Reasons for Designation
The East Moors in Derbyshire includes all the gritstone moors east of the
River Derwent. It covers an area of 105 sq km, of which around 63% is open
moorland and 37% is enclosed. As a result of recent and on-going
archaeological survey, the East Moors area is becoming one of the best
recorded upland areas in England. On the enclosed land the archaeological
remains are fragmentary, but survive sufficiently well to show that early
human activity extended beyond the confines of the open moors.
On the open moors there is significant and well-articulated evidence over
extensive areas for human exploitation of the gritstone uplands from the
Neolithic to the post-medieval periods. Bronze Age activity accounts for the
most intensive use of the moorlands. Evidence for it includes some of the
largest and best preserved field systems and cairnfields in northern England
as well settlement sites, numerous burial monuments, stone circles and other
ceremonial remains which, together, provide a detailed insight into life in
the Bronze Age. Also of importance is the well preserved and often visible
relationship between the remains of earlier and later periods since this
provides an insight into successive changes in land use through time.
A large number of the prehistoric sites on the moors, because of their rarity
in a national context, excellent state of preservation and inter-connections,
will be identified as nationally important.
Stone circles are prehistoric monuments comprising one or more circles of
upright or recumbent stones. The circle of stones may be surrounded by
earthwork features such as enclosing banks and ditches. Burial cairns may
also be found close to and, on occasions, within the circle. Stone circles
are found throughout England, although they are concentrated in western areas,
with particular clusters in upland areas. This distribution may be more a
reflection of present survival rather than an original pattern. Where
excavated they have been found to date from the Late Neolithic to the Middle
Bronze Age (c.2400-1000 BC). It is clear that they were carefully designed
and laid out, frequently exhibiting very regularly spaced stones, the heights
of which also appear to have been of some importance. We do not fully
understand the uses for which these monuments were originally constructed but
it is clear that they had considerable ritual importance to the societies that
used them. In many instances excavation has revealed that they provided a
focus for burials and the rituals that accompanied the interment of the dead.
Some circles appear to have had calendrical functions, helping to mark the
passage of time and the seasons. At other sites the spacing of individual
circles throughout the landscape has led to the suggestion that each one
provided some form of tribal gathering point for a specific social group. A
small stone circle comprises a regular or irregular ring of between 7 and 16
stones with a diameter of between 4m and 20m. Of the 250 or so stone
circles identified in England, over 100 are examples of small stone circles.
As a monument type which provides an important insight into prehistoric ritual
activity, all surviving examples are considered worthy of preservation.
This example is well preserved and will retain significant information on its
original form and function.
Details
The monument includes a small embanked stone circle, dating to the Bronze
Age, standing on a moorland shelf overlooking the Wyming Brook. The
embankment is constructed from earth and stones and has an internal circle of
small standing stones.
The low embankment is oval in plan, between 1m and 2m in width, with external
measurements of 9m by 7.5m. The inner face of the embankment is formed by a
ring of standing and fallen stones defining an enclosed area of approximately
5.5m by 4.5m. Two of the stones appear to be standing in their original
position and are 0.45m and 0.55m high. There is at least one other standing
stone which has now fallen and another two which are likely to have been
displaced from the ring. In addition to the inner ring of standing stones are
three stone slabs, between 0.15m and 0.20m high, which are thought to be the
remains of a drystone kerb on the inside of the embankment. The central area
of the circle is flat with no evidence of a central cairn.
The circle stands in an area of cleared ground with the slight remains of two
or three clearance cairns visible to its south and south east. Approximately
100m to the NNE is a standing stone about 0.60m high which may have been
connected with the ceremonial function of the monument and is the subject of a
separate scheduling.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 3 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
