Scheduled Monument: THE FOLLY PLATFORM CAIRN (1008066)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION Platform cairns are funerary monuments covering single or multiple burials and dating to the Early Bronze Age (c.2000-1600BC). They were constructed as low flat-topped mounds of stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter. Some examples have other features, including peripheral banks and internal mounds constructed on the platform. A kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds the edges of the platform, bank or mound, or all three. Platform cairns occur as isolated monuments, in small groups or in cairn cemeteries. In the latter instances they are normally found alongside cairns of other types. Although no precise figure is available, current evidence indicates that there are under 250 known examples of this class of monument nationally. As a rare monument type, exhibiting considerable variation in form, surviving examples are considered worthy of preservation. The Folly platform cairn is a large and well-preserved example and lies outside the main distribution area. It is an unusual form of barrow for the Peak District and is believed to be intact. DETAILS The monument known as The Folly or Folly Ring is a type of platform cairn including a sub-circular, flat-topped mound with a diameter of 25.5m by 21.5m. It is c.1m high and steep sided, and has a hilltop location which overlooks the Hope Valley in the northern gritstone moorlands of Derbyshire. No recorded excavation of the monument has been carried out, but Evans, writing in 1912, records the discovery of a polished stone axe though it is not known precisely in what context it was found. Platform cairns generally date to the Early Bronze Age but the axe may date The Folly somewhat earlier, to the Neolithic period. The post and wire fencing that crosses the monument is excluded from the scheduling although the ground underneath is included. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, John - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey - Date: 1989 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: Site 18;8 Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, John - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey - Date: 1989 - Type: PLAN: MEASURED - Description: Site 18;8 Book Reference - Author: Evans, ? - Date: 1912 - Page References: 2 - Type: DESC TEXT