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.
Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one
another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone
cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture
and on occasions their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots.
Occasionally some of the cairns were used for funerary purposes, although
without excavation it is difficult to determine which cairns contain burials.
Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC),
although the majority date from the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). Cairnfields can
also retain information concerning the development of land use and
agricultural practices as well as the diveristy of beliefs and social
organisation during the prehistoric period.
The cairnfield 450m south west of Leam Hall Farm is well preserved and retains
evidence for both settlement and agriculture.
Details
The monument includes a prehistoric cairnfield located on a slight ridge. The
cairnfield is one of a group of similar monuments providing evidence of
extensive prehistoric agriculture on Eyam Moor.
The monument comprises a series of well-preserved cairns of medium and small
stones gathered in prehistoric times as the result of land clearance. There
are approximately 90 cairns ranging from about 1.5m to 6m in diameter,
although several are ovoid in shape. Some of the cairns have been disturbed,
probably by 19th century antiquarians, but the majority are complete. There
are also traces of linear clearance banks within the cairnfield, indicating
that the area was divided into field plots, probably by hedges or fences. Two
probable house platforms have also been identified, although there are likely
to be others.
The monument is interpreted as an area of intense agricultural settlement
dating to the Bronze Age.
All shooting butts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground
beneath them is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 3 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
