Details

The monument includes a small prehistoric stone circle set within an earthen
bank located on gently shelving land at the eastern edge of Eyam Moor.
The circle stands close to contemporary cairnfields and related monuments.
The monument consists of a small stone circle of four surviving
stones set in the inner edge of a sub-circular bank which measures 8m
by 7.5m internally. The embankment varies from 2m to 2.5m wide and its
external measurements are 13m by 12.5m. The surviving stones of the circle
range from 0.15m to 0.3m above ground. Its arrangement indicates that there
may have been originally nine stones if all were equally spaced. There is a
feature to the NNW of the bank which may have been an original entrance to the
monument. This type of monument is known as an embanked stone circle.
Within the circle of stones stands a small cairn of approximately 4.5m in
diameter which has a central depression, suggesting that it has been partially
excavated at an unknown date. A spread of rubble to its north is most likely
upcast from this disturbance.
The monument is interpreted as a Bronze Age stone circle of which a few
survive in the local region. The central cairn was most likely funerary in
purpose, forming part of a complex ceremonial monument.

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

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.

Stone circles are prehistoric monuments comprising upright or recumbent
stones. Burial cairns may be found close to and on occasion within the
circle. These monuments are found throughout England although they are
concentrated in western areas with particular clusters in upland regions.
Where excavated they have been found to date from the Late Neolithic to the
Middle Bronze Age (c.2,400-1,000 BC). We do not fully understand the uses for
which these monuments were originally constructed but it is clear that they
had considerable ritual importance for the societies that used them. In many
instances excavation has indicated that they provided a focus for burials and
the rituals that accompanied internment of the dead. Of the 250 or so examples
identified in England, over 100 of these are small stone circles of between
seven and 16 upright stones. As a rare monument type which provides an
important insight into prehistoric ritual activity, all surviving examples are
considered worthy of preservation.
The stone circle 340m south of Leam Hall Farm is well-preserved and is likely
to retain much information regarding prehistoric ritual activity. It is one of
a group of embanked stone circles found in the Peak District.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, 'Sheffield Arch. Monograph 1' in The Henges, Stone Circles and Ringcairns of the Peak District, (1990), 73-4

Source: Historic England