Details

Wyaston hlaew, or Anglian barrow, is situated on the southern fringes of the
Derbyshire Peak District. The monument includes a bowl-shaped mound
measuring 27m by 22.5m and surviving to a height of c.0.75m. Originally, the
barrow was more uniformly circular and somewhat higher; but ploughing has
lowered its profile and distorted its shape. In 1852, Samuel Carrington
carried out a partial excavation of the site and recovered human teeth, which
were all that survived of a skeleton, accompanied by a necklace of
twenty-seven beads, a finger ring of knotted silver wire, silver earrings and
a circular brooch. Five of the beads of the necklace were amber while the rest
were red or white porcelain variegated with blue, red and yellow. The
artefacts indicate that the barrow was constructed during the seventh century
AD and that the occupant was probably female.

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

Hlaews are pre-Christian burial monuments of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and
may be found singly or in small groups. Typically they are constructed of
earth and usually comprise a low hemispherical mound or a combination of
mound, inner ditch and outer bank covering one or more burials which may be
inhumations, cremations or both. Most hlaews contain rich grave-goods,
indicating the high status of the occupants, and these goods date Anglian
hlaews to the late sixth and seventh centuries AD and Viking hlaews to the
ninth century. There are only between fifty and sixty authenticated hlaews
recorded nationally, with particular concentrations in the Peak District and
Wiltshire. They are one of a restricted range of monuments from the Anglian
and Viking periods and contain evidence not only of burial customs and craft
skills but also of colonisation and settlement patterns. Because of this, and
due to their extreme rarity, all surviving hlaews are considered to be of
national importance.
Although disturbed by ploughing and partial excavation, Wyaston hlaew is
reasonably well preserved and retains significant archaeological remains.

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), 188-9
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 33-4
Meaney, A L S, Gazetteer of Early Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites, (1964)
Fowler, M J, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in The Anglian Settlement of the Derbys-Staffs. Peak District, , Vol. 74, (1954), 134-51
Ozanne, A, 'Medieval Archaeology' in The Peak Dwellers, , Vol. 6/7, (1962), 15-52

Source: Historic England