Stonehenge solstice is mainstream now, but hippies once had to defy the law

In a couple of weeks, thousands will pack their cars with flowers and cloaks, and head to Stonehenge to welcome summer.

The midsummer solstice will take place on June 20 this year, and marks the longest day of the year, with the sun not setting until almost 10pm.

Some will smoke illegal substances, and there may be an arrest or two, but on the whole the event is peaceful and joyful, with pagans and druids chanting alongside curious tourists just struggling to keep awake.

It’s mainstream enough to be advertised by English Heritage, who offer pre-booked parking and a shuttle bus, as well as a live stream on YouTube.

But just 25 years ago, attending solstice at the stones was banned.

Police stood guard to stop any merriment, and the celebration was restricted by the same charity now promoting it.

Surprising as it may seem, there has been a long history of violent clashes between hippies and law enforcement at the monument in Wiltshire – though you may conclude that hippies have now won the battle, if not the culture war.

The most notorious incident came on 1 June 1985, when hippies in a ‘peace convoy’ trying to set up a music festival they had held for years clashed with police who set up a roadblock to stop them arriving.

Over 500 people were arrested, in one of the biggest mass arrests in British history.

Police were accused of brutality during the ‘Battle of the Beanfield’ and eventually had to pay out £24,000 after they were sued for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and damage to property in 1991.

Accounts of exactly what happened differ, and the event took place long before everyone carried a video camera in their pocket.

But in brief, hundreds of a police blocked a convoy of New Age hippies in 140 vehicles, who were intending to set up camp weeks before the solstice.

Waiting around seven miles from their destination, authorities refused to let the travellers pass, and dropped 15 tones of gravel onto the road as well as blocking it with council vehicles.

Police claim they were attacked with stones, lumps of wood and even petrol bombs by those angry they couldn’t continue.

But the other side say officers used needless violence, smashing car windscreens with truncheons, beating people who tried to surrender and dragging women by their hair.

Twelve injured people were taken to hospital, and a sergeant with Wiltshire Police was later found guilty of causing actual bodily harm to one of the convoy members.

The events were immortalised in the 1991 song ‘Battle of the Beanfield’ by the Levellers, which sings: ‘I seen a pregnant woman lying in blood of her own, I seen her children crying as the police tore apart their home.

‘And no they didn’t need a reason – it’s what your votes condone. It seems they were committing treason by trying to live on the road.’

The 1985 clashes came after English Heritage, responsible for the site, banned Midsummer festivals there.

It is a magnet for hippies as the ancient site is seen as sacred, with the 4,500-year-old stones built to align with the sun on the longest and shortest days.

On the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone in the north-east and its first rays shine into the stones. On the winter solstice, the sun sets to the south-west of the stone circle, erected in around 2,500BC.

Exactly why and how the stones were built remans a mystery, but they are so significant they are a UNESCO world heritage site, dating back as far as the Egyptian pyramids.

Heavy handed policing ultimately did not stop people crowding to the stones to mark the changing of the seasons.

In 1999, the final year before the ban was lifted, people flocked there anyway, climbed on the stones and danced until morning, despite police lined up in high vis jackets and helmets.

Authorities have vastly changed their approach since then, but during the pandemic there was still some disorder when people ignored lockdown rules to try and gather there.

Thousands swarmed to nearby Avebury Stone Circle in 2021 instead despite warnings to celebrate ‘safely and where possible from home’.

Hundreds of vans and lorries crammed onto nearby roads with official access to the more famous stones blocked.

Police were pictured detaining revellers and carrying a man by both arms and legs, as some hopped fences and gathered there regardless. The scene was so chaotic that organisers were forced to pull the live feed ahead of the 4.52am sunrise.

The following year, police told revellers to celebrate in a ‘safe and positive way’, with Superintendent Phil Staynings concluding that the first public gathering in three years ‘has been a success on many levels’ with no major incidents and only the inevitable traffic delays.

Photos from 2023 show thousands gathered in front of the stones, chanting and dancing without interruption from law enforcement.

This year, with no ban on celebrations and no lockdown rules in place, in theory there’s nothing stopping a joyful solstice this year either.

But if you’re heading to the stones this year, remember all the vast history that went before: both ancient and modern.

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