otherwise the only things available to fill gaps are newspaper articles/reports and correspondence in other people's archives.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

There are certainly interesting things, but she left no archive as such. Julia Roberts went through the museum archive for this article back in 2002. Just a few bits and pieces have emerged since...

Screenshot of the title and abstract of a paper entitled "That terrible woman: the life, work and legacy of Maud Cunningotn', by Julia ROberts, published in the Wiltshire Archaeology and Natural History Magazine, vol 95, 2002, pages 46-62. This volume can be found on the Internet Archive website.

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Reposted by Martyn Barber

Brian Edwards @public-history.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Tonight! Do come along if you can.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Unfortunately I can't make it. I'll have to wait for the bootleg to hit the market stalls.

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Reposted by Martyn Barber

Dr Katy Whitaker (she/her) @artefactual.eurosky.social · 05/10/2026

Calling my #AerialPhotography tribe! Does anyone have a digital copy of that classic of wartime AP interpretation, the line of camels with their shadows? I’d like to use it in a talk later this month.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ah that's a shame. I don't think any of the known collapses have featured in TV or film fiction yet.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It is, but it's extent and frequency were exaggerated, particularly in the period after Lubbock introduced his Ancient Monuments Bill and the then-owner, Sir Edmund Antrobus (3rd Baronet) refused to play ball with the archaeologists. I wrote about it in this: historicengland.org.uk/research/res...

historicengland.org.uk

'Restoring' Stonehenge 1881-1939| Historic England

'Restoring' Stonehenge 1881-1939

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I included Druid and Maskelyne (and others) in 'Restoring Stonehenge ' or whatever it was called.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The whole episode has more of a Bargain Hunt feel to it.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ah - I will have a slightly different focus...

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Good point - no-one on Ebay offering "unidentified lump of stone found in great-great-grandfather's cabinet".

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Anyway, I'm looking forward (?) to the next version of the tale, wherever it appears… Thanks to Brian Edwards for the Autocar articles and other odds’n’ends/sods. What next? I’m tempted to do the Cecil Chubb chairs/curtains 1915 auction story…

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The Science Blog story does cite a source – it’s someone’s own blog post about their holiday in southern England. Science, see? The author of the Sci Blog post is apparently Brendan Brown. You can read about Brown Brothers Media here: futurism.com/artificial-i...

futurism.com

How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month

Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

What about the most recent version, mentioned at the start of the thread? Science Blog is an online publication that relies heavily on AI for its content.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

In fact, this BBC report was widely copied over several years in places with various degrees of respectability and authority – a story in the Smithsonian Magazine quoted it as a source in 2014:

Screenshot of a story published in the Smithsonian Magazine on 5th March 2014. The text isn't visible in the screenshot, but it begins as follows: Stonehenge Visitors used to be handed chisels to take home souvenirs. If you visit Stonehenge today, you’ll find that it’s roped off – keeping visitors from touching, or worse, taking bits of the nearly 5,000 year old monument. But the great stone structure wasn’t always treated with such reverence. In fact, in the past, visitors to Stonehenge were handed chisels so that they could chip off a little piece to take home. According to the BBC, “the practice has been outlawed since 1900, when landowner Sir Edmund Antrobus decided the site needed protecting and introduced changes.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Things aren’t entirely different in the internet era – story gets published, story gets copied. For instance, in 2008 a BBC news story (no source, obvs) about Stonehenge led with chisel-nonsense formed the basis for "would you believe it" tales on many a website:

Screenshot of BBC news story from 22 May 2008, which begins: Chisels once given at Stonehenge. At one time, chisels would be handed to people visiting Stonehenge, so they could chip away at the monument to get their own souvenirs. But the practice has been outlawed since 1900, when landowner Sir Edmund Antrobus decided the site needed protecting and introduced changes.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Owen John’s story gained a wide distribution because it was picked up by other publications and repeated, often verbatim, as was generally the way with the press at the time. But as mentioned above, it was the 1914 article that really took off.

Extract from the Pall Mall Gazette, 19th June 1914: “It is said that one day (writes “Owen John” in the “Autocar”) the owner of Stonehenge was waiting after lunch in the coffee-room of a Salisbury hotel and idly picked up a geological hammer. Filled with curiosity, he asked the waiter what it might be doing there. “That ‘ammer, Sir,” answered the man in ignorance of the name of the inquirer, “that’s what we lend to Americans to take to Stonehenge with them; they’re very keen on keepsakes of all sorts, are Americans.” Wherefore it is not to be wondered that Stonehenge is now properly looked after.

Extract from the Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 20th June 1914: “Today’s Gossip. The Daily Smile. “Hello, Sandy! Thinking of the future, eh?” “No” replied the Scotsman. “Tomorrow’s my wife’s birthday, and I’m thinking of the present.” [New item] Why Stonehenge was enclosed. It is said that one day the owner of Stonehenge was waiting after lunch in the coffee-room of a Salisbury hotel and idly picked off the mantelpiece a geological hammer. Filled with curiosity he asked the waiter what it might be doing there. “That ‘ammer, Sir,” answered the man in ignorance of the name of his inquirer, “that’s what we lend to Americans to take to Stonehenge with them; they’re very keen on keepsakes of all sorts are Americans.” Wherefore it is not to be wondered that Stonehenge is now properly looked after. Owen John, Autocar.

