Re: WKLB to Close? | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

West Kennet Long Barrow 14

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WKLB to Close?

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Pete G Nov 9, 2004 19:22:28

Replying to nigelswift

Thre are no signs other than the 'Built by savages' type board. Local volunteers have offered to supply biodegradable bins for the collection of rubbish and for people to deposit their T lights in but I don't know if the NT will take the offer up.
I talked with the estate manager about the possibility of putting up a solar panel and a light inside but he reckons it would be nicked quickly.
PeteG

suave harv Nov 9, 2004 19:57:10

Replying to Pete G

It shouldn't close. Surely tea light damage can be minimised by signs ands warnings. The people that go there with tea lights are not vandals. They would understand.

And surely it's better to have cracked stones than stones no-one is alowed to look at at all?

nigelswift Nov 9, 2004 20:32:53

Replying to Pete G

So let me get this right, we've got EH with zero keep off notices at Silbury and just down the road we've got NT with zero candle notices at West Ken ???

Littlestone Nov 9, 2004 22:59:05

Replying to Pete G

Cant really believe I'm saying this (as a conservator) but maybe West Kennet Long Barrow has now moved from being a site of archaeological importance to a place of... well... 'pilgramage'. There's nothing new about that; places like Westminster Abbey, the Hall of Dreams at Nara, have all shifted in the way they are now used. I was at WKLB during Samhain and was stuck by how beautiful and peaceful the place looked with dozens of T candles burning there - it may not have been good for the barrow but it was certainly good for the soul.

I guess the bottom line is this... the majority of people who light candles at WKLB probably do so out of respect and reverence for the place. You might not agree or like what they do but these people don't have too many places where they can do it. More importantly, if they are told that by lighting candles they may be harming the place the majority of those people would stop doing it.

The onus, therefore, on the preservation (and use) of West Kennnet Long Barrow is not on the people who go there but on its custodians - English Heritage, yet again, needs to get its head out of its arse and address the issue straight on.