A British barrister buys Stonehenge as a gift for his wife - September 21st, 1915

On this day in 1915, at an auction in Salisbury, England, Cecil Chubb placed the winning bid for the Stonehenge monument. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The day in history class is a production of I
heart radio. Hello and welcome to this day in history class,
a show that proves there's more than one way to
make history. I'm Gabe Louzier, and today we're looking at
a turning point in the life of one of Europe's
most ancient and mysterious monuments, the day when a British

(00:23):
lawyer bought Stonehenge as a gift for his wife. The
Day was September twenty one fifteen. At an auction in Salisbury, England,
Cecil Chubb placed the winning bid for the Stonehenge Monument. Chub,

(00:46):
a wealthy local of Wiltshire County, paid sixty six hundred
pounds for the ownership rights, the equivalent of just under
nine hundred thousand dollars today. That's a shockingly low price
for what's probably the world's most famous prehistoric monument, and
Chub must have thought it was a good deal too.
He hadn't come to the auction with the intention of

(01:08):
buying Stonehenge, and apparently he only made the purchase on
a whim. But however impulsive his bidding may have been,
it wound up having a profound impact on the care
and protection of Stonehenge. In fact, without chubbs somewhat random intervention,
the ancient monument might not have survived the present day.

(01:29):
The auction catalog estimated that Stonehenge was built sometime around
eighteen hundred BC. However, it's now thought that construction began
even further back, possibly as long ago as three thousand BC. Then,
around fifteen hundred BC, the large Sarson stones were arranged

(01:49):
into their present shape, essentially a giant stone circle surrounding
an inner horseshoe. The auction catalog also took a stab
at guessing the meaning behind Stone Oonnehenge, describing it as, quote,
a place of sanctity dedicated to the observation or adoration
of the Sun. That's about as good a guess as

(02:10):
any as the true purpose of Stonehenge is still a mystery.
Some historians theorized the site may have functioned as a
royal burial ground, while others think it may have been
used for religious ceremonies, healings or rituals. There's also the
possibility it was a kind of scientific tool, possibly a
way to predict eclipses or other celestial alignments. Whatever the

(02:34):
true case, it took an absurd amount of labor to excavate, transport,
arrange and erect the heavy stones, so whoever put them
there definitely did so for a reason. By now you're
probably wondering why such an intriguing public monument was being
auctioned off in the first place. But here's the thing.

(02:54):
Stonehenge wasn't always open to the public like it is today.
It first fell into private ownership in fifteen forty, when
King Henry the eighth confiscated the monument and the land
it sits on from the monks who had served as
its caretakers. From there, stonehenge changed hands a few times
until the early eighteen twenties, when it was purchased by

(03:16):
the antrobus family of Cheshire. For the next nine decades,
the monument stayed in the family, passed down from one
generation to the next. It gradually fell into disrepair along
the way, with people routinely stopping by to etch their
names into the stones or to chip off pieces to
keep as souvenirs. The British government offered on several occasions

(03:39):
to help protect the site, but the family always turned
them down. The owners changed their tune, though, after a
violent storm on New Year's Eve nineteen hundred that knocked
down one of the monument's large standing stones. When that
column fell over, so did the horizontal stone resting on
top of it. That support beam cracked in half, making

(04:01):
it the first stonehenge casualties since the antroppus family had
taken possession of it. Not long after, Sir Edmund Antropus,
the fourth generation air of the monument, tried selling it
to the government for fifty thousand pounds, or approximately seven
point eight million dollars today. The government refused to pay

(04:21):
such a high price for a now damaged monument, especially
since they'd previously offered to help prevent that kind of
damage for free. Around the same time, people began sneaking
onto the antropus property to see the broken stone for themselves.
The family took notice of the TRESPASSER's interest and figured
that if they couldn't make a profit by selling the monument,

(04:43):
they could at least put a fence around it and
start charging folks to see it. On the plus side,
turning stonehenge into a for profit attraction encouraged the family
to take better care of their showpiece. Soon antiquarians were
allowed to help care for and restore the monument for
the first time in nearly a hundred years. Fourteen years later,

(05:04):
in Nineteen fifteen, Sir Edmund Antrobus was killed in combat
during the early months of World War One. Since Sir
Edmund had no children of his own, his considerable estate
was slated to be sold at auction on September twenty
one of that year. The event was held at Salisbury's
Palace Theater in Wiltshire County and was said to be

