Scheduled Monument: CAIRN ON BAMFORD MOOR, 975M NORTH EAST OF CLOUGH HOUSE (1018217)

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. Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c. 2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials which were often placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature in the uplands and are the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst prehistoric communities. The cairn 975m north east of Clough House is important because it is almost a complete example with little disturbance. It is also of structural complexity and the potential for the survival of buried remains is high. DETAILS The monument includes a prehistoric cairn located on a ridge on land facing south east. The cairn appears to have been little disturbed, and displays extensive and complex structural features, including a rectangular peripheral platform. It forms one of a small group of dispersed larger cairns on Bamford Moor and is dated to the Bronze Age. The cairn measures 9.5m in diameter and stands approximately 0.4m high. There is a small depression close to its centre with accompanying upcast which may be the result of an unrecorded and limited excavation in the past. However, the structure still remains largely intact. It is unusual in that the cairn is flat-topped and is sub-rectangular in plan. Abutting the SSW side of the cairn is a flat, rectangular, platform, 9m long and 2.5m wide, standing about 0.25m above ground. The comparatively undisturbed condition of the cairn indicates that much material is likely to remain below ground and within the structure of the monument. This is likely to include human burial remains and complex architectural features. The structure is large in comparison with other cairns on the surrounding moorlands and this, together with its relatively isolated location, indicates that its function was ceremonial. SELECTED SOURCES Unpublished Title Reference - Author: Barnatt, J W - Title: Peak District Barrow Survey - Date: 1989 - Page References: 28:5 - Description: unpublished survey Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J W. - Title: Bronze Age Remains on the East Moors of Derbyshire - Date: 1986 - Journal Title: Derbyshire Archaeological Journal - Volume: 106 - Page References: 26-7 - Type: DESC TEXT