Stone circle on Ash Cabin Flat, 560m north east of Reservoir Cottages

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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31245

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, Sheffield Arch. Monograph 1 in The Henges, Stone Circles and Ringcairns of the Peak District, (1990), 43-5
Barnatt, J, Sheffield Arch. Monograph 1 in The Henges, Stone Circles and Ringcairns of the Peak District, (1990), 43-5

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry