Thornborough Quarry

The Thornborough Henges 71

Image by Moth

BrigantesNation Dec 8, 2003 11:27:41

I think Nigel and myself obviously had two sleepless nights.

My problem is this:

Friends of Thornborough, Jan Harding and Time Fliyers have spent a lot of time raising the profile of the ritual landscape surrounding Thornborough Henges and the importance of the archaeology that is contained within it.

Friends of Thornborough has also highlighted that North Yorkshire County Councils planning rules are not being followed and neither are the governments planning guidelines. in so much as the presumption in favour of preservation in situ for archaeology of national importance is not being honoured.

Yet there is archaeology being uncovered at the current quarry site, and destroyed right now. There is no sign of English Heritage and there is not a word from EH with respect to the fact that this is going on. For example, two weeks ago a large rectangular ditched structure was uncovered, this was bulldozed immediately after recording. The same thing happened to a circular ditched structure.

Right now a square ditched structure - 5m X 5m has been uncovered. The interesting thing is there is no apparent entrace and very few finds - these could be ritual enclosures rather than later dwellings.

Now the point is - EH are quite happy to see these things destroyed without kicking up a fuss about them being involved.

Remember, the original planning application was granted on the grounds that no archaeology, not even of local importance was expected. Over 500 significant archaeological features have now been found on the site. Of those that were dateable, about 90% were Late Neolithic. Yet at no time have NYCC visited the site to determine the importance of the archaeology, and neither have EH.

The misinformation spread be NYCC has clearly nailed their colours to the mast but the question now is do EH sit on the same side of the fence as this? Please, everyone, write to EH and write to the press. EH have been aware that the entire area around Thornborough was up for quarrying since last November but they have said nothing about it. Instead, they reported in June this year that Thornborough had been saved! This was because several years ago the farmer agreed not to plant potatoes and happened four weeks after EH got a pasting from ocal people for suggesting that quarrying was no more destructive than ploughing.

In May this year letters started flooding into EH about the issues at Thornborough. I myself have asked about how PPG16 has been implimented, they responded with platitudes with the result that nothing was done. All this time, archaeology, potentially of national importance has been destryed by Tarmac on the quarry. Some of this destruction was carried out in very dubious circumstances. Last month Tarmac sponsored the British Archaeology Awards, yet still nothing has been said by EH or mouch of the archaeology community.

This is a disgrace and someone is going to have to do something about it. EH have had a year and not done anything. NYCC allowed it to happen in the first place. The system is not working.

Kammer Dec 8, 2003 11:29:11

Replying to BrigantesNation

Is there someone at EH we can email?

BrigantesNation Dec 8, 2003 11:57:06

Replying to BrigantesNation

Keith Emerick

[email protected]

Is reponsible for N Yorks and Tbro.

I gather from his office that he is planning a visit to Thornborough tomorrow, so some emails to reinforce the point that immediate action is required would be good.

One thing I did not mention. The new area opened up - in the last five weeks around 60% of the area has been archaeologically laid bare so far. Immediate action is the only option.

Grendel Dec 8, 2003 17:12:52

Replying to BrigantesNation

Just a quickie - are the NYCC archaeologists aware of the new finds? If yes, when were they told?

This'll help when I contact NYCC.

Cheers

johan Dec 8, 2003 21:01:31

Replying to BrigantesNation

The EH press office is 020 7973 3000, I have spoken to them before with other queries. Not much she can do obviously apart from refer to the 'right' person, but enough calls from enough people, maybe mention you are press, should give them enough pressure to at least start getting nervous, maybe even act. Maybe question the nature of the relationship between Tarmac and EH in regards award sponsorship and lack of action. It is sometimes too easy to ignore emails, yet a phonecall is difficult to ignore, especially if there are many of the same nature.

hope this helps,

johan

BrigantesNation Dec 9, 2003 12:52:05

Replying to BrigantesNation

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/cm031204/text/31204w15.htm

BrigantesNation Dec 9, 2003 16:59:07

Replying to BrigantesNation

This enclosure is one of several uncovered in the last couple of weeks.

It is 5m x 5m, surrounded by an uninterupted ditch which is a u profile 1m wide at the top and at least .5m deep. The lack of an apparent entrance is interesting.

Tarmac have stepped up the pace of archaeological destruction, these are being bulldozed within days of being recorded.

http://www.smartgroups.com/pictures/openalbum.cfm?GID=2022706&AlbumID=4007561

BrigantesNation Dec 9, 2003 17:27:12

Replying to BrigantesNation

The message seems to be - once planning permission is granted then all archaeology found on the site will be recorded in accordance with the councils required recording regime and then destroyed - regardless of it's importance.

This to me is not the spirit of PPG 16 and neither does it fit with the public's understanding of what should happen.

To me, any organisation that goes along with this without flagging it as a major issue has to be part of the problem.

Especially when it is the developers responsibility to perform pre-application archaeological investigations and it is this report that forms the main part of the councils view of the archaeological importance of the site.

Thus the planning committee were given a document saying "no archaeology, not even of local importance" on the site. Once that decision is made, the stuff coming out of the ground was easier ignored than "causing a fuss". I this what happens everywhere?

Thinking about it, I have suffered greatly since I got involved in this, I have lost sleep, had emotional difficulties, spent a great deal of time and money just trying to stop my heritage from being destroyed, been called a liar, the list goes on. Is there a legal angle here?

nigelswift Dec 10, 2003 08:18:45

Replying to BrigantesNation

BN, the one thing that seems clear is that there's a piece of the jigsaw missing and EH have "wider issues" that motivate them. Their natural opponents, the quarry industry, involuntarily fund them through money from the Aggregates Levy and this now represents a huge slice of EH's financial clout. Not unnaturally, the quarry industry is pretty sore about the levy. I'm wondering if there's a feeling in government that the climate for the industry shouldn't be worsened any further, and a nod has gone out.

Today, as part of the pre-budget statement, Gordon Brown is to announce whether EH's control of the fund is to be renewed. They'd be mad to rock the boat just now.