NEWS that English Heritage (EH) has increased its parking charges at Stonehenge over the Summer Solstice has been criticised.

Stonehenge was built to align with the sun on the solstices, and thousands of pagans, druids, spiritualists, locals, or simply tourists are expected to gather at the stones on Saturday, June 21 to welcome in the longest day as the sun rises behind the Heel Stone.

While attending solstice at the historically important site is in itself free, EH has raised parking charges at the site from £15 to £20 per car.

The charity said the increase is due to the fact that it rents out land to provide space for the influx of attendees to park and that it needs to offset this cost.

But the move has been criticised by long-time campaigner for free access to Stonehenge, King Arthur Pendragon, who said that any move to charge for parking during times of pilgrimage, such as the Summer Solstice, constitutes a ‘pay to pray’ policy.

“I do not think EH should levy a parking charge at times of pilgrimage,” he said.

“Especially as they, along with Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council, are instrumental in denying (by way of temporary restrictions being placed upon all byways open to all traffic within the World Heritage site of Stonehenge) anywhere else to park.”

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These concerns come as Wiltshire Council were accused of attempting to restrict access to byways close to Stonehenge that offer an unrestricted view of the stones and are often used by disabled visitors as well as those that want to visit the site for spiritual reasons.

The council closed off Byway 12, known as The Drove, for months, as it said it needed resurfacing due to it deteriorating to “unacceptable levels”.

A consultation has since been launched where Wiltshire Council are looking to develop a “holistic” approach to address their concerns about the deteriorating road surface – something campaigners say could result in the removal of vehicular access to these routes altogether.

King Arthur Pendragon has spent his life campaigning for free access to Stonehenge

King Arthur added: “They claim this is not a ‘Pay to Pray’ policy but that is the undeniable result of any such parking charges.

“Which is why despite my being eligible for free parking as one of the voluntary stewards I have, and will continue to travelled by public transport since they brought in the charges, and would rather give my money to Salisbury Reds than ‘English Heretics’.

“I would encourage others to do likewise and to ask why it should be that EH have the monopoly on parking within the World Heritage Site at Solstice times of Pilgrimage?”

EH has dismissed claims that the charges relate to a ‘pay to pray’ policy- but rather a pay to park policy.

“Admission to Summer Solstice is free,” an EH spokesperson said.

“English Heritage welcomes thousands of people to see the sunrise at the ancient stones every June. There are various public transport and walking route options, which we actively encourage.

“To cater for those who drive, we rent land to provide parking space and the parking charge offsets this cost.

“English Heritage is a charity and while this year the parking charge – which has been the same since 2016 – will increase from £15 to £20 per car, this income offsets just a small proportion of the overall cost of solstice to the charity.

“The Summer Solstice parking charge is not a “pay to pray” but a “pay to park” charge.”

Find out more about solstice at Stonehenge by clicking here.