Details

The monument includes the remains of a large complex of prehistoric funerary
cairns. The complex occupies a commanding position on the edge of an
escarpment overlooking extensive Bronze Age settlement evidence on Gibbet
Moor. Although disturbed, the stone kerb and edges of at least two adjoining
cairns survive, with indications that there may even be a third adjoining
structure now almost totally concealed by scattered surface stone. Although
stone has been removed from the cairn to construct an adjoining animal pen to
the north, a substantial amount of the complex appears to remain intact and is
likely to contain undisturbed archaeological remains. The cairn complex
measures about 15m across and stands 0.7m high, although its original diameter
of more than 17m can still be discerned.

The monument dates to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age and was used for
funerary and ceremonial purposes. It is likely to have been one of the
earliest structures built as part of the extensive prehistoric settlement of
these moorlands.

The remains of a drystone animal pen to the north of the cairn are excluded
from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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

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.

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments usually dating to the Bronze
Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or
multiple burials. These burials were sometimes placed within the mound in
stone-lined compartments called cists. Often occupying prominent locations,
cairns are a major visible element in the modern landscape. Their considerable
variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.

The cairn complex 780m south of Dalebrook House is important as a complex
structure of two or more conjoining cairns forming a ritual monument of the
earliest settlement phase of these moorlands.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, The Chatsworth Estate Historic Landscape Survey (Moorlands), (1998), 85-6
Barnatt, J W, The Chatsworth Estate Historic Landscape Survey (Moorlands), (1998), 85-6
Other
Barnatt, J W, Peak District Barrow Survey, 1989, unpublished survey
Barnatt, J W, Peak District Barrow Survey, 1989, unpublished survey

Source: Historic England