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.
 Reply | with quote | Posted by Littlestone
9th November 2004ce
22:59 |
WKLB to Close? (Pete G, Nov 09, 2004, 18:08)- Re: WKLB to Close? (FourWinds, Nov 09, 2004, 18:19)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (paul1970, Nov 09, 2004, 18:37)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (moss, Nov 09, 2004, 18:52)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (juamei, Nov 09, 2004, 21:16)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (Hob, Nov 09, 2004, 22:45)
- Getting real (nigelswift, Nov 10, 2004, 07:00)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (T3mp3r, Nov 10, 2004, 11:24)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (nigelswift, Nov 11, 2004, 12:59)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (goffik, Nov 12, 2004, 14:28)
- Re: WKLB to Close? (smallblueplanet, Nov 20, 2004, 22:21)
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Head To Head 
Re: WKLB to Close? (Pete G)