Monument record MDR1882 - Round Barrow, Wardlow

In building the turnpike road in 1759 a cairn was destroyed for stone. 17 bodies were noted, and were described as being in structures that sound like cists, though they might also be just stone protection on the old ground surface. A barrow was examined located near Wardlow in 1759 by Rev. Mr. Evat, of Ashford. About seventeen bodies were discovered laid on flat stones on the ground. They were enclosed by two side walls and a stone was laid on each chest. Two bodies were in a cist in the centre of the mound. Some disarticulated bones were also found. The barrow was 32 yards in diameter and five feet high. (4). Reportedly two primary skeletons each in a central cist. (1,3,6,8) "About seventeen bodies" (4) laid in coffins or cells were discovered in Wardlow barrow in 1759. (5) The site was immediately adjacent to the road from Monsal Head to Wardlow Mires but the exact location is lost. Account above is misleading: two certain cists or chambers were found near the centre in an approximately north-south line. Each was 2.3m (7.5ft) long and 0.6m (2ft) high and contained rotted inhumations, with only the jaws and teeth surviving. The large size of these structures suggests they might have been Neolithic chambers, or megalithic cists as at Tideslow. A further 15 possible cists were suggested, some at least associated with rotted inhumations. However, the stylised plan suggests some may have been a kerb which was misinterpreted, as they lie on an arc just within the barrow edge. Another four lie in the interior and are of uncertain interpretation. (9) SMR mainframe record 14731 is a short, but identical entry for the same site and is not being continued. (10) As th elocation of the barrow is unknown, the point has been removed from the map. (11).