Ancient footsteps retraced by henge protestors

Submitted by DavidRaven on Wednesday, 20 October 2004 Page Views: 1247

**Thornborough Central** submitted by DavidRaven : The Central Henge hosting Beltane celebrations, May 1st, 2004. The northern henge, covered in woodland, can be seen in the background. (Vote or comment on this photo)

A 5,000 year old ceremony is to be recreated this week as campaigners carry an ancient ceremonial axe through Yorkshire's "Sacred Vale" to Thornborough. "The area between Catterick and Boroughbridge can claim to be Britain's first great religious and ceremonial centre" said George Chaplin of Heritage Action. "It contains Britain's largest concentration of prehistoric henges, vast circular earthworks that were used as ceremonial meeting places. We are staging a march through this "Sacred Vale" to highlight that the area is an immensely important part of our local and national heritage and that plans to quarry the surrounding archaeology are akin to vandalism."

The trek will take place on Friday and Saturday 22nd and 23rd of October and takes in all of the original ancient ritual landscape - seven mighty henges and a giant stone row, as well as many other monuments that line the route. The route focuses on the mile-long triple henge monument at Thornborough, the location of a bitter battle between protestors and quarry firm Tarmac.

The marchers will carry with them a prehistoric stone axe that last travelled the route five millennia ago. The axe was originally brought from Scotland, and was deposited in a ritual location close to Thornborough.

"We believe it's vitally important that the Sacred Vale is recognised for what it is" said Mr Chaplin. "It's not just important to Yorkshire, it's important to Britain. If the destruction of the surroundings of any of these monuments is allowed to continue it would be a national disgrace, not just a Yorkshire one. We hope that by setting up this heritage trail people can be given the chance to explore this little known but supremely important landscape. The more people that get to know about it the more chance there is that it will be saved".

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