Scheduled Monument: CAIRNFIELD, 870M NORTH EAST OF STANAGE HOUSE (1016809)

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 sited in close proximity to one another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture and on occasions their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots. Occasionally, some of the cairns were used for funerary purposes although without excavation it is difficult to determine which cairns contain burials. Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3,400 BC) although the majority date from the Bronze Age (2,000-700 BC). Cairnfields can also retain information concerning the development of land use and agricultural practices as well as the diveristy of beliefs and social organisation during the prehistoric period. The cairnfield, 870m north east of Stanage House is well-preserved and incorporates traces of linear banks as well as random clearance suggesting that the area was originally sub-divided into fields. Unusually it also retains evidence of a settlement within the field system. DETAILS The monument includes a prehistoric cairnfield comprising clearance cairns, linear banks and at least one hut platform. The cairnfield is one of a group of similar monuments providing evidence of extensive prehistoric agriculture on Eyam Moor. The monument comprises a series of well-preserved cairns of medium and small stones gathered in prehistoric times as the result of land clearance. There are approximately 30 or more cairns, most of which range from about 2.5m to 6m in diameter, although a small number are slightly larger and several are ovoid in shape. A few of the cairns have been disturbed but most are complete. There are also traces of linear clearance banks within the cairnfield, indicating that the area was divided into field plots, probably by hedges or fences. At least three stretches of field banks have been identified which also contain irregular clearance cairns. One platform has so far been identified which indicates the presence of a building, but it is likely that other timber buildings also existed, traces of which have now been eroded away. The monument is interpreted as an area of intense agricultural activity and settlement dating to the Bronze Age. All modern drystone walls, gates and fences are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included. SELECTED SOURCES Unpublished Title Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. W. - Title: Highlow Hall and Eyam Moor ... Archaeological Survey 1994-5 - Date: 1995 - Page References: 23-4 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: unpublished survey report Unpublished Title Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. W. - Title: Highlow Hall and Eyam Moor ... Archaeological Survey 1994-5. - Date: 1995 - Page References: 23-4 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: unpublished survey report 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: 70-1 - Type: DESC TEXT