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The Thornborough Henges

Thornborough awareness — the next phase

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BrigantesNation B
BrigantesNation Oct 17, 2003 13:33:23
Replying to Hob

They are Archaeologists from York, paid for by Mike Griffiths Associates on behalf of Tarmac. It was Mike Griffiths who was in charge of the watching brief on the current quarry and would have been responsible for bringing to the attention of NYCC any archaeology of national importance.

Two areas of Neolithic activity, possibly settlement or activity and obviously linked with the henges, plus a new burial ground, with 13 burials and three ring ditches obviously don't count. After all Neolithic "villages" built by people who built and or attended triple henge monuments are ten a penny in Britain, why several spring to mind - there's ........ Thornborough (not any more they've been destroyed), oh and there's.... Thornborough (not any...) don't forget Thornborough (not any more.....). Oh well, I'm sure if they find anything on the Ladybridge site (which is less than 10 yards from the largest area of Neolithic activity destroyed by the quarry) then I'm sure Tarmac and North Yorkshire County Council will work together to ensure physical preservation as demanded by the UK Government. This kind of positive responce to archaeology have already been clearly demonstrated by both parties, just look at the current Nosterfield quarry, here they found pit alignments with potential relationships to the henges - never seen before in the UK, they found two locations of human activity contemporary with the henges, an equally rare discovery, one of these locations was in an area of Langdale axe deposition, again, a particularly rare phenomenon - giving a new dimension and interest to these Neolithic areas at Thornborough. They also found 13 burials in the area between the henge pit alignments and the axe depositions - clearly this area thanks to the pre quarrying excavations was revealed to be of real archaeological significance. One that was immediately recognised by all parties, and inline with their typically positive approach to archaeology, they proceeded with the quarry and destroyed the whole lot.

North Yorkshire CC have continued to act with foresight and in accoradance with our Goverments guidelines PPG16, for example, it states that “The key to informed and reasonable planning decisions, is for consideration to be given early, before formal planning applications are made, ….”

When asked about Tarmac's current proposals in September, North Yorkshire County Council demonstrated their forward thinking approach in the following response:

“There are currently no planning applications for, and not even any discussions about, quarrying around the middle and southern henges.”

Confirmation of the "no threat" to the henges came in an article in the Yorkshire Post, November 2002:

“Tarmac plans to submit two planning applications covering the proposed (Nosterfield) quarry extension”. This announcement was made along with a public meeting, where people were shown a proposal map shown the southern henge half surrounded by a lake.

Clearly North Yorkshire County Council are on the case, and the archaeology of the area is in safe hands.

Another comforting factor, is the high level of success the pre application archaeological investigations have in identifying potential sites of archaeological importance, thus when the Council came to consider the application for the current quarry (Nosterfield, discussed above, now dubbed the "flag Fen of the North", it was able to conclude "the site displays little potential for contributing to archaeological studies even of a local nature".

B BrigantesNation
BrigantesNation Oct 17, 2003 13:33:45
Replying to BrigantesNation

Clearly we can be assured that the current pre application investigation will uncover anything that might be even of slight importance.

To those who may be concerned that some features, initially thought to be of minor value may become more important due to later discoveries can also be assured that any archaeology likely to be destroyed by the quarry will be subject to a "full archaeological investigation", thus preserved by record for future investigations. The value of this was recently demonstrated admirably - During investigations into pit alignments which possibly have relationships with the henges it was discovered that two pits had been uncovered during the construction of a quarry road within metres of the northern henge. As with all such things, these had been the subject of a detailed and meticulous archaeological survey. Unfortunately, the physical location of these pits was not recorded in sufficient detail to allow them to be used as evidence in the investigation.

So, I say to all of you, be assured, The archaeology of North Yorkshire is in safe hands. Under NYCC's curatorship;

1. Any nationally important archaeology will be physically preserved.
2. Detailed and thorough pre application investigations will fully arm the planning committee with a firm knowledge of the archaeological potential of the area.
3. Any archaeology of a more minor nature will be fuly archaeologically investigated and the results recorded in detail for future generations.

In many ways, I'm sure you will agree, the destruction of archaeology by quarry is a good thing, since it allows us to gain a detailed picture of how life used to be, and the scrutiny of North Yorkshire County Council ensures any archaeology of even regional value, is preserved for the benefit of all.

The "Flag Fen of the North" is to be turned into an extensive water park, assuming simeone comes forward with the money.