Monument record MDR3738 - Stanton Moor I stone circle, Stanton
Type and Period (2)
- EMBANKED STONE CIRCLE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- CREMATION BURIAL (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
Protected Status/Designation
Full Description
Radley discusses ring-work monuments in Derbyshire, and T61 is referred to as the northern of three 'earth rings' on Stanton Moor. He describes it as being 40 foot across, and very similar to its southern counterparts. Each has an earth and rubble bank, with a slight discontinuous outer ditch, especially near the entrances. The banks appear to have inner stone retaining walls. Each has two entrances, opening north and south, which are paved. Small earth mounds outside some of the entrances might indicate an elaboration, or that the entrance was cut in to a once complete ring bank. Each has a flat interior, although this northern circle has been severely mutilated. When a pollen sample was being taken from the inner edge of this circle, a cremation pit was accidentally revealed. A crushed urn, holding charcoal and a few fragments of bone, lay on its side and a second smaller crushed urn lay mouth to mouth with the former. In the ash there was a burnt flint. The two urns are of Pennine type. (7) The finds are now thought to be within the Radley archives at Sheffield Museum. (8)
Some large recumbent stones on the inner edge of their banks may have been originally upright. (6)
A detailed study of stone circles in the Peaks describes the circle as being badly damaged, and having an outside diameter of 14.4m x 13.2m, and an inside one of 9.9m x 9.0m and being formed by a bank 1.8m - 2.7m. wide. Two entrances are noted. A single standing stone on the inner edge of the bank at the south is suggested to be indicative of a ring of stones. The inner area is described as having a trace of an inner mound. Although the monument is badly damaged, the shape of the circle is elongated to the west, analogous in shape to the ring bank monuments to the south. (10)
This circle is at the northern end of a line of seven sites on Stanton Moor, all distributed in a crude line running NNE/SSW across the moor. This distribution seems more than coincidental, although the reasons behind it are obscure. This northern-most site is a small embanked stone circle. The bank has an internal diameter of 10m by 9m. One remaining low orthostat indicates that there was probably a stone circle here. There is a second stone flanking one of the two diametrically-opposed entrances, which are aligned NNE/SSW. There is a disturbed cairn in the central area. This was dug in to by Pegge in 1784, who found a cordoned urn together with cremations and a pygmy cup. This cairn was again excavated by Heathcote in 1941, when several deposits were found. A cremation under an inverted collared urn was accompanied by two pygmy cups. Another cremation under a collared urn had a bronze awl and burnt flints. A third cremation was also accompanied by a collared urn, while a fourth had a cordoned urn. (13)
This stone circle was first surveyed and recorded by Major H Rooke and appears on his plan of monuments on Stanton Moore dated 1784. It is described by Pegge as being the northerly one of three monuments situated on a straight (approximately north-south) line across Stanton Moor. Rooke's survey depicts this feature as a circular bank with a single entrance. Pegge describes this circle as being 9 yds 1 foot in diameter, containing a barrow from which 'urns' were found during excavations by Major Rooke in 1784. The principal feature of this monument is an almost circular earth and rubble ring bank measuring 11.4m between present bank centres, broken by two gaps. Narrow excavation trenches completely circumscribe the monument and expand through the gaps, previously interpreted as entrances. The SW gap has a single earthfast orthostat, its size and position are indicative of an entrance flanking stone. It is probable that this is the original entrance depicted on Rooke's survey of 1784. The genuineness of the NE gap as an original entrance is less clear. No flanking or lining stones are evident. As with other ring-banked monuments on Stanton Moor, T61 has been classified in a number of different ways. The large number of finds from both within a barrow context and from the inner edge of the bank, as well as those of unknown provenance discovered by Heathcote clearly indicate a funerary use of the monument. The incidence of only one large orthostat within the inner ring may not, in itself, be indicative of an inner stone circle, although with the addition of a large, probably displaced stone, an interpretation of this monument as an embanked stone circle, largely robbed of its uprights, can be accepted. (14)
This stone circle is part of a larger Scheduled area on Stanton Moor. Broadly the Scheduled remains can be categorised as Bronze Age burial, ceremonial and settlement remains, medieval, post-medieval and early 19th century fields, numerous hollow ways and other tracks which date from the medieval to the modern period, widespread evidence of stone-working and stone and sand extraction, and, lastly, earthworks relating to 19th century afforestation and early 20th century woodland clearance. See Scheduled Monument description for more details. (15)
Photographic record. (16-17)
Sources/Archives (17)
- <1> SDR1504 Article in serial: Pegge, Rev. S. 1787. 'Observations by the Rev. Mr. Pegge on the Stanton Moor Urns and Druidical Temple', Archaeologia. Volume 8. circle number 1, 58-62.
- <2> SDR6942 Bibliographic reference: Glover, S. 1833. History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Derby. Vol 1, p 282.
- <3> SDR2903 Bibliographic reference: Bateman, T. 1848. Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire. p. 22-23.
- <4> SDR7494 Article in serial: Heathcote, J. 1936. 'Further Excavations on Stanton Moor' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal. Volume 57, pp 21-42. Map, p 40.
- <5> SDR221 Bibliographic reference: Heathcote, J. 1947. Birchover: Its Prehistoric and Druidical Remains. p 10.
- <6> SDR15299 Bibliographic reference: Thomas, N. 1960. A Guide to Prehistoric England. p 71.
- <7> SDR13395 Article in serial: Radley, J. 1966. 'A Bronze Age ringwork on Totley Moor and other Bronze Age ringworks in the Pennines', Archaeological Journal. Volume 123, pp 1-26. pp 13-6.
- <8> SDR19173 Archive: Radley. Radley Archives in Sheffield City Museum.
- <9> SDR19172 Bibliographic reference: Marsden, B. 1970. Discovering Regional Archaeology, Central England. p 18.
- <10> SDR16457 Monograph: Barnatt, J. 1978. Stone Circles of the Peak. pp 39, 45, 54-5, 68, 119-20, 182, 186. pp 148-9.
- <11> SDR16135 Monograph: Vine, P M. 1982. The Neolithic and Bronze Age Cultures of the Middle and Upper Trent Basin, British Archaolog. Report. BS 105. Brit Series 105, 233.
- <12> SDR18546 Bibliographic reference: Marsden, B. 1986. The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire (revised edition).
- <13> SDR16424 Article in serial: Barnatt, J. 1986. 'Bronze Age remains on the East Moors of the Peak District', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal. Volume 106, pp 18-100. pp 77-8.
- <14> SDR19168 Bibliographic reference: Ainsworth, S (RCHME). 1987. Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, A Catalogue of Archaeological Monuments, Part 1. Heathcote: T61.
- <15> SDR18151 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1995. Scheduling Notification. 23315. SM Cat. No. 365.
- <16> SDR18970 Photograph: Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA). Black and white photograph collection. 427.25.
- <17> SDR18971 Photograph: Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA). Slide Collection. 12907.1.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 24941 63674 (20m by 20m) (Approximate) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | STANTON, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (1)
- EDR1412
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Dec 5 2014 4:40PM