Site record MDR3820 - Rock Art, Rowtor Rocks, off Main Street, Birchover

Rock Art, Rowtor Rocks, off Main Street, Birchover, probably of Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age date. 'Five examples of rock art have been found on the western end of the prominent gritstone crag of Rowtor Rocks. The best preserved of these consists of three large cups with a distinctive steep-sided section, surrounded by single and double rings, together with less symmetrical elements. Two further examples, one badly weathered, are of a simple cup and ring. The fourth carving has a cup surrounded by an incomplete ring which bends away with a long snake-like extension; further possible curved lines and cups also exist. The last and most unusual carving is comprised of narrow grooves, badly weathered, which form a complex symmetrical design combining a central cross with four cups, two concentric rings and nine or ten 'U' shaped grooves. Associated with this carving are traces of small cups, two of which have rings. Several other rocks on the outcrop have possible cup marks. Although Rowtor Rocks was extensively modified in the late 17th or 18th century, it is unlikely that the carvings formed part of this, not least because all five are on the only part of the outcrop crest which received no drastic modification. Although the Rowtor Rocks carvings cannot be dated, it is thought that the majority of Derbyshire rock art probably dates to the third or second millennia BC[E].' (1) A survey carried out in 2025 recorded 44 panels of rock art at this same general location. It is assumed that the five particular examples recorded in the 1980s are also included in the assemblage surveyed in 2025. The 2025 surveyors concluded that the rock art largely dated to between the Late Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age, with the exception of possibly two specific figurative panels that may be of earlier date. (2)