[Stones] Newly discovered sacred landscape under threat ofdestruction

[Webmaster at ancienteurope.info]

Thanks Andy,

The only thing I could find on this is this:

http://www.standlakepc.org.uk/documents/09%20jan%2007.htm

There's a lot of information missing from the note, including the
application reference number. Any more information on this?

-----Original Message-----
From: stones-bounces at henge.org.uk [mailto:stones-bounces at henge.org.uk]On
Behalf Of Andy Burnham
Sent: 20 February 2007 23:01
To: The Stones Mailing List
Subject: [Stones] Newly discovered sacred landscape under threat
ofdestruction


Something I was sent earlier. The accompanying map is on the Portal:
 http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15844

 The recently discovered Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age monumental
landscape discovered between 2000-06 is now under threat from gravel
extraction.  In January 2007 Hanson plc submitted a planning application to
extract gravel and sand from Stonehenge Farm.

Should the County Council accept this application,  all of the SW end of
this rare and important  prehistoric landscape will be lost forever and the
valley countryside that attracted prehistoric people to create such
ceremonial feats of ingenuity will be blighted by water-filled gravel pits.

Since the news release (November 2006) on the discovery of this
extraordinary ritual arena -- spanning 2,000 of archaeology, more field
investigation have been carried out.  They reveal:

1. a third coaxial ditch system, this time focused between The Devil's
Quoits and the ancient (Stone Age) crossing of the Thames at Bablockhythe.

2. that these ritual ditch systems are aligned on the principal hilltops
visible from Northmoor:

= Wytham Hill (N+S tops),

= Cumnor Hurst (a twin hill-top with springs rising between them),

= Besselsleigh rise,

= White Horse Hill, Uffington (Yes, you can see it from central Northmoor),

= Harrowdown Hill, Longworth

= Folly Hill, Faringdon.

See attached map

Every part of this vast arena of monuments is interrelated with each other;
river channels, islands and springs, as well as ancestral barrows were
carefully tied into the later linear ditches by sightlines through them to
the hill tops on the horizon.

If ever there were a place to see how prehistoric people joined earth to the
heavens, connecting their daily lifes with the natural world and the cosmos,
it was in Northmoor.

However, at its very moment of discovery -- bringing remarkable insights
into the belief systems of our ancestors -- modern industry is making a
serious and very real bid to destroy key parts of this sacred landscape for
ever.

In the last two weeks, both Northmoor Parish Council and West Oxfordshire
District Council have recorded their outright refusal to accept this
destructive application.  It is now left to the County Council to make the
final decision.

All objections must reach Oxfordshire County Council before 23 February
2007.

If you wish to register your objection to the destruction of this unique
landscape, please email your objection to:

mary.thompson at oxfordshire.gov.uk

BEFORE 23 FEBRUARY 2007


Author:  Josh Steers

(Please pass on and feel free to re-use the map. I also made a PDF version -
Andy)

_______________________________________________
Stones mailing list
Stones at henge.org.uk
http://www.stoneslist.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/stones
FAQ available from http://sml.henge.org.uk/
If you are experiencing problems with this mailing list please address mail
to stones-owner at henge.org.uk