Details

The monument includes a prehistoric ring cairn standing at the northern end of
a small cairnfield. Together, they are interpreted as evidence for both
ritual and agricultural activity during the Bronze Age.

The ring cairn stands at the northern end of an area of cleared ground in
otherwise stony moorland located to the north of a gritstone escarpment.
It measures approximately 17.5m in diameter externally and comprises a bank of
stone and turf with a level interior. The bank stands approximately 0.5m-0.6m
high and is 2.5m wide, leaving an internal diameter of approximately 12.5m.
The southern half of the structure is complete whereas the northern end has
been damaged in places by braids of a now disused hollow way. The extreme
northern end of the ring cairn has been truncated by a particularly deep
hollow way. There is no sign of an original entrance although such may have
been utilised by one or more braids of the hollow way.

To the south, east and west of the ring cairn stand at least five small cairns
of about 2m in diameter or less, most of which appear to be undisturbed.
Further cairns may be masked by thick heather. The cairns occupy a slight
ridge of stone-cleared ground which stands in marked contrast to its
surroundings. A well-defined edge to the cleared area is visible to the west
of the cairnfield indicating that the eastern end of the ridge was utilised
for agricultural purposes.

The remains are interpreted as evidence for Bronze Age settlement and
agriculture with the ring cairn used for ceremonial purposes. Further evidence
for prehistoric settlement exists on the same moorlands, separated from the
cairnfield by areas of boggy ground.

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.

A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual monument comprising a circular bank of
stones up to 20m in diameter surrounding a hollow central area. The bank
may be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small
uprights or laid boulders. Ring cairns are found mainly in upland areas and
sometimes occur in pairs or small groups. Occasionally they lie within round
barrow cemeteries and are monuments of Early and Middle Bronze Age date. The
exact nature of the rituals concerned is not fully understood but excavation
has revealed pits, some containing burials and others containing charcoal and
pottery, taken to indicate feasting associated with the burial ritual. As a
relatively rare class of monument, exhibiting considerable variation in form,
all positively identified examples retaining significant archaeological
deposits are considered worthy of protection.

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 ring cairn and cairnfield on Eaglestone Flat, 270m east of Eagle Stone,
are reasonably well preserved, despite some disturbance by later hollow ways
and provide evidence for both ritual and agricultural activity. Together, the
remains will contribute to our understanding of prehistoric agriculture and
settlement on the gritstone moors of the Peak District.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, 'Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society' in Excavation Of A Bronze Age Unenclosed Cemetery 1989-1990, , Vol. 60, (1994), 356-8
Barnatt, J W, 'Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society' in Excavation Of A Bronze Age Unenclosed Cemetery 1989-1990, , Vol. 60, (1994), 356-8
Barnatt, J W, 'Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society' in Excavation Of A Bronze Age Unenclosed Cemetery 1989-1990, , Vol. 60, (1994), 356-8
Barnatt, J W, 'Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society' in Excavation Of A Bronze Age Unenclosed Cemetery 1989-1990, , Vol. 60, (1994), 356-8
Other
Sidebottom, PC, A Ringcairn and Cairnfield on Eaglestone Flat, 1998, unpublished survey notes
Sidebottom, PC, A Ringcairn and Cairnfield on Eaglestone Flat, 1998, unpublished survey notes

Source: Historic England