THE FRIENDS OF THORNBOROUGH

View of the triple henges from the south, courtesy of English Heritage

The Friends of Thornborough voluntary group was set up several years ago, almost as an off-shoot of the local parish council, as a focus for residents dissatisfied with the way open-cast quarrying was being allowed to despoil their landscape, their heritage, and their rural way of life.

In November, 2002, Tarmac Northern publicly announced plans to extend quarrying over the surviving setting of the Thornborough Henges. At a public meeting, archaeologist Dr Jan Harding of Newcastle University explained the significance of his recent finds in the area (see http://thornborough.ncl.ac.uk) and emphasised the necessity of preserving the setting for future study.

This meeting attracted many new members, several of whom joined the committee to give the protest campaign a new impetus. Since then, the Friends have carried out a campaign to make the ancient landscape dominated by the Thornborough Henges better known and to demand the preservation of what remains on behalf of the nation. We work closely with English Heritage, and major features have appeared in archaeology media [Rescue News, British Archaeology and Current Archaeology], while the henges were featured on “Time Flyers”. However, disappointingly few prominent professionals seem prepared to stand up and be counted on this issue.