Airman's Cross memorial at Stonehenge to be moved

Airman's Cross is being moved prior to roadworks being carried out at Airman's Corner

A memorial in the middle of a road junction near Stonehenge is being moved to make way for work to upgrade the junction.

The Grade-II listed Airman's Cross at Airman's Corner is being removed as a roundabout is built to manage traffic diverted by the closure of the A344.

The memorial will then be re-sited in the grounds of the new Stonehenge visitor centre soon to be built nearby.

Work starts next month and the centre is expected to open in Autumn 2013.

English Heritage's Loraine Knowles, said: "We are glad that Airman's Cross will have a safer permanent home at the new visitor centre where many more people will be able to get close to it in future and learn about this aspect of local history.

Aviation accident

The memorial commemorates the site of an early military aviation accident on 5th July 1912, in which Capt Eustace Loraine and his passenger Staff Sgt Richard Wilson became the first members of the newly formed Royal Flying Corps to die while on duty.

Wiltshire Council granted Listed Building Consent for the relocation of the memorial, in January 2010.

It is being put into safe storage at Perham Down Barracks on Monday.

The Royal Engineers, based at Tidworth, will be working closely with the project's archaeological contractor, Wessex Archaeology, to protect the cross during the move.