Welcome to our website

Who, what, why, where and how

“The Friends of Thornborough Henges” is a voluntary campaign group dedicated to preventing further damage to the landscape setting of North Yorkshires's Thornborough Henges Complex, relics of the largest ancient ceremonial area in Britain. Only three of the original eight massive earth henges survived into modern times and they are now protected as Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

However, all three have suffered damage and, as with Stonehenge, it is vital to save for posterity what remains of this heritage landscape in which the henges and associated relics sit. The farmland immediately around the monuments, much of which has been bought by mining company Tarmac, has already suffered grievously from perfectly legal but insensitive farming practices and open-cast quarrying (see map below), being located on valuable sand and gravel deposits.

This website is designed to provide information, generate support, prompt action, and provide links to other relevant sites. As an alternative to browsing the sections highlighted in the menu above, the Contents page offers quick navigation to every page/document on this site.

Stopping the quarrying

The Heritage White Paper, currently in the consultation stage, gives hope that landscapes around scheduled monuments that are likely to contain important buried archaeology will receive greater protection than hitherto. Currently, in the vicinity of the Thornborough Henges, it is the prospect of further opencast quarrying that constitutes the primary threat.

In February, 2006, North Yorkshire County Council rejected Tarmac's application to extend its Nosterfield Quarry eastwards on to 106 hectares of Ladybridge Farm because the south-west quadrant of the site contained buried archaeology of national importance. Tarmac both appealed against that decision and submitted a second application to quarry 70% of that site whilst preserving the south-west area behind a bund. With no objections forthcoming from English Heritage and our non-archaeological objections outweighed, the latter application was approved on 16 January, 2007, and Tarmac withdrew its appeal against the earlier decision.

The one consolation at that time was that, with the help of a geologist supporter, we persuaded the Environment Agency to request an extra condition. That required Tarmac to first prove by thorough investigation that its intended quarrying will not threaten the henges with collapse by accelerating dissolution of the gypsum underlying the sand and gravel. The formal decision notice was not issued until 8 months later ~ but it omitted several of the conditions imposed by the committee. Consequently, our lawyers mounted a legal challenge which resulted in the county council agreeing to quash its own planning decision and stop the preparatory work already being undertaken by Tarmac on the Ladybridge Farm site.

As can be seen from the latest item on the NEWS page, NYCC reinstated the planning consent on 26 August 2008, but ratification has been delayed and, in order to keep its Nosterfield works operational, Tarmac is importing minerals from other quarries! Meanwhile, Tarmac's attempt to extend Nosterfield Quarry even further by gaining ‘Preferred Area’ status in the new Minerals & Waste Development Framework has received a setback. The waste element of NYCC's draft MWDF has been severely criticised by the examining inspector, the timetable is in disarray and there is confusion as to how much of the process will need to be revisited.
 

How you can help

Write to Tarmac’s parent company, which claims to have “a strong sense of corporate social responsibility”. Please ask it to live up to this claim by moving its North Yorkshire sand and gravel extraction activities to a less sensitive location in order to save the fragile landscape around the Thornborough Henges for future generations to appreciate. Write to: Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman, Anglo American plc, 20 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1 5AN ~ with a copy to the Friends at Kiln Farm (address above).

Looking to the future

North Yorkshire County Council has yet to adopt joined –up governance in relation to its duty to care for the county’s cultural heritage. Its draft “Swale & Ure Washlands Project Restoration Strategy”, if adopted, would have a devastating adverse impact upon the as yet unacknowledged Ure Archaeological Landscape between Boroughbridge and Scorton. Our Chairman’s 2.12.05 letter to the NYCC Heritage Manager highlights the false assumptions upon which this flawed potential policy is based. [read letter] .

The lengthy planning process controlling minerals extraction is likely to be prolonged over several years, so this campaign needs to be ongoing and carefully managed. We have a small committee of enthusiastic amateurs working from their homes and seek to cover our costs by fundraising and donations from supporters. Membership of the Friends is free and there is no application form ~ simply follow the instructions on the " Helping" page.

This flash movie shows the effect of proposed open-cast quarrying on this unique but little-known national treasure.

Thornborough Moor: the green “restored” area on the left shows how earlier quarrying bit into the central henge. The water-filled pits at the top give some indication of the extent of the current quarry north of the B6267. The northern henge is covered by a circular copse of trees, but is otherwise well-preserved.

Our current aims are to:

• Continue campaigning to shame Tarmac into moving to a less sensitive site.

• Monitor and, if appropriate, criticise future actions of the other stakeholders.

• Organise community input to all plans involving the landscape of the henges.

• Submit community objections to Tarmac’s planning applications.

• Raise funds to establish a visitor centre that interprets the ancient landscape.

• Raise funds to buy and manage the setting of the henges for the nation.

Acknowledgements:
Chris Collyer - For the photo underpinning the banner heading on each page.

CONTACTS: telephone(UK) 01609-774662; e-mail info@friendsofthornborough.org.uk