Details

The monument includes a group of up to ten cairns forming a compact
cairnfield. The cairnfield is situated close to the edge of a gritstone
escarpment known as Baslow Edge and overlooking the Derwent valley on a small
ridge of relatively well-drained moorland. There are also lengths of linear
banks at the northern end and the whole monument is interpreted as evidence
for prehistoric land clearance for settlement and agriculture.

The cairns are of various sizes, ranging from 2.5m to 6.5m in diameter. Some
of the cairns appear undisturbed although one or two examples have central
depressions suggesting that they may have been partly excavated. Two cairns
abut each other which indicates that the surrounding land was utilised
for an extended period of time. One cairn occupies a particularly prominent
position and is larger than most of the others, suggesting that it may have
had a funerary function.

To the north of the cairnfield is an arrangement of linear banks forming a
small enclosure. This is interpreted as either a small field plot or possibly
the boundary surrounding a habitation. The banks are composed of turf and
stone and are likely to have been formed from clearance debris removed from
the surrounding land. The cairnfield and linear features are separated by a
small area of stone-cleared ground. The two areas may be part of one
contemporary settlement or may represent separate episodes of occupation.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The East Moors in Derbyshire includes all the gritstone moors east of the
River Derwent. It covers an area of 105 sq km, of which around 63% is open
moorland and 37% is enclosed. As a result of recent and on-going
archaeological survey, the East Moors area is becoming one of the best
recorded upland areas in England. On the enclosed land the archaeological
remains are fragmentary, but survive sufficiently well to show that early
human activity extended beyond the confines of the open moors.
On the open moors there is significant and well-articulated evidence over
extensive areas for human exploitation of the gritstone uplands from the
Neolithic to the post-medieval periods. Bronze Age activity accounts for the
most intensive use of the moorlands. Evidence for it includes some of the
largest and best preserved field systems and cairnfields in northern England
as well settlement sites, numerous burial monuments, stone circles and other
ceremonial remains which, together, provide a detailed insight into life in
the Bronze Age. Also of importance is the well preserved and often visible
relationship between the remains of earlier and later periods since this
provides an insight into successive changes in land use through time.
A large number of the prehistoric sites on the moors, because of their rarity
in a national context, excellent state of preservation and inter-connections,
will be identified as nationally important.

Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one
another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone
cleared from the surrounding land surface to improve its use for agriculture
and on occasions their distribution pattern can be seen to define field plots.
Occasionally, some of the cairns were used for funerary purposes although
without excavation it is difficult to determine which cairns contain burials.
Clearance cairns were constructed from the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC)
although the majority date from the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). Cairnfields can
also retain information concerning the development of land use and
agricultural practices as well as the diversity of beliefs and social
organisation during the prehistoric period.

The cairnfield and field system on Eaglestone Flat, 100m south west of Eagle
Stone, survives reasonably well and appears to retain evidence for burial as
well as agriculture. It will contribute to our understanding of prehistoric
settlement and land use in this area of moorland.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in Bronze Age Remains on the East Moors of the Peak District, (1986), 43-4
Barnatt, J W, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in Bronze Age Remains on the East Moors of the Peak District, (1986), 43-4

Source: Historic England