Scheduled Monument: CAMP GREEN RINGWORK (1011200)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION Ringworks are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They comprised a small defended area containing buildings which was surrounded or partly surrounded by a substantial ditch and a bank surmounted by a timber palisade or, rarely, a stone wall. Occasionally a more lightly defended embanked enclosure, the bailey, adjoined the ringwork. Ringworks acted as strongholds for military operations and in some cases as defended aristocratic or manorial settlements. They are rare nationally with only 200 recorded examples and less than 60 with baileys. As such, and as one of a limited number and very restricted range of Anglo-Saxon and Norman fortifications, ringworks are of particular significance to our understanding of the period. Camp Green ringwork is a large and reasonably well-preserved example which, although partially disturbed by modern development, retains substantial archaeological remains. In addition, it is believed to be one of the rarer forms of ringwork with an attached bailey, though this bailey is not included in the scheduling. DETAILS The monument is a medieval ringwork and comprises a roughly circular area with a diameter of 60m, enclosed on the north and east sides by a substantial earth rampart with a maximum internal height of c.2m and a 5m wide outer ditch with a maximum depth of c.2m. On its south side, the ringwork is defined by a steep scarp which drops into the ditch below. On the west side, the outer ditch is partially overlain by the modern road between Eastwood House and St Michael's Church. This area is not included in the scheduling as the extent and state of survival of the remains is not sufficiently understood. The interior of the ringwork is currently occupied by the 18th and 19th century Eastwood House and Eastwood Cottage, which was originally a barn. Documents indicate that a succession of farmhouses have occupied the site since the later medieval period. The remains of these and earlier buildings relating to the ringwork will survive as buried features within the open areas of the monument. William Bray, writing in 1783, and Thomas Bateman, writing in 1849, both describe the site as being fully enclosed by a rampart and ditch broken by three entrances. From the descriptions, two of the entrances appear to be those still in use at the north-east and south-east corners of the site, while the third, on the west side, is believed to have existed in roughly the area occupied by the driveway to Eastward House, north of which the rampart levels out though the ditch continues southwards as a partially visible feature along the western edge of the garden. In recent times, a fourth entrance has been cut through the rampart on the east side of the ringwork to allow access to the adjacent farmland. Two small-scale excavations were carried out north of Eastwood House by Richard Hodges in 1976 and 1977, the first immediately behind the house and the second through the rampart and into the ditch. The first revealed only that the archaeology in this area had been destroyed by the construction of a late 19th century annexe to the present house. The second found that the rampart was revetted on its inside by a wall and that the ditch originally had a V-shaped profile but had been recut prior to its finally silting up. A sherd of green-glazed Brackenfield pot in the upper ditch silts indicated that the silting process was well advanced by the 14th century. Documentary evidence for the ringwork is slight and relates more to the manor of Hathersage and to the church rather than to the monument itself. The present church dates to 1381 but was preceded by a smaller church built in the late 12th century. This was preceded by a Norman church which may have been the foundation of Ralph fitzHubert who held the manor of Hathersage after the Norman Conquest. It would have been fitzHubert or one of his immediate successors who built the adjacent ringwork. Furthermore, it is likely that the church occupied a bailey or outer enclosure which would have contained various ancillary buildings in addition to stables and corrals for stock and horses. Although the buried remains of these features will survive, they are not included in the scheduling as both the church and churchyard are in current ecclesiastical use. A number of features within the area are excluded from the scheduling. These are all modern boundary walls and fencing, all modern gates, the surfaces of all tracks, paths, driveways, hardstands and yards, all outbuildings and garages, and the buildings of Eastwood House, Eastwood Cottage and the separate cottage in the ditch on the south side of the monument but the ground beneath these excluded features is included with the exception of the area underneath the 19th century part of Eastwood House, which incorporates a cellar, and the area immediately to the rear which includes a conservatory and a sunken fishpond and has been shown by excavation to be archaeologically sterile. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Title: St. Michael and All Angels, Hathersage - Type: GUIDE BOOK Book Reference - Author: Bateman, Thomas - Title: Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire - Date: 1849 - Page References: 125 - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Bray, William - Title: Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire and Yorkshire - Date: 1783 - Page References: 208,245 - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Jewitt, Llewellyn - Title: Collection of drawings, City Museum, Weston Park, Sheffield - Date: 1849 - Type: PLAN: SKETCH Article Reference - Author: Hodges, Richard - Title: Excavations at Camp Green, Hathersage...a Norman ringwork - Date: 1980 - Journal Title: Derbyshire Archaeological Journal - Volume: 100 - Page References: 25-34 - Type: EXCAVATION REPORT Article Reference - Author: Meredith, Rosamund - Title: The sale of the Hathersage estates of the Fitzherberts in 1650s - Date: 1970 - Journal Title: Derbyshire Archaeological Journal - Volume: 90 - Page References: 32-55 - Type: DESC TEXT