Extract from the Times of India, 22nd July 1914: Keepsakes. Owen John tells in the Autocar a good story which has many a counterpart in India. He says that the owner of Stonehenge was waiting after lunch in the coffee-room of a Salisbury hotel and idly picked off the mantelpiece a geological hammer. Filled with curiosity, he asked the waiter what it might be doing there. “That ‘ammer, Sir” answered the man in ignorance of the name of his inquirer, “that’s what we lend to Americans to take to Stonehenge with them; they’re very keen on keepsakes of all sorts, are Americans.” “Wherefore (says Owen John) it is not to be wondered that Stonehenge is now properly looked after.” The finest bit of architecture in Bijapur is the Mehtar Mahal. It is very small, but has much exquisite carving about it. An American one day carried off a great chunk of its beautiful doorway and the people of Bijapur can tell you many stories of similar wickedness. So can the inhabitants of many a picturesque spot anywhere in the world.”

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Obviously there’s still a bit of a leap from an unnamed Salisbury hotel to the anonymous Amesbury blacksmith, and the hammer here is loaned to Americans, not hired to anyone, but I have yet to find a version of the hammer story any earlier than Owen John’s.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Owen John clearly thought it was a good story, because he repeated it a few times – firstly in 1910, and the last (it seems) in 1926. Details changed each time, but it’s the 1914 retelling that really took off, being picked up by numerous newspapers across the UK and abroad.

Extract from Autocar, 20th June 1914: “By the way, this is not the perhaps better known Salisbury hotel that was the cause of the wiring-in of Stonehenge. The story will bear repeating. It is said that one day the owner of Stonehenge was waiting after lunch in the coffee-room and idly picked off the mantelpiece a geological hammer. Filled with curiosity he asked the waiter what it might be doing there. “That ‘ammer, Sir,” answered the man in ignorance of the name of the enquirer, “that’s what we lend to Americans to take to Stonehenge with them; they’re very keen on keepsakes of all sorts, are Americans.” Wherefore it is not to be wondered that Stonehenge is now properly looked after.

Extract from Autocar, 10th October 1924: “…which reminds me of a story concerned with the original encircling of Stonehenge with barbed wire entanglements. Years ago the then owner of this famous place was waiting for his lunch in a well-known Salisbury hotel when he found himself idly toying with a geological hammer on the mantelpiece. To the waiter at length appearing, he asked what the tool might be doing there. “Ah, yes, Sir, that hammer, Sir. Well, Sor, we lend it out to Americans visiting Stonehenge, Sir. Souvenirs, you know, Sir.” And now does anybody wonder why it is enclosed, although I very much wish that once again there could be cleared from its immediate neighbourhood all the war buildings that do so much to diminish its glories. Stonehenge demands its immemorial loneliness.”

Extract from Autocar, 26th March 1926: [after complaining about the state of Stonehenge’s surroundings]: It is sad that any precautions at all are necessary, but let me tell an old tale that was told to me by one concerned with it. Stonehenge once belonged to a baronet of ancient lineage. This gentleman, happening one day to enter one the leading hotels in Salisbury in pursuit of luncheon, while waiting for the meal nonchalantly picked up a geological hammer and idly asked the old waiter why it was there. The waiter, ignorant of the identity of his interrogator, replied that it was the property of the hotel, to be lent to visitors staying there when going to see the famous Druidical Stone Circle at Stonehenge. Whereupon Stonehenge became a Place within the meaning of the Act, and that is why the present indignity is necessary.”

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

There are many so problems with this tale (the “once upon a time” opening; the absurd dialogue, etc). The idea that this incident led to the enclosure of Stonehenge is simply wrong [the “owner of Stonehenge” referred to was Sir Edmund Antrobus (4th Baronet), who never mentioned this story].

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

There are a few other late 19th century references to visitors at the site asking if they could borrow a hammer, but nothing remotely like the hammer-for-hire story. However, a more interesting tale appeared in the magazine Autocar in September 1910, written by Owen John [Owen Llewellyn]:

Extract from an article in Autocar magazine, 17th September 1910: “I have heard and read of many people who resent these methods of taking care of our most ancient monuments but I have also heard the tale of why these things are. Once upon a time the owner of Stonehenge was waiting in a Salisbury hotel for his lunch. From the mantelpiece of the dining room he idly picked up a geological hammer and began to play with it. It aroused his curiosity. When the lunch arrived he asked the waiter who it belonged to. “Oh,” said the man, “it belongs to the hotel, sir. When Americans take a carriage from here to visit the celebrated ruins of Stonehenge situated in the neighbourhood, we lend it to them for the purpose of obtaining mementoes.” After the meal, I am informed, the first act of the enlightened owner was to visit the nearest ironmonger, and the result of the haphazard conversation will be that Stonehenge will be in existence for longer than it would have been otherwise.”

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

So where did the story originate? There’s no way of knowing for sure, but there are a few possibilities to consider. For example, this (not entirely serious) suggestion from September 1872, prompted by the appearance of newly carved graffiti around the time of the annual military manoeuvres.

