Brentwood's Stonehenge style artwork can stay, council says

The artwork cost £250,000 to make and consists of concrete blocks, which were made offsite and delivered by lorry

A concrete artwork resembling Stonehenge can stay for at least 18 months, a council has decided.

The structure in Brentwood, dubbed "Unhenged", was built by Joe McNamara as a warning about climate change.

Planning officers recommended the artwork should be deemed an inappropriate development.

But Brentwood Borough Council allowed the 53-year-old's construction to stay, giving it time to be entered for the Turner Prize art competition.

Joe McNamara's artwork was built on land in Navestock and a public right of way runs through it

The £250,000 structure is orientated so the midday sun on the winter solstice directly hits a central monolith, which features an image of Queen Elizabeth II.

It has an outer ring of 30 vertical blocks, measuring 36m (118ft) in diameter. The blocks are four metres (13ft) tall, and are bridged by 30 lintels.

There is a semi-circle within the outer circle, made of 10 shorter pillars and nine horizontal lintels.

The centrepiece represents an hourglass and has SOS written in Morse code on the ground.

A series of LED lights on the artwork reflects a warming planet, Mr McNamara said.

"What it's about is climate change. It's Stonehenge on the outside and an hourglass in the middle," he said, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"The monolith sits on the neck of the hourglass. And that is basically telling us that time is running out in relation to climate change."

Trenches within the lintels will be planted with daffodils

Planning Committee member Keith Barber, Conservative, said: "On paper, if it hadn't been built I would probably would have said no, but I have seen it and I am quite impressed by it.

His fellow Conservative councillor Keith Parker said: "Do I like it? I don't know. Is it something special? Yes it is.

"It is something totally different and it could be something of beauty to a lot of people."