Monumental issues around Stonehenge | Letters
Malcolm Reading says it is more likely that ancient Greece and Rome, rather than Stonehenge, were the inspiration for The Circus in Bath, John Bailey wonders whether Chris Grayling is the right person to resolve road planning issues around the monument, Phil Turner says the need for the military training area nearby is questionable, and Mark Lyall wonders whether a relocation of the stones would be easier
It is fanciful to assign Stonehenge as the inspiration of the architect John Wood’s Circus in Bath (The battle for the future of Stonehenge, The long read, 8 February). Wood worked in the classical tradition and was very mindful of the urban planning of ancient Greece and Rome. The Circus is part of an architectural stagecraft that marries the hilly topography with the practicalities of enlightenment domestic living, disposing a square, a circus and ultimately the wonderful crescent in a rich and delightful play of axial geometry, light and movement. Rome and Athens are the more likely models than the standing stones in Wiltshire.
Malcolm Reading
Architect, London
• I thought Charlotte Higgins’ piece on the past and future of Stonehenge was excellent, but couldn’t decide if her entirely neutral reference to the man responsible for the resolution of this monumental problem, Chris Grayling, reveals her journalistic objectivity or subtle sense of humour.
John Bailey
St Albans, Hertfordshire
Source: Guardian Transport
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