Battle of The Beanfield - The Events

The Events

After gathering for the previous night in Savernake Forest, the convoy set off on the morning of 1 June. There were between 80 and 120 vehicles, most of them buses and vans that had been converted into living spaces by their owners. In total there were several hundred people in the Convoy, including a number of families.

An exclusion zone had been declared four miles (6.4 km) around Stonehenge and the convoy hoped to breach this, and spend the solstice in sight of the henge. The police set up a roadblock near Shipton Bellinger about seven miles (11 km) from Stonehenge, by tipping three lorry loads of gravel across the road. When the Convoy halted at this blockage, the police allegedly moved down along the line of vehicles, smashing windscreens and arresting the occupants. As a result, the majority of the Convoy attempted to flee by driving through a hedgerow into a nearby grass field. Some Convoy vehicles rammed police vans.

The Convoy found themselves trapped in the field, unable to continue their journey towards Stonehenge, and the police refused to allow them to return to Savernake with their vehicles. There were attempts by Convoy members to negotiate with the police, over several hours. The Chief Constable of Wiltshire, Donald Smith ordered the arrest of all the members of the Convoy, stating that he was convinced that they were intent on breaking the exclusion zone that had been imposed around Stonehenge by the judiciary at the behest of English Heritage.

There were outbreaks of violence in which several members of the Convoy received head injuries. An ambulance was allowed through to take them to hospital.

Eventually the police, many in riot gear, entered the field on foot. This gave the Convoy a couple of minutes notice that an attack was imminent, and many tried to escape in their vehicles, crossing over into the adjacent Beanfield: but travelling over rough field terrain their vehicles were so slow that they were all quickly overtaken by policemen on foot. As a result, almost all of the members of the Convoy were arrested.

Convoy member Phil Shakesby later gave his account of the day:

There were many similar reports from the travellers, which were denied by the police. Most independent eyewitness accounts did, however, relate that the police had used violent tactics against men, women and children, including pregnant women; and purposefully damaged the vehicles used by the Convoy.

Official figures said eight police officers and sixteen travellers were taken to hospital with minor injuries. One traveller suffered from a fractured skull.

The miners' strike ended earlier in the same year, and comparison was made with the tactics that were used by the police during the strikes. The news section of the Police Review of June 8, 1985 reported "The Police operation had been planned for several months and lessons in rapid deployment learned from the miners' strike were implemented."

There were insufficient holding cells in local jails to hold all those arrested. Convoy members were transported throughout the Midlands and even to northern England. Not all children and parents ended up in the same region. The Convoy vehicles were all towed to a single site where they could be claimed after their owners were released from custody.