Monument record MDR3712 - Earthwork bank and ditch, Peak Tor, Rowsley

Great Rowsley - Park pale or dyke on Peak Tor, running from SK 2540 6552 to SK 2496 6526, according to a Manchester Museum record. (1) Large bank on the north and west side of Peak Tor, with a rock cut ditch on the upslope side. Runs from a deep water course at SK 2493 6528, The Plantation, to SK 2540 6552 where the earthwork takes a sharp turn following the contour of the hill to SK 2541 6555 where it turns north towards the river at SK 2541 6555. Possible Anglo-Danish earthwork? (2, 3) Photographic record. (4) This prominent bank and ditch follows the side of Peak Tor. However, interpretation of this important feature is not clear. It is possible that it could be a medieval park pale, an earthwork boundary separating arable fields from the commons, or an early medieval boundary feature. (5) This boundary is highly unlikely to be prehistoric - it certainly does not represent a hillfort and is topographically unlike any other prehistoric linear earthwork. None of the other suggestions can be substantiated at present - for example, there is no known medieval park here, although the absence of documentary evidence does not necessary mean that no park existed. Similarly, while it may represent the boundary between a medieval open field and the commons, there are no surviving strip earthworks at Peak Tor. (6)