Details

Brundcliffe hlaew, or Anglian barrow, is situated in the western uplands of
the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a bowl-shaped
mound, disturbed on the south-west side by quarrying so that it now has a sub-
circular appearance and measures 14m by 11m in diameter by c.1m high. In 1847
the barrow was partially excavated by Thomas Bateman who recovered an extended
skeleton in a rock-cut grave, accompanied by an iron and wood object with
silver ornamentation and associated with traces of wooden planking interpreted
as the remains of a coffin. In addition there was a curved iron knife and the
sherds of a red earthenware jug of a rare Frankish type not normally found
outside Kent. Jugs of this kind date from the 6th century AD and after,
indicating a date for the barrow of c.AD600. Higher in the mound Bateman
found a horse cremation and charcoal. Excluded from the scheduling are the
wall and fence crossing the top of the mound but the ground underneath is
included.

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

A hlaew is a burial monument of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and comprising a
hemispherical mound of earth and redeposited bedrock constructed over a
primary burial or burials. These were usually inhumations, buried in a grave
cut into the subsoil beneath the mound, but cremations placed on the old
ground surface beneath the mound have also been found. Hlaews may occur
in pairs or in small groups; a few have accompanying flat graves. Constructed
during the pagan Saxon and Viking periods for individuals of high rank, they
served as visible and ostentatious markers of their social position. Some
were associated with territorial claims and appear to have been specifically
located to mark boundaries. They often contain objects which give information
on the range of technological skill and trading contacts of the period. Only
between 50 and 60 hlaews have been positively identified in England. As a
rare monument class all positively identified examples are considered worthy
of preservation.

Although Brundcliffe hlaew has been partially disturbed by excavation and
quarrying, the monument 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)
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849)
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire, (1986)
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)
Ozanne, A, 'Medieval Archaeology' in The Peak Dwellers, , Vol. 6/7, (1962)
Other
Barnatt, J W, Peak District Barrow Survey, 1989, unpublished survey

Source: Historic England