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The Henge Monuments of the British Isles: Myth and Archaeology

The Henge Monuments of the British Isles: Myth and Archaeology

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Thornborough S - Henge in England in Yorkshire (North)

Submitted by Postman on Tuesday, 17 September 2024  Page Views: 13190

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Thornborough S
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 1.5 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Yorkshire (North) Type: Henge
Nearest Town: Masham  Nearest Village: West Tanfield
Map Ref: SE28947884  Landranger Map Number: 99
Latitude: 54.204496N  Longitude: 1.557835W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 4

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TheCaptain visited on 27th Sep 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4 Travelling home from Northumberland, and the weather forecast was good, so I decided to go the eastern route and break my journey to have a look at the Thornborough Henges. After a drive around several small roads, I found a place to park with access to the fields between the southern and central henges. I decided to go walk around the henges, and started with the southern one, a fair walk on a blowy day, but nice when the sun came out. The large henge is not so well formed as I had expected, no doubt worn down over the centuries, and not much to see other than the circular bank; the internal ditch is barely noticeable.

kthdsn visited on 13th Jun 2016 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 3 Access: 3

Richard13 visited on 1st Jan 2005 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 3 Access: 3



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 2.33 Ambience: 3 Access: 3.33

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Andy B : Jim Leary writes: A few weeks ago I received a wonderful & mysterious invite to an English Heritage event at the Thornborough henges, North Yorkshire. The event, which was today, celebrated the reunification of the henges under one owner (EH). We ended up in the southern henge with a spiritual blessing, which even for an arch-cynic like me was really very lovely and evocative. Thank you English... (Vote or comment on this photo)
The least well-preserved of the three henge complex in North Yorkshire. The future of the central and southern henges is now much more secure, in 2023 they were gifted by Tarmac (them of the giant quarry, as was) into the legal ownership of Historic England, to be managed by English Heritage.

[More recently EH had to fundraise something approaching 200k to buy the northern henge off the landowner. ]

Note: The culmination of the English Heritage and Historic England event celebrating the reunification of the henges under them as owner. Participants including archaeological luminaries Drs Penny Bickle, Jennifer Wexler, Jan Harding, Jim Leary, Neil Redfern, Nick Merriman (EH head) and Duncan Wilson (HE head) processed to the southern henge for a spiritual blessing of the henges. Photo: Jim Leary
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Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by JJ : Thornborough south henge (Vote or comment on this photo)

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Bladup : Thornborough Southern Henge in the depths of winter (Photo courtesy of Yorkshire Archaeological Aerial Mapping) (Vote or comment on this photo)

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Bladup : Thornborough Southern Henge (Photo courtesy of Yorkshire Archaeological Aerial Mapping) (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : Apparently it's bad form to walk on a henges bank, but it's OK to leave a bath full of water on one. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by bec-zog : Thornborough henge South

Thornborough South
Thornborough South submitted by DavidRaven : Thornborough Southern Henge, showing the gap in the henge banks. This is the least well-preserved of the three.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Bladup : Thornborough Southern Henge lidar image Source: www.lidarfinder.com

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Andy B : The new information board at the southern henge. Photo Credit: Jane Sparkes, English Heritage

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Andy B

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Fogbox : Picture taken from Google earth. Looks like there is a lot more activity than the 3 henges by the looks of the crop markings in the dark field

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by chrispy : summer solstice sunset as the sun hits the top the south henge bank. the fence posts in the henge have been removed but the bath will remain for the time being. The site is now regularly monitored by English Heritage volunteers.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by cavers35 : Difficult to get a decent shot of The Henge this is the best preserved section near the Northern entrance

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by cavers35 : Photograph from the new information board at the entrance gate to The Southern Henge

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by TheCaptain : Stitched panorama of the southern henge looking east from the western side on a blowy day, September 2022.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by TheCaptain : Stitched panorama of the southern henge looking northwest from the southern side. On a blowy day, September 2022. The bath is still there and can just about be made out on the left of the picture.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by chrispy : Photo taken 21 6 22 from inside the South henge, showing the grassed bank of the South henge in the foreground, aligned with the entrance of the central henge and the tree covered north henge in the background. The distance between the henges is a lot further than appears on this photo.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : View of the south henge from near the road by the central henge.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : Looking over the north entrance.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : There was a fence round last time I came, now it's freeeee!

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : Curving round to the north entrance.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : Curving round to the vague south entrance.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : The north entrance

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by Postman : Looking through both entrances of the south henge to the central henge and the Beltane infestation.

Thornborough S
Thornborough S submitted by DavidRaven : The edge of the henge bank. I'm not sure what this (the row of pebbles) is, or how old it is. Is it contemporary with the henge, or later? In the field it appears to be the edge of a 'platform' that joins the circular henge. Answers on a postcard anyone?

