ENGLISH Heritage (EH) actually made a loss at this year’s summer solstice at Stonehenge – despite the charity hiking parking fees from £15 to £20.
Stonehenge was built to align with the sun on the solstices, and thousands of pagans, druids, spiritualists, locals, or simply tourists gather at the stones each year to welcome in the longest day as the sun rises behind the Heel Stone.
It was reported that around 25,000 people celebrated the solstice in 2025.
Revellers that chose to park near the ancient stones for the summer solstice this year were met with an increase to parking charges, with the rate rising from £15 to £20.
Pay-to-pray accusations have long been levelled against EH after campaigners, including Salisbury druid King Arthur Pendragon, have made it clear that they believe people should not have to pay to visit places of worship such as this.
Further concerns about a pay-to-pray policy were exacerbated after byways near to the site were closed for maintenance work which dragged on for months.
These byways are often used by people who want to gather near the stones without spending money with EH, but the closure forced people to park at the Stonehenge visitor centre car park instead.
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EH created parking spaces for 3,000 to 3,500 vehicles this year but did not have the information on how many cars specifically paid to park at the summer solstice celebrations in 2025.
The land the parking spaces sit on is not owned by EH and was rented at a cost of £21,395 + VAT, a freedom of information request has revealed.
It found that the new parking charges generated £39,981.33 + VAT in 2025.
This, surprisingly, is down from the money raised through parking charges last year, as £50,547.21 was raised in 2024 – a year that saw less people attending the solstice celebrations, as 15,000 people gathering at the stones last year.
It said the total cost incurred to create and operate the parking spaces this year was £38,294 + VAT.
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EH stressed that car parking is only one part of the wider costs to the charity in organising and running solstice celebrations each year.
This includes staffing, road signage, Wi-Fi, infrastructure, production management and security costs.
EH did not comment on reasons as to why less money was generated this year compared to 2025.
It did, however, encourage people to rideshare and take a bus to the stones to enjoy the celebrations.
The charity previously said the increase to parking charges was to help offset the renting of the land for the parking spaces.
An EH spokesperson said: “As a charity English Heritage welcomes thousands of people to see the solstice sunrise at Stonehenge every June and admission is free.
“Hosting both the summer and winter solstice involves considerable cost which far outweighs the income generated from car parking and elsewhere.
“There are various public transport and walking route options which we actively encourage and which many people take advantage of (and decisions around means of transport used from year to year will be a factor in the variation in income from car parking).”
One day in the year when the stones are handed back to those to whom they belong won’t bankrupt this greedy organisation!