Round cairn 780m south west of Offerton House

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.

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2,000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined compartment called cists. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are the stone equivalents of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. The round cairn 780m south west of Offerton House, although robbed of some stone, will retain undisturbed buried remains. Its complex structure, including evidence for a drystone kerb and platform extension, is unusual and important to our understanding of Bronze Age funerary monuments.

Details

The monument includes a cairn situated on gently shelving moorland. It measures 13m by 11m and stands approximately 1m high. The centre of the cairn has been robbed of stone and there is evidence for an encircling drystone kerb. A low platform extends from the cairn to the south east measuring 6m by 3.5m. The cairn is interpreted as a Bronze Age burial cairn and is situated close to evidence for contemporary settlement and agriculture.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 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:

31246

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal in Bronze Age Remains on the East Moors of the Peak District, Vol. 106, (1986)

Other
Barnatt, J W, Peak District Barrow Survey, 1989, unpublished survey

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