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 a stone cairn situated on the top of an east-west ridge
with commanding views. The cairn stands at the highest point in the local
landscape on a north-facing edge overlooking the Hope Valley to the west
and the gritstone moors to the north and north west. It also overlooks the
Bronze Age field systems and cairnfields to the north at Callow and Carr Head
Moor. To the south of the monument lies sloping ground in the open moorland of
the eastern gritstone moors of the Peak District.
The area surrounding the monument itself appears to have been subject to some
land improvement possibly dating from the same period as a small post-medieval
enclosure to the east.
The cairn measures approximately 8m by 7m and is roughly oval in plan. It
stands about 0.8m high and is turf covered but one or two stones can be seen
protruding from the turf. The cairn appears relatively undisturbed and in good
condition, although a slight depression at its centre suggests that there may
have been some minor excavation in the past.
The location of the cairn, commanding impressive views, and its relative
isolation indicates that the cairn was likely to have served a funerary
purpose and was probably important to the Bronze Age farmers as an ancestral
monument.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
29803
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
