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Updated - 16.03.08
Ladybridge Planning Application - New planning meeting at Masham 22nd April 2008.
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Following the recent retraction of the Ladybridge Farm Planning Permission in February 2008, Tarmac Northern Ltd's application is to be determined again at a planning meeting to be held at Masham Town Hall on 22nd April 2008. Although initial expectations were that this time the application would sail through recent news means that there is a very real chance of either getting the planning application refused. A critical reason why the first application was refused was the lack due to the presence of nationally important archaeology within the proposed quarry area. Subsequent research claimed to have identified the full extent of the archaeology and a revised application which excluded the full extent of the archaeology, plus a wide boundary between the quarry site and the archaeology was approved in January 2007. It it this permission which has recently been recinded due to a legal challenge by Friends of Thornborough whom we believe claim that the details of the permission, not finalised until October 2007, did not meet the full intention of what had been agreed by the Planning Committee. Whilst on the surface, it would seem that the same application would probably be granted, the fact is that our material knowledge of the full extent of the archaeology on Ladybridge has changed; more prehistoric archaeology has been found - within the (previously) approved Ladybridge quarry site. This new archaeology has been found by Tarmac's own archaeologists, as the company had began to clear the site in preparation to starting up quarrying operations. So far at least three prehistoric pits containing flint artefacts have been found. In view of the recinding of the application, Tarmac have stopped this work. This means that many of the grounds for objection to the original application are still valid - Quarrying the revised Ladybridge site will still destroy nationally important archaeology, the level of mitigation that Tarmac propose for such archaeology is innadequate and in addition, these new discoveries show that the developers assessment of the extent of the archaeology on Ladybridge is wrong and that their methods for evaluation are likely to miss important parts of the Ladybridge archaeological site. Therefore, we at TimeWatch urge you all to put pen to paper and write a letter to North Yorkshire Council's planning department, maybe to the press as well, you might also like to ask some friends to write too. Here's what your letter might look like.
Essential Facts Why should this application be opposed? The area threatened contains archaeological remains of a prehistoric settlement - used by those who long ago came to the henges for what many believe were ritual activities. This is one of only a handfull such sites known in Britain. The site is a continuation of a large spread of Neolithic pits and hearths that have already been quarried on the other side of the road; Nosterfield Quarry. This spread of pits marks the site of a short term camp from the same period as the neighboring Thornborough Henges and as such makes this find all the more important. In addition, it is likely to be the largest such camp so far discovered in Britain. North Yorkshires own planning rules state that such important archaeology should be preserved in-situ, along with its setting. The site is also likely to contain other important archaeological features. Experience from The current quarry which is littelrally the field next door shows that the area continued in use for ritual activity until the Roman period - burials and other features were found dating from the Mesolithic right through to the Roman period. Whilst Tarmac do not seem very impressed with this archaeology, TimeWatch believe that already much internationally important archaeology has been lost and will continue to be lost if the Ladybridge proposal is approved. The plan above shows the impact of past quarrying, the current quarry and the planned Ladybridge extension ( in red), it also shows a further area - Thornborough Moor that Tarmac have announced they wish to quarry (but have promised not to do so before 2016). Henges do not sit alone in the landscape, they are surrounded by other ancient monuments now hidden from view underground. A critical reason for this is that those at Thornborough were large temporary camps, indicating that large numbers were travelling to Thornborough to stay overnight, presumably whilst attending some form of gathering. These people left behind vital clues on Ladybridge, rapid excavation prior to quarrying is unlikely to reveal the best picture possible and the loss of landscape would mark a significant loss of our landscape heritage. The massive scale of the complex means that these remains can often lie many hundreds of metres away from the henges. This has been proven at the current quarry at Nosterfield, which has removed more than 500 archaeological features over little more than 100 acres yet most of it is little closer to the henges than Ladybridge. The quarry at Nosterfield, as well as previous quarries have already had a devastating impact on the area surrounding the henges, destroying extremely rare and important archaeology, this cumulative impact to such an important heritage site should not be allowed to continue. At least two Neolithic settlements have already been destroyed. These camps were used by people who may have travelled from as far away as Cornwall to visit the henges. An extensive burial area and other important archaeological remains that could have provided important evidence to shed light on the purpose of this unique site have also been lost.
To illustrate the point, we have put together a map (above) showing the features already destroyed at Nosterfield Quarry (the current quarry). Based on the archaeology discovered on Ladybridge so far, this extends well into the proposed quarry. "This (the ritual landscape of Thornborough Henges) contains archaeology essential to our understanding of the site and provides a visual context that is becoming increasingly important". Richard Bradley |
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