Details

Curbar Edge is situated in the eastern gritstone moorlands of the Peak
District, in an area commonly known as the East Moors. The monument is
prominently located 50m from the edge towards its southern end and includes a
roughly circular heather-covered gritstone cairn with a diameter of c.12m and
a height of c.1.2m. Although the monument has not been excavated, its form and
location, together with its proximity to other prehistoric remains, indicate a
Bronze Age date.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age
(c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or
multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined
compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch.
Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the
modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are
the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of
their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of protection.

The cairn is a well preserved example which appears not to have been disturbed
and so will retain intact archaeological remains. Also of importance is its
association with a number of relict Bronze Age landscapes surviving in this
area of the East Moors.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)

Source: Historic England