21 September 1915: Salisbury man buys Stonehenge for his wife

105 years ago today, Cecil Chubb paid just £6,600 when he bought 30 acres of Wiltshire and the world’s most famous Neolithic monument “on a whim” as an anniversary present for his wife.

Stonehenge © Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Stonehenge
(Image credit: © Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

What might make a good wedding anniversary present for your wife, do you think, presuming you have one? Jewellery, perhaps? Perfume? Dinner at a swanky restaurant? How about 30 acres of Wiltshire and the world's most famous Neolithic monument? Possibly not.

But that's what Salisbury man Cecil Chubb decided on a whim when he found himself at Messrs Knight, Franck and Rutley's auction in the Palace Theatre on this day in 1915.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.