"In these stones is a mystery, and a virtue against many ailments."
Geoffrey of Monmouth, History Of The Kings of England (1138)

Since the early Middle Ages, Stonehenge has been seen as a source of healing. In the 12th century, the inventive historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, wrote that the stones were originally erected by giants, who used them to heal the sick: "They used to pour water over them and to run this water into baths in which their sick were cured. There is not a single stone among them which hasn't some medicinal value."

For centuries, people living around Stonehenge went there to be healed. In 1700, the Reverend James Brome described a local belief that "if the stones be rubbed, or scraped, and water thrown upon the scrapings, they will (say some) heal any green wound, or old sore".

Many followers of alternative medicine still believe that these stones can heal. A common idea is that some kind of energy flows through the stones, and that this can be tapped by healers. William Rand is a teacher of Reiki, a Japanese healing technique based on meditation. Every year, around the solstice, he leads a group through a healing meditation exercise inside Stonehenge. Rand says, "I don't direct the process. I'm simply a channel for the attunement energy flowing from the Higher Power".

Underlying these ideas is the notion that the site for Stonehenge was deliberately chosen by its builders, in order to tap powerful energies deep within the landscape. The idea is that they had an extra sense, which we have lost, which allowed them to detect this energy.

Modern-day Druids

The idea that Stonehenge was a Druid temple was first suggested by the 17th century antiquarian, John Aubrey. This was developed in the 1720s by William Stukeley, who discovered that the monument was aligned with sunrise at the summer solstice. The conclusion was that the Druids held ceremonies at Stonehenge during the solstice.

The late-18th century saw a Druid revival, created by Iolo Morgannwg, a Welsh stonemason and poet, who had been inspired by a visit to the Stonehenge in the 1770s. He invented a whole set of Druid ceremonies, costumes and regalia, and held his first Gorsedd (Assembly of Bards) during the autumn equinox of 1792. It was held on Primrose Hill in London, where Morgannwg and a group of London Welshmen stood inside a small circle made of stones, which he had brought in his pocket. Welsh Druids continue to hold Gorsedds to this day, in modern stone circles built to Morgannwgs specifications.

By the late-19th century, various druid groups were assembling at Stonehenge for ceremonies, particularly at the summer solstice. The first mass meeting took place in August 1905, when 700 members of the Ancient Order of Druids assembled in white robes and long false beards. From 1909, the rival Ancient Druid Order held regular summer solstice ceremonies.

Druid curses

A Druid ceremony at Stonehenge
© ©Topham / The Image Works

In 1912, Sir Edmund Antrobus, owner of Stonehenge, asked the members of the Ancient Druid Order to pay £2,500 for restoration work on the monument. When the druids refused, they were forbidden to enter Stonehenge for the 1913 summer solstice.

There was an angry confrontation, with George MacGregor Reid, the Chief Druid, calling down "the curse of Almighty God and of his Spirit Messengers" on Sir Edward Antrobus. They were also refused entry in 1914 and 1915, when two more curses were pronounced on Sir Edward. When he died of natural causes soon afterwards, aged 66, the druids claimed that it was the direct result of their curses.

In 1918, the new owner, Cecil Chubb, gave the monument and surrounding land to the Ministry of Works, "for the benefit of the Nation". There were hopes that this would make it easier for the druids to hold their ceremonies. However, a new source of conflict arose when the druids started burying the ashes of their dead at Stonehenge. Forbidden entry to the site at the 1926 solstice, the druids stormed the fences, in the first recorded "invasion" of Stonehenge.

Stonehenge Free Festival

Monks from the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Tibet visit Stonehenge, 2005
© TopFoto.co.uk/ Fritz Curzon /ArenaPAL

The 1960s saw the rise of the counter-culture, with many neo-pagan groups reinventing pre-Christian religions. By the late-1960s, druids were being joined at the Stonehenge solstice by neo-pagans, such as the Wiccans, and growing numbers of hippies.

The first Stonehenge Free Festival was held in 1974, with some 500 hippies attending the summer solstice, accompanied by an experimental electronic noise band, called Zorch. After the festival, 30 men and women, calling themselves the "Wallies of Wessex", decided to stay, setting up a camp in the field by the stones. They declared that their aim was to "let the mysteries of Stonehenge work through them".

Taken to court and ordered to leave their camp, the Wallies simply moved it 6ft to the side, onto a stretch of common land, where they stayed until the winter. Their leader, Wally Hope (Philip Russell), said, "We hold Stonehenge in our hearts. We are not squatters, we are men of God. We want to plant a Garden of Eden with apricots and cherries, where there will be guitars instead of guns and the Sun will be our nuclear bomb."

The Stonehenge Free Festival was a regular solstice event, attracting growing numbers for the next decade. In 1984, 70,000 people attended, making it the largest free festival in British history. It was also the last one to be held at Stonehenge.

Battle of the Beanfield

The mid-1980s saw increasing confrontation between the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher and the large numbers of travellers moving around the country. In 1985, English Heritage and the National Trust called for the Stonehenge Free Festival to be banned, to prevent damage to the monument. Mrs Thatcher gave her support, later saying that she was "only too delighted to do anything we can to make life difficult for hippy convoys."

On June 1, 1985, more than 1,000 policemen from five different constabularies set up a road block by a bean field eight miles from Stonehenge. Their orders were to stop a convoy of 140 travellers vehicles reaching the site. There was a violent confrontation, later called the "Battle of the Beanfield". Its cause is still disputed. Those in the convoy said they had been ambushed by the police, while the police blamed the travellers for starting the fight. Nick Davies of the Observer described glass breaking, people screaming, black smoke towering out of burning caravans and everywhere there seemed to be people being bashed and flattened. Some 420 travellers were arrested and 12 hospitalised.

Managed access

Revellers party at Stonehenge in the early hours of the summer solstice, June 21, 2005
© TopFoto.co.uk/Ben Graville

In 2000, Stonehenge was reopened to the public for the summer solstice, for the first time since the Battle of the Beanfield. To protect the monument, conditions of access were now strictly controlled. No fires or fireworks were allowed, and nobody could climb over the stones. Since Stonehenge is regarded by many as a sacred site, amplified music was also banned. There would be no more Free Festivals.

This new policy of "managed open access" has been a great success. Following the 2005 solstice, English Heritage announced that it was "delighted that the summer solstice at Stonehenge has been an enjoyable and peaceful event. We welcomed just under 21,000 people to Stonehenge to witness the spectacular sunrise".