Airmen's Cross near Stonehenge
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed building
- List Entry Number:
- 1242829
- Date first listed:
- 05-May-1995
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2003-05-03
- Reference:
- IOE01/10701/06
- Rights:
- © Mrs Anne Thomas. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed building
- List Entry Number:
- 1242829
- Date first listed:
- 05-May-1995
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 24-Dec-2015
- Location Description:
- Located c30m south-west of the Stonehenge Visitors Centre.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Winterbourne Stoke
- National Grid Reference:
- SU1003342738
Summary
A memorial erected in commemoration of two pioneer airmen who were killed in a flying accident near Stonehenge in 1912.
Reasons for Designation
The Airmen's Cross near Stonehenge is listed at Grade II for the following principal reason:
Historic interest: a relatively rare memorial erected in 1912 to commemorate the historically significant event of a flying accident that killed two pioneer aviators shortly before the formation of Britain's first military flying corps.
History
The Airmen's Cross near Stonehenge was erected in memory of two pioneer airmen, Captain Eustace Loraine and Staff Sergeant Richard Wilson, who were killed in a flying accident near Stonehenge in 1912. In 1911, shortly before the creation of the Royal Flying Corps (active from 1912 to 1918), military flying had begun in the area around Stonehenge, as the open grassland was particularly suitable for flying early aircraft. Loraine and Wilson were flying a Nieuport monoplane from Larkhill Airfield, north of Stonehenge, on a routine training flight on 5th July 1912, when, unaccountably, the aircraft crashed.
On 25 June 2012 the memorial was removed from its original location along the A303, and re-erected near the new Stonehenge visitors' centre in 2013. On 1 May 2014, the Airmen's Cross was re-dedicated by the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
Details
A memorial erected in commemoration of two pioneer airmen who were killed in a flying accident near Stonehenge in 1912.
Materials: granite.
Description: a relief-carved cross set into a wheel-head with a short shaft and stepped plinth, inscribed with the words:
TO THE MEMORY/ OF/ CAPTAIN LORAINE/ AND STAFF-SERGEANT WILSON/ WHO WHILST FLYING ON DUTY MET WITH/ A FATAL ACCIDENT NEAR THIS SPOT/ ON JULY 5TH 1912./ ERECTED BY THEIR COMRADES
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 443794
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 20:21:01.
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