Cairn on Bamford Moor, 680m north of High Lees Farm

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 which were often placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature in the uplands 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. The cairn 680m north of High Lees Farm is important because it is an almost complete example with little disturbance. It is also of structural complexity and the potential for the survival of buried remains is high.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric cairn located on shelving land facing north eastwards. Although slightly disturbed, the cairn is otherwise a well-preserved example and displays complex structural features. It stands in a relatively isolated position but overlooks evidence for prehistoric settlement on the Bamford moors, dating to the Bronze Age. The cairn measures 10m by 9m and stands approximately 0.75m high. There is a small central disturbance suggesting an unrecorded excavation of the mound but otherwise the structure still survives intact, indicating that much undisturbed material is likely to remain, both within the cairn and below ground, including human burial remains. Exposed at one side of the cairn are three upright stones forming part of a carefully arranged kerb of gritstones around the base of the cairn. The structure is large in comparison with other cairns on the surrounding moorlands and this, together with its relatively isolated location, indicates that its function was ceremonial.

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:

29839

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

End of official list entry

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