Scheduled Monument: RING CAIRN ON BAMFORD MOOR, 900M NORTH EAST OF LYDGATE FARM (1017836)

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. Ring banks and ring cairns are prehistoric ritual monuments occasionally containing upright boulders in their embankments. Most are found in the upland areas of Britain and sometimes occur in pairs or small groups of up to four examples. They are dated to the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Their ritual function is not fully understood, but excavations have revealed that many ring cairns contain pits in which burials, charcoal and pottery are placed, and this is taken to indicate ritual feasting activities associated with the burial of the dead. As a relatively rare class of monument, all positively identified examples are considered worthy of preservation. The ring cairn on Bamford Moor appears to have remained intact and to retain a complete range of buried archaeological features. DETAILS The monument includes a ring cairn visible as a low circular earthen embankment. It is situated on level moorland close to the edge of a west facing escarpment known as Bamford Edge and overlooks the upper Derwent Valley. It is Bronze Age in date and there is evidence for Bronze Age settlement and agriculture nearby. The ring cairn measures 24.5m by 22.5m internally and appears as a low earthen ring which has an average height of approximately 0.25m. The circular embankment is between 2.5m and 3m wide, making an external diameter of approximately 29m. There are no signs of stones in its construction, nor is there evidence for a stone kerb as is often found in ring cairns in the Peak District and elsewhere. The interior of the ring cairn is flat and level and the area surrounding the monument is noticeably stone-free. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. W. - Title: The Henges, Stone Circles and Ringcairns of the Peak District - Date: 1990 - Page References: 47-8 - Type: DESC TEXT