Stonehenge is a unique prehistoric monument, at the centre of a rich and varied prehistoric landscape. The Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site is what makes the whole Site, not just Stonehenge, important in global terms for all humanity.
Outstanding Universal Value
The Outstanding Universal Value is set out in full in the World Heritage Site Management Plan. In summary this value, or significance, is as follows:
'The Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site is internationally important for its complexes of outstanding prehistoric monuments. Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world, while Avebury is the largest in the world. Together with inter-related monuments and their associated landscapes, they help us to understand Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and mortuary practices. They demonstrate around 2,000 years of continuous use and monument building between c 3700 and 1600 BC. As such they represent a unique embodiment of our collective heritage.'1
1 Official UNESCO brief description of the World Heritage Site, agreed by the World Heritage Committee, July 2008; published in Young, C, Chadburn, A and Bedu, I 2009, 'Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan 2009', English Heritage, 21