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 745m NW 325° Thornborough Central* Henge (SE28517945)
 761m N 357° Thornborough Cursus Cursus (SE289796)
 782m WNW 290° Thornborough Cursus Cursus (SE282791)
 1.5km NW 324° Thornborough N* Henge (SE28058005)
 2.1km W 268° St Nicholas (West Tanfield)* Ancient Cross (SE2679978746)
 3.3km S 178° Castle Dikes Hillfort (SE291755)
 3.5km WSW 241° Ings Well (Mickley)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE2593377125)
 3.7km NE 46° Lady Well (Kirklington)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE31628142)
 3.8km NNW 327° St Michael's Church (Well)* Ancient Cross (SE2682982053)
 3.9km NW 319° St Michael's Well (Well)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE26338175)
 3.9km ESE 116° St Mary (Wath)* Ancient Cross (SE32517715)
 5.1km WSW 248° Dropping Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE242769)
 5.1km ENE 72° Quernhow (Ainderby Quernhow) Cairn (SE33818045)
 5.2km SE 140° Nunwick Henge* Henge (SE3229274837)
 5.7km ENE 68° Sinderby* Henge (SE34288100)
 6.3km SE 144° Hutton Conyers Henge* Henge (SE32707373)
 6.5km WNW 286° St Mary (Masham)* Ancient Cross (SE2266080651)
 6.9km WSW 248° Billey Keld* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE2251376193)
 7.0km WSW 254° Lime Tree Roundhouse* Modern Stone Circle etc (SE2216776849)
 7.1km WSW 255° Lime Tree Modern Stone Circle* Modern Stone Circle etc (SE2212876922)
 7.4km NE 49° Money Hill (Pickhill)* Artificial Mound (SE3451583693)
 7.6km W 276° Berry Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE2140479628)
 7.6km NE 50° All Saints (Pickhill)* Ancient Cross (SE3471583751)
 7.7km W 260° Himalayan Gardens & Sculpture Park* Modern Stone Circle etc (SE2139577417)
 8.0km SSE 167° St Wilfrid's Holy Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE30857102)
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"Thornborough S" | Login/Create an Account | 9 News and Comments
  
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Re: Thornborough S by chrispy on Thursday, 22 June 2023
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the fence posts and barbed wire have now been removed - not sure about the bath as the grass is still high to make sure but it should also have been removed. the site is regularly monitored now so if it still there it will be reported for removal. June 21st 2023
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Re: thornborough and English Heritage by chrispy on Friday, 03 February 2023
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Thornborough is now the responsibility of English Heritage and is open to the public as a free to enter site. Saved for the future from any development
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    Re: thornborough and English Heritage by davidmorgan on Friday, 03 February 2023
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    Forgotten ‘Stonehenge of the north’ given to nation by construction firm - The Guardian.
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    Gifted To The Nation: Thornborough Henges by Andy B on Friday, 03 February 2023
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    Thanks, really good news. Here's the original press release so you can see who has been spreading the S word fallacy which needless to say the press have jumped on.

    The earthworks are thought to have been part of a 'ritual landscape', comparable with Salisbury Plain in south-west England, and are probably the most important single ancient site between Stonehenge and the Orkney Islands in Scotland.

    Now, the central and southern henges have been gifted by sustainable building materials and construction solutions business, Tarmac, into the legal ownership of Historic England, the government’s heritage advisor, as part of the National Heritage Collection and are managed by English Heritage. Lightwater Holdings, a local construction materials provider, house builder and leisure group, has also gifted parts of the wider monument to Historic England.

    Although the henges have remained remarkably well preserved over thousands of years, the central and southern henges were added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2009 due to historic erosion caused by livestock and rabbits. Historic England has been working with landowners Tarmac for a number of years to secure the future of Thornborough Henges, so that they can be enjoyed now and protected for future generations. The donation of the henges to the nation is the best option to secure the monuments’ long-term future and will lead to it being removed from the Heritage at Risk register.

    More at:
    https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/thornborough-henges/
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Gifted To The Nation: Thornborough Henges by Andy B on Friday, 03 February 2023
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      "Sustainable building materials and construction solutions business" - crawly crawly bleeuurgh - and you can quote me on that
      [ Reply to This ]

Re: Thornborough S by chrispy on Tuesday, 21 June 2022
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visited Thornborough South today and was able to walk all the way round although the bath tub (see photo posted previously by postman) was still there although more hidden by the grass, All the grass had been cut within the henge but not on the henge walls, so it appeared in better condition than the central henge. I have not been to this henge for many a year so it was nice to see a notice now stating that it is a scheduled monument and the rules (ignored by the dog walkers) for visiting. last time I felt like a trespasser unsure that I should be there. It was lovely to sit and enjoy the solstice sunshine and absorb the atmosphere.
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Street View by coldrum on Wednesday, 17 March 2010
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Re: Thornborough S by PeterCrump on Wednesday, 19 November 2003
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It's worth re-stating, I think: please sign the online petition to save the Thorborough henges from quarrying operations:

Friends of Thornborough

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Friends of Thornborough News Update by Anonymous on Monday, 29 September 2003
There's been quite a bit happening lately, so I thought you'd like to hear some news.

Firstly, it is with great sadness that I must inform you that despite our pleas for Tarmac to delay quarrying of a small section of the Nosterfield quarry so we could investigate more fully three pit alignments that appear to have a close and important relationship with the henges, they moved in with the bulldozers and have now destroyed the last remaining archaeology within the quarry. I was hoping to have more information on these before publishing our thoughts, but in the circumstances I have uploaded our report onto the FoT website, and our initial conclusions are available there.

On a better note, unable to save the pits, we attended Masham Sheep Fair for the last two days. We got an additional 500 signatures on the petition, which is now at 2,500 - 25% of our completely unfeasible target set just six
weeks ago.

The petition has now gone to some nine villages in the surrounding area...

Read the rest of this post...
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