Extract from the Pall Mall Gazette of 26th September 1872: “It is not surprising that the conduct of those who, during the autumn manoeuvres, amused themselves by carving their own miserable names at Stonehenge has met with severe reprehension, and it is well worth consideration whether the names thus inscribed should not be fully advertised, that the world may know more of these persons who are so anxious to bequeath their fame to posterity. Perhaps this course would do more than any remonstrance to check the irresistible inclination displayed by British tourists to disfigure everything they can lay hands on. In the meantime it would be advisable at Stonehenge and in all places where outrages of this nature are committed, to have a dummy stone erected for the purpose of enabling visitors to record their names; a notice might be affixed to such stone stating the purpose for which it was placed there, and a small charge if need be might be made for the hire of chisels. The stone when covered with names might be sent to London for public exhibition in Trafalgar square for a time, previous to its being deposited at South Kensington. There can be little doubt that this plan would give general satisfaction, and to a great extent prevent the sublime from being defaced by the ridiculous.”

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

When some stones fell at the end of 1900, an event that kick-started the move to enclose the site and start charging an entrance fee, both of which happened a few months later, all the arguments about why Stonehenge needed protecting were rehearsed again. No one mentioned hammers for hire.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

From the 1870s, sparked by Lubbock’s Ancient Monuments Bill, even more newsprint recounted moans and groans about the state of Stonehenge and the need for protection. None of the people or organisations that wanted to fence off Stonehenge and restrict access mentioned hammers for hire.

A colour photo from a short distance south - ish of Stonehenge, again using a zoom so the grass in the foreground is again out of focus. The stones visible across the centre of the photo ate mainly those that make up what survivies of the southern half of the monument.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sporadic outbreaks of letter writing to The Times about people chipping lumps off the stones prompted responses from all manner of people (including, on occasions, the owner and the custodian). None of these people ever mention hammers for hire, even those who lived in Amesbury or Salisbury.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

But if the tale were true, surely there’d be a contemporary reference? During the 18th C and 19th C, many people visited Stonehenge and plenty of them wrote about it. A fair few were unhappy with some aspect of it, especially its condition. But I’ve yet to find one that mentions hiring a hammer.

Extract from The Graphic, 21 August 1886. Like a lot of contemporary press coverage, the threat to Stonehenge and the extent of damage is somewhat overstated: “Stonehenge – It is pretty evident that, unless immediate steps are taken to prevent the attacks which are being made upon the stones, this monument, which has lasted so many hundreds of years in almost perfect condition, will soon be a thing of the past. During the past few weeks many complaints have been made with regard to the injuries inflicted upon the stones by tourists above and rabbits below. The former, after the manner of tourists, are given to writing their names, and in some cases, to engraving them upon the granite blocks. Worse than this, some more audacious still chip off large bits of stone with the fatal hammer and carry them away, but find them after a little time too heavy, and then drop the fragments promiscuously around. The four-legged enemies are less mischievous, it is true, but even they are doing a good deal of harm by burrowing underneath the stones, and so making them unsteady.”

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Can we be sure none of this ever happened? The most obvious thing to do would be to find a book or article that tells the story and check their sources. Except they rarely ever cite one. When they do, at best that source is someone recounting something they read or heard sometime. Dead end.

Another colour photo of Stonehenge taken from the southwest, but this time from a little further away using a zoom lens. The long grass in the foreground is out of focus. The stones again cross the middle of the photo, but this time fewer are visible. Again people are generally milling about in the sunshine.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

There are many variants. The hammer usually comes from Amesbury (“the next village”), but sometimes from Salisbury. It’s not always the blacksmith. In fact, in some versions it’s the actual on-site custodian. Sometimes it’s specifically a geologist’s hammer. Occasionally it’s a chisel.

A colour photo showing Stonehenge from a short distance along the path to the south west. The path can be seen running from bottom centre, with the stones themselves across the centre of the photo. A reasonable number of paying customers can be seen wandering around the stones, bit not within of course.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The most recent version of this (that I’ve seen) featured in a science blog called Science Blog (about which more later). Spoiler: the only parts of this that are true is that Stonehenge was indeed fenced off for the first time in 1901 (close), and the owner had been very keen on this happening.

Science Blog text: For more than a century, visitors to Stonehenge rented hammers from the blacksmith in the next village and knocked off pieces of the stones as souvenirs. The chipping got so bad that in 1900 the owner fenced the site, and since 1978 no ordinary tourist has wandered freely among the stones.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I would have answered myself but it would be from memory- my Stonehenge books etc are in store at present...

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I know- that and the city of Wiltshire.

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Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Birthday present from my daughter. 753 pieces plus a load of fiddly stickers. Will report on progress. Sadly the product range doesn't include a WW1 aerodrome or a pedigree pig farm.

Photo of the box showing the model of Stonehenge as it should look when finished. Top left is the word Stonehenge in block capitals with, below, the words Stonhenge Wiltshire England. The world's great architecture.

Close up of part of the box where it is stated that Stonehenge can be found in the city of Wiltshire.

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