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.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a small, embanked, stone circle situated
close to the edge of a gritstone escarpment known as Smelting Hill. It stands
on a well defined platform cut into the hillslope which faces to the east. It
is interpreted as a ceremonial structure and is part of a complex of
prehistoric features on the same moorlands.
The stone circle embankment measures approximately 11m in diameter and has a
width of about 1.5m-2m, creating an internal diameter of approximately 7.5m.
The embankment has been eroded and is damaged at its eastern end with most of
the surviving bank standing only a few centimetres high. There is no trace of
a central feature as found in some similar monuments in the region, although
this area appears to survive undisturbed and is therefore likely to contain
buried features. There are at least two surviving orthostats (upright stones),
although one has now fallen. The remaining upright stone stands approximately
0.75m high. Traces of other stones in the embankment, now almost buried by
turf, may also be fallen orthostats. The stone circle overlooks a prehistoric
cairnfield to the north and there are also several cairns nearby on the edge
of the escarpment.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
31252
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
