The Yorkshire Vet: Trying to stop rabbits munching new plants and Neolithic history

Later that day, we came across another rabbit-proof fence, this one much larger. We went to visit the amazing Neolithic henges at Thornborough, the custody of which has recently passed to Historic England to safeguard their future. The rabbit-proof fences were to prevent rabbits burrowing into the henges- another challenge these structures have faced over the years. Apparently, wild rabbits find them a superb home and simple to excavate for burrows. But the original purpose of the henges remains obscure.

I’ve been aware of these structures ever since I came to work in Thirsk in 1996. However, since they were on private land, until now it has been almost impossible to experience their history and majesty. A cold Sunday afternoon, with a pale sun approaching the horizon and stinging rain spitting in a north wind, provided a perfect opportunity to explore. Standing on the edge of the southernmost henge, with views to the east of Sutton bank reflecting amber in the sunshine and with menacing clouds gathering over the Dales to the west, it was easy to sense the history of this place over the past six millennia. Thousands of others must have done the same as me. Most of them without the benefit of a warm fleece jacket, thick down coat and woolly hat. Although, I suppose, even Neolithics would have been dressed for the weather, probably with literally a fleece! Different to us today, but maybe, in some ways-worries, anxieties, hopes and dreams- very similar.

The three circular henges are arranged on the elevated plateau between the Ure and the Swale in an almost straight line. The northern-most is covered in trees and we didn’t visit that one, but the central and southern circles are easy to see. The banks are somewhat subsided now (pesky rabbits again, as well as pesky other things) but, apparently, they were once four or five metres high, offering a grandstand view of whatever was going on in the central area. Also, investigations suggest that they were covered in gypsum, mined from pits nearby, so they would have had striking light and shiny surfaces. I imagined they reflected the evening sun in just the same way as the Sutton bank escarpment was doing just now.

It was easy to imagine this impressive arena was a central venue for Neolithic man (and woman) in Northern England. There is speculation that the equally impressive and obscure and equally Neolithic Devils Arrows, standing stones twenty miles to the south, just outside Boroughbridge, may have acted as an early signpost to these huge henges, pointing the way for visitors from the south 4500 years before Christ.

Thornborough’s big (very big) brother, Stonehenge, is aligned with the rising sun in midsummer and the setting sun in midwinter. Yorkshire’s similar circles also have their southern entrances lined up with sunrise at the winter solstice. It’s all fascinating. How and why our ancient ancestors created these amazing structures is an unanswerable question. Anne and my theory was that they were the sight of an ancient sporting event or a massive party. Competitors from all over Neolithic Britain (though it wasn’t called that back then, of course), might have travelled to run around the circular track, then onto the next? Two and a half thousand years before the Greeks. That these henges still exist in 2023 and we can stand in the same circular places and wonder and try to empathise is bewildering. And it’s most definitely worth a visit. Like our newly planted shrubs, I just hope the rabbits don’t demolish them!