Today (1 June) marks the 40th anniversary of the Battle of the Beanfield, where over 600 New Travellers were subjected to excessive, humiliating and brutal police violence.
On the morning of 1 June 1985, a peaceful convoy of over 600 New Traveller families, artists and musicians travelled towards Stonehenge, to mark and celebrate the summer solstice.
As the convoy neared Cholderton, the 140+ vehicles (with many doubling up as homes) were ambushed with a police roadblock 7 miles away from Stonehenge. Over 1300 officers, some equipped riot gear, surrounded the Traveller families and proceeded to assault people, families, vehicles, and anyone who dared be near the police’s reach.
After smashing windows, beating people with truncheons and shields, pulling pregnant women from buses, and destroying people’s homes, over 537 Travellers were arrested–this is often considered the largest mass arrest since WWII.
40 years on, and there has never been an inquiry into the events that unfolded that day. For many, the Battle of the Beanfield was a direct result of the Thatcher government choosing to ‘make an example’ of the Travellers.
With the media downplaying the violence and even contributing to it with unrepentant attacks on New Travellers, survivors have been left traumatised, injured, and homeless. To this day, there are people and families whose lives have been irreparably damaged by the actions taken that day, by the police and the authorities.
The Battle of the Beanfield wasn’t an isolated attack–it represented a wider attack on Travellers and alternative ways of living. Anti-Traveller attitudes continue, and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 marks yet another example of state-sponsored violence against nomadic communities.
40 years on, and Friends, Families and Travellers continues to stand alongside others fighting for the right to pursue a nomadic way of life, for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, background, or culture.
About Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT)
Friends, Families and Travellers is a leading national charity that works to end racism and discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and to protect the right to pursue a nomadic way of life.
Media Contact
Communications Team
Email: [email protected]
Additional Resources
‘Part 4 No More’. Friends, Families and Travellers. 2025. Take part.
