The largest mass arrest in modern English legal history #historyshorts #britishhistory

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:01]What we the ITN camera crew and myself as a reporter have seen in the last 30 minutes here on this field has been some of the most brutal police treatment of people that I've witnessed in my entire career as a journalist. There must be an inquiry. I don't know what the results will be of it, but at this stage, the number of people who've been hit by policemen, who've been clubbed whilst holding babies in their arms and in coaches around this field is still to be counted. What the end result will be, we don't >> On the 1st of June 1985, around 1,300 police officers from six county forces confronted approximately 600 new age travelers in a convoy on the A303 in Wiltshire.

[00:00:41]By the end of the day, 537 of the travelers had been arrested.

[00:00:45]At the time, the largest mass arrest of civilians in English legal history.

[00:00:50]The convoy had been heading to Stonehenge for the 11th Stonehenge Free Festival, an annual gathering that had taken place since 1974.

[00:00:58]In early 1985, the Association of Chief Police Officers had resolved to prevent the festival, and Wiltshire Police, English Heritage, and the National Trust obtained a High Court injunction banning it.

[00:01:09]Most of the travelers were unaware of the injunction.

[00:01:13]Around 7 mi from Stonehenge, near the village of Cholderton, the convoy of 140 vehicles met a police roadblock.

[00:01:21]Police said some traveler vehicles rammed police lines. Some vehicle windows were smashed and arrests began.

[00:01:27]The remaining travelers turned off the road into a field beside the A303, then into an adjacent bean field, where a standoff developed for several hours.

[00:01:38]Around 7:00 p.m., riot officers entered the field. Observer journalist Nick Davies described police as going berserk.

[00:01:46]Vehicles were smashed with sledgehammers. Travelers were dragged from buses.

[00:01:51]Witnesses included Lord Cardigan, a local landowner, who later sued newspapers for libel over their coverage of his account of the events and won.

[00:02:01]The Earl's testimony, along with footage that survived, would form the basis for the legal aftermath.

[00:02:08]In 1987, a Wiltshire police sergeant was convicted of actual bodily harm. In 1991, 21 of the travelers were awarded 24,000 pounds in damages for false imprisonment, wrongful arrest, and damaged property.

[00:02:21]Though the entire award was swallowed by their legal costs.

[00:02:25]The Public Order Act of 1986 was passed the following year.

[00:02:30]The Stonehenge Free Festival never returned.