Details

The monument includes a prehistoric round cairn situated within an area of
enclosed moorland. The cairn comprises a low grass-covered mound standing
within the saddle between the two crags of Crook Hill. This location provides
extensive views both east and west over the Derwent and Woodlands valleys and
incorporates direct line of sight to contemporary ceremonial monuments.

The cairn measures 6.5m by 6m and stands approximately 0.5m high. There are
minor disturbances to the centre and south side of the monument. However, the
majority of the monument remains intact and the cairn and underlying soil will
contain undisturbed archaeological information.

The location and physical characteristics of the cairn indicate that it is a
funerary monument and is Bronze Age in date. The cairn repesents a ceremonial
site and is associated with funerary and clearance cairns to the north west
and a stone circle or kerb-cairn to the north east. Together these monuments
provide substantial evidence for the Bronze Age settlement and ceremonial use
of the surrounding area.

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 as 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 dating to the Bronze Age
(c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or
multiple burials. These burials were placed within the mound in stone-lined
compartments called cists. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a
major visual 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.

The round cairn 430m west of Crookhill Farm remains largely intact and will
contain undisturbed archaeological information. The monument is also important
both because of its position in the landscape and in its association with
nearby contemporary remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J W, Crookhill Farm Hope Woodlands Archaeological Survey 1994, (1995), 10
Barnatt, J W, Crookhill Farm Hope Woodlands Archaeological Survey 1994, (1995), 10

Source: Historic England