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 as 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.
Romano-British farmsteads are small agricultural units comprising groups of up
to four circular or rectangular houses along with associated structures which
may include wells, storage pits, corn-drying ovens and granary stores. These
were sometimes constructed within a yard surrounded by a rectangular or
curvilinear enclosure, and associated field systems, trackways and cemetaries
may be located nearby. Romano-British farmsteads usually survive as buried
features visible as crop and soil marks and occasionally as low earthworks.
Often situated on marginal agricultural land and found throughout the British
Isles, they date to the period of Roman occupation (c.AD 43-450).
Romano-British farmsteads are generally regarded as low status settlements,
with the members of one family or small kinship group pursuing a mixed farming
economy. Excavation at these sites has shown a marked continuity with later
prehistoric settlements. There is little evidence of personal wealth and a
limited uptake of the Romanised way of life. As a highly representative form
of rural settlement, all Romano-British farmsteads which have significant
surviving remains will merit protection.
The Romano-British farmstead 475m east of Ladybower Inn survives in good
condition with excellent potential for further remains beneath the ground
surface. Very few Romano-British settlements are known within the gritstone
areas of the Peak District. The monument consequently forms part of a small
but particularly important resource for understanding settlement, agriculture
and native culture during the period of Roman occupation.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a farmstead situated on the northern
fringe of Bamford Moor. The farmstead provides important evidence for
settlement and agriculture during the Romano-British period.
The monument occupies a fairly level shelf, high on a north facing slope
overlooking the Ladybower valley. The farmstead comprises three enclosures
defined by drystone boundaries (between 1m and 3m in width and up to 1.2m in
height) with occasional orthostatic or edge-set slabs. The largest enclosure
measures approximately 35m by 25m and is irregular in shape. Attached to the
large enclosure is a smaller sub-rectangular enclosure measuring approximately
20m by 15m. Substantial breaks exist in the north eastern sides of both
enclosures, these are indicative of entrances. A third smaller enclosure is
situated directly to the north east of the two attached enclosures. The small
enclosure measures approximately 12m by 12m and is indicative of a house site,
the surviving enclosure bank representing the walls of the building.
Alternatively, the enclosure bank may have formed a yard around a smaller
timber framed building. Discrete piles of stone and earthfast boulders are
visible within and around the monument, some of which will represent hitherto
unidentified features.
The farmstead is believed to have been occupied during the Roman period (AD
43-450), being dated by distinctive orthostatic walls which are frequently
associated with Romano-British settlements in this region. The two larger
enclosures are indicative of yards and may have have been used as stockpens,
or comprised small garden plots. The monument is associated with a smaller
contemporaneous farmstead located within view upon the opposite side of the
Ladybower valley.
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.
