Stonehenge has changed ownership on several occasions since King Henry VIII acquired Amesbury Abbey and its surrounding lands. In 1540 he gave the estate to the Earl of Hertford, and it subsequently passed to Lord Carleton and then the Marquis of Queensbury. The Antrobus family of Cheshire bought the estate in 1824, but sold it in 1915 after the last heir was killed serving in France during the First World War. The auction was held by Knight Frank & Rutley estate agents in Salisbury on the 21 September, and included “Lot 15. Stonehenge with about 30 acres, 2 rods, 37 perches of adjoining downland.” Cecil Chubb bought Stonehenge for £6,600 and then gave it to the nation three years later. Although it has been speculated that he purchased it at the suggestion of — or even as a present for — his wife, he in fact bought it on a whim as he believed a local man should be the new owner.