The man who bought Stonehenge

On a whim in 1915, Sir Cecil Chubb made a bid for a plot of land that would never get planning permission. Bernard Bale looks at the life of the barrister who gave Stonehenge to the nation

- Bernard Bale

STANDING solemnly over Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge has witnessed millennia unfold and change the beautiful landscape that surrounds it. Perhaps it was the air of mystique that shrouded the site for centuries—from tales of long-forgotten ancestors to speculations about giants and aliens—that captivated and persuaded Sir Cecil Herbert Edward Chubb to put in a bid for a plot of land he could never develop.

Sir Cecil, then Master Chubb, was born in the village of Shrewton, only four miles west of Stonehenge. His beginnings were somewhat humble. His father was the village saddler and harness-maker, as had been his grandfather. Although becoming the next generation of saddlers was an excellent prospect for young Cecil, he had an academic bent and worked his way into Bishop Wordsworth’s, a local grammar school. Such was his progress that he became a student teacher there when he was only 14. Suddenly, his future was, indeed, looking very bright—and not only because of future career opportunities. He loved cricket and, during a match between his school and Fisherton House Asylum, he met his future wife, Mary Finch—after which he loved cricket even more.

His ethos of working hard and playing as hard as cricket allows served him well and opened the door to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a double first in Science and Law and left with Master of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees. Embracing law, he became a successful barrister, amassing a considerable fortune. However, the then Mr Chubb also had other interests—he owned racehorses, bred Shorthorn cattle and became involved with the Fisherton House Asylum. Located in Salisbury, it had belonged to Dr W. Corbin Finch, an uncle of his wife, whose focus was to bring relief and help to poorer mental patients.