Thornborough Henge Complex - North Yorkshire
Created | Updated Nov 19, 2004
The triple henge complex at Thornborough is a relatively unknown place. Yet it comes with a pedigree that includes many superlatives:
Thornborough is a 5,000 year old religious site, it is made up of the worlds only triple henge complex - a single site that was built 5,000 years ago as part of a religious pilgrimage point. The henges are circular ditches with external earth walls that serve to create the UK's largest ritual complex of the period - three 240m diameter "circus rings".
The henges have other aspects of interest - they may well have a relationship with the constellation Orion - being a more accurate reflection of Orion's belt than the Great Pyramids of Giza and if so, Thornborough is the world’s earliest Orion complex - pre-dating the pyramids by 1,000 years.
The Thornborough Henges are located in Rural North Yorkshire; close the picturesque market town of Masham. Tarmac Northern, the company that is quarrying the area, owns much of the site. Currently they do not allow visitors however the central henge is very close to the road from the village of Thornborough to West Tanfield and can easily be inspected from the verge.
The henges themselves are the largest truly circular henges in Britain. There design is so exact that up until the 1930's they were regarded as being of Roman construction by many archaeologists.
There are a number of possible Orion alignments within the monuments. The first is the most obvious - the three henges themselves are in an identical alignment to Orion's Belt. However this could be pure chance of course.
The earliest Orion alignment comes from the Cursus monument that is now largely quarried out and underlies the central henge. Cursus monuments are amongst the earliest ritual monuments in Britain and are thought of as ceremonial causeways. If you imagine a very wide and straight Roman Road - with banks and ditches at either side - this is similar to how the Cursus would have looked.
The Cursus is aligned roughly east - west and it is to the west that the Cursus is thought to have aligned with the setting of Orion in 3,500 BC. The eastern alignment may well have been set to the midsummer solstice sunrise, for although the monument was built using straight lines, at it's centre - the point under the central henge, it changes direction slightly - an adjustment for it's eastern alignment - the sunrise?
The Cursus was originally at least 1.2 miles long and may well have been much longer, since it disappears under the village of Thornborough. It is this Cursus that may have been the first monument in the world aligned to Orion.
A further relationship with Orion was suggested by Newcastle University, this is based on the alignment of the henge entrances, of which there are two for each henge, on opposite sides of the henges perimeter and forming an alignment roughly north south. It appears that when viewed from the centre of the henge, the southern entrance frames the zenith of Orion at the time when Sirius is rising to the east.
Thornborough is a 5,000 year old religious site, it is made up of the worlds only triple henge complex - a single site that was built 5,000 years ago as part of a religious pilgrimage point. The henges are circular ditches with external earth walls that serve to create the UK's largest ritual complex of the period - three 240m diameter "circus rings".
The henges have other aspects of interest - they may well have a relationship with the constellation Orion - being a more accurate reflection of Orion's belt than the Great Pyramids of Giza and if so, Thornborough is the world’s earliest Orion complex - pre-dating the pyramids by 1,000 years.
The Thornborough Henges are located in Rural North Yorkshire; close the picturesque market town of Masham. Tarmac Northern, the company that is quarrying the area, owns much of the site. Currently they do not allow visitors however the central henge is very close to the road from the village of Thornborough to West Tanfield and can easily be inspected from the verge.
The henges themselves are the largest truly circular henges in Britain. There design is so exact that up until the 1930's they were regarded as being of Roman construction by many archaeologists.
There are a number of possible Orion alignments within the monuments. The first is the most obvious - the three henges themselves are in an identical alignment to Orion's Belt. However this could be pure chance of course.
The earliest Orion alignment comes from the Cursus monument that is now largely quarried out and underlies the central henge. Cursus monuments are amongst the earliest ritual monuments in Britain and are thought of as ceremonial causeways. If you imagine a very wide and straight Roman Road - with banks and ditches at either side - this is similar to how the Cursus would have looked.
The Cursus is aligned roughly east - west and it is to the west that the Cursus is thought to have aligned with the setting of Orion in 3,500 BC. The eastern alignment may well have been set to the midsummer solstice sunrise, for although the monument was built using straight lines, at it's centre - the point under the central henge, it changes direction slightly - an adjustment for it's eastern alignment - the sunrise?
The Cursus was originally at least 1.2 miles long and may well have been much longer, since it disappears under the village of Thornborough. It is this Cursus that may have been the first monument in the world aligned to Orion.
A further relationship with Orion was suggested by Newcastle University, this is based on the alignment of the henge entrances, of which there are two for each henge, on opposite sides of the henges perimeter and forming an alignment roughly north south. It appears that when viewed from the centre of the henge, the southern entrance frames the zenith of Orion at the time when Sirius is rising to the east.
