Friends of Thornborough Response Part 1 | Forum

The Thornborough Henges 71

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BrigantesNation Sep 2, 2003 15:13:21

Replying to Grendel

Hi all,

Here is my statement with respect to yesterdays ongoings:

Speaking as a Friend of Thornborough, I was concerned about Mr Campling’s response to the question about the proposed quarrying at the Thornborough Henges on the SMR discussion list.

The question was asked - "I have received the attached e-mail, and I must say it seems beyond belief that there could really be extensive quarrying and landfill proposals in such an important archaeological landscape.

Is this really correct?"

Mr Campling, in his response seemed to indicate that this was an incorrect statement.

That is simply not true. There are currently two proposals by Tarmac to expand quarrying in the Thornborough area. One of which is entitled Thornborough Moor and if anyone cares to look at a map they will find that is the field which holds the central henge and cursus.

In the Yorkshire Post 27/11/02 there was an article with the headline "Winning quarry wants to expand". This article identified that Tarmac were looking to extend quarrying in the Thornborough area. The accompanying photograph showed Mr Bob Nicholson, Tarmac's Estates Manager holding a map of the area. In this document, the western half of the southern henge is shown flanked by a lake, this map was showing the proposed expansion areas.

In approximately November last year, the local liaison group was given copies of the Tarmac proposal maps. One of these showed the henges surrounded (apart from the narrow strip that connects them) by a red-hatched area which, it was explained was the proposed expansion area. The other map showed the western flank of the southern henge surrounded by a lake.

On the 27/2/02 we received an email from our MP, copied to Neil Campling and others within the Council confirming that discussions were taking place with regards to these two proposals.

Very recently, the Friends of Thornborough have received a letter from Anglo American Plc, owners of Tarmac Northern Ltd, stating that they intend to proceed with the planning application.

BrigantesNation Sep 2, 2003 15:14:02

Replying to BrigantesNation

Given our experience of the areas that have already been quarried, it is our expectation that during the winter months the other quarried areas would flood - effectively surrounding a large part of both lakes with water. It is this season that we chose to show in the picture on our website. This interpretation of the possible future landscape for the henges has to a certain extent been confirmed by a recent article in The Dalesman, entitled "Our Own Norfolk Broads" which explained that the councils after use strategy for worked out quarry sites was to turn them into large open wet spaces.

In terms of the landfill, this already exists, and is located some 100m from the central henge. Although there are no proposals to expand this that we are aware of, we do expect this to be forthcoming should the quarrying be expanded based on the proposals under discussion. Informal discussion with local councillors has confirmed this as a distinct possibility.

It is not our intention to mislead anyone, but neither is it to paint a positive picture of quarrying in archaeologically sensitive areas.

Whilst the wider setting is an important part of our concerns, the relationship with the surrounding archaeology is of major importance. I know very well the problems associated with pit alignments and the interpretation and dating of them. But I can say we have spent quite some time on site with DR Jan Harding, and he is of the opinion that some of the pit alignments are related to some of the very earliest archaeology (early Neolithic double ditch barrow) and that the majority of the pits that he has investigated probably contained posts. Furthermore he is convinced that the evidence we has shows an environment of continued and inter-related use, not simply a set of unrelated archaeological remains. This is one of the reasons why we are most concerned about the nil reinstatement after use plans, this means that if in the future we find that post/pit alignments were a key feature of henges, we would be unable to recreate them within this, our best known example of such alignments.

Mr Campling knows only too well that Tarmac have not published the details of their archaeological investigations of the 1994/5 Nosterfield extension, and therefore our assumptions are open to challenge. As amateurs I guess we are an easy target in this respect.

All I can say is that we are convinced these are some of the most important ancient monuments in the North of England, and they deserve to be treated more carefully than they have been to date.

I should also say that the Friends of Thornborough are not, as Mr Campling implies, against the creation of wetlands in appropriate areas, or the encouragement of sports is these places. Our point is that creating a wetland out of this obviously important historic area is not appropriate.

I hope this answers your concerns with respect to Mr Campling’s statements yesterday.

George Chaplin
[email protected]