(05:26):
well attended. Among the many bidders was a local barrister
named Cecil Chub. He allegedly came to the auction on
a mission from his wife to purchase a set of
dining chairs, though some sources claim it was actually curtains.
It doesn't really matter in the end, though, because what
Chub wound up buying definitely wasn't whatever his wife had

(05:47):
asked for. According to a local newspaper, interest quickened when
auctioneer Sir Howard Frank announced lot number fifteen, the stonehenge
monument and about thirty acres of adjoining land. Bidding began
at five thousand pounds and proceeded in increments of hundreds
before grinding to a halt at six thousand pounds. The

(06:10):
auctioneer was borderline offended, so he took a moment to
remind the room what was at stake. He said, quote, gentlemen,
it is impossible to value stonehenge. Surely six thousand pounds
is poor bidding, but if no one bids me anymore,
I shall set it at that price. Will no one
give me any more than six thousand pounds for Stonehenge?

(06:34):
The stern rebuke earned another round of bids, driving the
price up another five hundred pounds. The auctioneer was just
about to drop the gavel on that still unimpressive price,
but at the last moment Cecil Chubb chipped in with
another hundred. The gavel fell and Stonehenge was sold for
the price of just sixty six hundred pounds. Chub later

(06:57):
told reporters that he hadn't sent out to buy the
An and monument, but that quote. While I was in
the room, I thought a Sulisbury man ought to buy it,
and that is how it was done. Believe it or not,
that wasn't a flipping comment, or at least not completely.
In the run up to the auction there had been
rumors that a wealthy foreigner might buy Stonehenge, take it

(07:18):
apart and then reassemble it abroad as a tourist attraction.
Chub was said to have been put off by the
idea and wanted to ensure the historic site stayed under
local ownership. When asked what he planned to do with
the stones, Chub admitted he wasn't sure yet, but that
whatever he did, he would make sure the monument was
protected to the best of his ability. We can only

(07:40):
guess at the reaction of Chubb's wife Mary, when she
learned that her money had not gone towards the dining
chairs or curtains she had asked for, but to the
purchase of a series of giant ancient stones. Some sources
claimed Cecil tried to pass off the stones as a
romantic gift to his wife, but if that's true, she
doesn't seem to have bought it, because just three years

(08:03):
after purchasing Stonehenge, Cecil Chub gave it away. More precisely,
he passed the monument into public ownership by gifting the
deed to the British nation. Chub announced the decision in
nineteen eighteen. Writing quote to me, who was born close
to it. Stonehenge always has had an inexpressible charm. I

(08:25):
became the owner of it with a deep sense of
pleasure and had contemplated that it might remain a cherished
possession of my family for long years to come. It has, however,
been pressed upon me that the nation would like to
have it for its own and would prize it most highly.
Chubb's gift of Stonehenge came with one condition. He insisted

(08:47):
that local residents should be able to visit it for
free and perpetuity. The request was granted and it continues
to be honored to this day. A handing over ceremony
was held that October and the following near Chubb's generosity
earned him a knighthood. He was recognized as Sir Cecil Chubb,
first baronet of Stonehenge. Once again, no word on his

(09:10):
wife Mary's reaction, but I bet you can picture it anyway.
The funniest and possibly most annoying part of this story
is that Cecil Chubb's impulsive bid is what led to
stonehenge being saved for future generations. His generosity finally freed
the monument from centuries of neglectful private ownership. It allowed

(09:31):
the Office of works to officially survey the area for
the first time and then to begin restoring many of
the fallen stones. In the decades that followed, the English
Heritage Charity has carried on the work of restoring and
protecting stonehenge. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage site
in six and to this day, roughly a million people

(09:53):
visit the site each year. Tens of thousands of those
annual visitors are locals, who were still admitted free of charge.
The rest or tourists another out of towners who do
have to pay an admission fee. Cecil Chubb had hoped
outsiders wouldn't be charged more than a shilling per person,
but he was overruled on that point a long time

(10:14):
ago and the current cost is considerably higher. But if
it helps keep stonehenge standing, then it's still a small
price to pay all in all. I'm Gabe Louzier and
hopefully you now know a little more about history today
than you did yesterday. You can learn even more about
history by following us on twitter, facebook and Instagram at

(10:38):
t d I hc show, and if you have any
comments or suggestions, you can always send them my way
at this day at I heart media Dot Com. Thanks
to Chandler mays for producing the show and thank you
for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for
another day in history class to