Scheduled Monument: ROCKHURST LONG BARROW AND ADJACENT BOWL BARROW (1008939)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and, consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be nationally important. The long barrow at Rockhurst is a well preserved example containing rare intact archaeological deposits. Like several other Neolithic barrows in the Peak District, it has an adjacent Bronze Age bowl barrow which, although denuded, retains significant archaeological remains on the old land surface. Together these barrows indicate the continued use of Neolithic burial foci during the Bronze Age and demonstrate changing burial customs during these periods. DETAILS The long barrow and bowl barrow at Rockhurst are located on Brassington Moor, c.500m east of Minninglow on the south-eastern uplands of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument consists of a single constraint area including both barrows which are situated c.10m apart. The long barrow comprises a low wedge-shaped mound measuring 33.5m along its east-west axis and varying between 14m wide at the east end and 10m wide at the west end. The height drops from east to west from c.0.7m to c.0.2m. The bowl barrow, which is located off the west end of the long barrow, is a roughly circular cairn with a diameter of 9.5m surviving to a height of c.0.2m. The surface of the cairn has been excavated or robbed of its stone but the old land surface in which burials will have been placed is still intact. There is no recorded excavation of the long barrow though it is possible that the bowl barrow was one of those on Brassington Moor excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1849. The long barrow dates to the Neolithic period and predates the Bronze Age bowl barrow which may also have been re-used in the Roman period. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989) - Date: 1989 - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989) - Date: 1989 - Type: PLAN: MEASURED Book Reference - Author: Bateman, Thomas - Title: Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills (1861) - Date: 1861 - Page References: 55-56 - Type: DESC TEXT