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 on the very edge of the cliff face overlooking the Derwent
Valley to the west. It includes a sub-circular gritstone cairn, measuring
18.5m x 15m, retained by a kerb of gritstone boulders and constructed round a
natural outcrop to increase its height and bulk. This was discovered when a
partial excavation of the monument was carried out in 1913 by the then owner
of the site, the Duke of Rutland, and his gamekeeper, E Peat. The excavation
also revealed a possible gritstone cist containing the remains of a cremation
associated with fragments of a pottery food vessel, a broken bronze knife and
a flint scraper. These remains, together with the close proximity of the cairn
to an extensive prehistoric field system, date the cairn to the Bronze Age.

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.

This particular cairn has been partially excavated revealing firm evidence of
Bronze Age use. Although this activity has disturbed the centre of the
monument, making the original height of the cairn difficult to assess, its
perimeter is undisturbed and retains significant intact archaeological
remains. Also of importance is the cairn's association with a relict Bronze
Age field system.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Other
Barnatt, J W, Peak District Barrow Survey, 1989, unpublished survey
In Sheffield City Museum, Correspondence (Antiquities) SA/116 from E.H. Peat 1/8/1965,

Source: Historic England