Scheduled Monument: CAIRNFIELD 600M NNE OF HIGH LEES FARM (1018092)

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. Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns in close proximity to one another. They often consist largely of clearance debris from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture. Often their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots, especially when associated with linear clearance banks. Most examples appear to be the result of field clearance which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size, content and associations of cairnfields provide important information on the development of land use and agricultural practices. The cairnfield 600m NNE of High Lees Farm survives well and, together with fragments of linear clearance embankments, the monument is important to our understanding of prehistoric agricultural practices. DETAILS The monument includes the remains of a prehistoric cairnfield, dated to the Bronze Age. The cairnfield occupies a spur of land overlooking the upper Derwent valley to the south west and is interpreted as the remains of clearance for prehistoric agriculture and settlement. The cairnfield consists of a stone-free area within which are approximately six small cairns ranging between 2.5m and 4m in diameter. The evidence for stone clearance and the survival of two possible short lengths of linear clearance indicates that the site was used for cultivation and may have been divided into field plots. In addition to the small clearance cairns, there is a large cairn that may have been used for funerary purposes. It has a diameter of between 5m and 7m and stands in a prominent position overlooking the valley to the south and south east. Most of the cairns appear to survive undisturbed. SELECTED SOURCES Article 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