This news item appeared in Saturday’s Times and was passed to me today. Regret Times online link is only available by subscription so will have to make do with this one.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5116637/Jersey-calls-return-dolmen-stones-Oxfordshire.html
Jersey calls for the return of its ‘Elgin Marbles’ monument that was taken and rebuilt in Oxfordshire as a governor’s retirement gift
- The dolmen stones were discovered in 1785 near the Jersey capital St Helier
- Monument was uprooted and taken to Oxfordshire estate of retiring governor
- Templecombe House in Henley-on-Thames which is on the market for £7million
- It has given the residents of Jersey a new hope that they could buy back the stones and return them to the island
One local man named Neil Holmes is planning to raise £8million through an online crowdfunder in a bid to purchase the estate.
He said: ‘The aim of this is to buy the property that the neolithic Jersey dolmen currently resides on, repatriate the dolmen, then resell the estate.‘
The stones were one of dozens of dolmens placed across the island which were shrouded in legend and thought to be ‘the home of sprites and fairies’.
But many were broken up for building materials in the 17th and 18th century amid waning interest in the mythology surrounding the stunning monuments, according to local history experts.
General Conway was persuaded by his cousin – author Horace Walpole – to pay for the transport of his gift.
Note: There have been several previous attempts to reclaim the dolmen and the issue was raised in the House of Commons as far back as 1928.
I can't help but comment on this but probably best to do it separately to the news item. Local man trying to 'crowdfund' £8million to buy the property and repatriate dolmen. Sounds a bit fraught with ethical pitfalls - surely this ancient monument could just be repatriated in collaboration with NT, EH and HE.
This is the original site tjj...
themodernantiquarian.com/site/7855/mont_de_la_ville_site_of.html
Repatriated doesn't mean it will go to the original site, think they built on it, all a bit iffy. Mind you it might give us a few lessons in moving large stones!
And this is where it now resides. bless Rhiannon for chasing out facts.
themodernantiquarian.com/site/7050
Thanks Moss, wonderful old print by Charles Knights in your last link. Yes quite a complicated background. The Times piece is succinct and informative [to quote - partially]:
"The Mont de la Ville dolmen was built as five chambers covered by a mound and approached through a low passage ...
Mr Molyneux (Neil Molyneux, vice-president of the Societe Jersiaise) said "In an ideal world we would love to see the dolmen back but there are problems, not least of which is that it is a listed monument"
The workmen who reconstructed the dolmen do not appear to have looked too closely at the plans. Some stones were left over and incorporated into an ornamental bridge. A detailed model made of the dolmen before it was dismantled would allow the archaeologists to reconstruct it with far greater accuracy ....
Bruce Labey, a local landscape architect said "Our town park is being extended and would be a perfect site .... It (the dolmen) was sacred to our forebears and belongs in Jersey".
The Jersey authorities would not have to travel far to request the stones' return from the owners of Templecombe House, Kenton, the company that owns the estate is registered in St. Helier.
[end quote]
Let’s hope the stones return to their rightful home where they belong.