Cairn on Bamford Edge, 570m north east of Clough 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.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. In some cases, cairns often occupy prominent locations and are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature in the uplands of Britain and are the stone equivalent 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 the surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. The cairn 570m north east of Clough House appears to be undisturbed and, as such, will contain intact buried remains and associated artefacts below ground and within the surviving structure.

Details

The monument includes a cairn standing on the edge of the southern end of the Millstone Grit escarpment known as Bamford Edge overlooking the upper Derwent valley. The cairn is dated to the Bronze Age, with further evidence for Bronze Age settlement and agriculture nearby. The cairn measures approximately 8m in diameter and appears to be undisturbed. It consists of a mound of turf and stones rising to about 0.60m high. The ground surrounding the cairn shows no signs of clearance for agriculture and thus the monument is interpreted as a funerary cairn. The relatively isolated location, away from clearance features, and its commanding position overlooking the upper Derwent valley also support this interpretation. Since the cairn does not appear to have been robbed, much information regarding its function and construction will be preserved below ground and in the surviving structure, including intact burial remains.

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:

29827

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989), 28:8

End of official list entry

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