Details

The long barrow and bowl barrow at Rockhurst are located on Brassington Moor,
c.500m east of Minninglow on the south-eastern uplands of the limestone
plateau of Derbyshire. The monument consists of a single constraint area
including both barrows which are situated c.10m apart. The long barrow
comprises a low wedge-shaped mound measuring 33.5m along its east-west axis
and varying between 14m wide at the east end and 10m wide at the west end.
The height drops from east to west from c.0.7m to c.0.2m. The bowl barrow,
which is located off the west end of the long barrow, is a roughly circular
cairn with a diameter of 9.5m surviving to a height of c.0.2m. The surface of
the cairn has been excavated or robbed of its stone but the old land surface
in which burials will have been placed is still intact. There is no recorded
excavation of the long barrow though it is possible that the bowl barrow was
one of those on Brassington Moor excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1849. The
long barrow dates to the Neolithic period and predates the Bronze Age bowl
barrow which may also have been re-used in the Roman period.

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

Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking
ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic
periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early
farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments
surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows
appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the
human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide
evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and,
consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites
for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long
barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic
structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their
considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are
considered to be nationally important.

The long barrow at Rockhurst is a well preserved example containing rare
intact archaeological deposits. Like several other Neolithic barrows in the
Peak District, it has an adjacent Bronze Age bowl barrow which, although
denuded, retains significant archaeological remains on the old land surface.
Together these barrows indicate the continued use of Neolithic burial foci
during the Bronze Age and demonstrate changing burial customs during these
periods.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, T, Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills, (1861), 55-56

Source: Historic England