Details

The monument includes a round cairn situated in open moorland close to the
upper scarp of Wilfrey Edge and Howden Edge.

The monument comprises a large gritstone cairn enclosed within a kerb of
orthostatic (or edge-set) stones. The elevated location of the cairn provides
extensive views to the west, overlooking Little Cranberry Clough and Bull
Clough, both being minor tributaries of the Upper Derwent Valley. Precise
dimensions cannot be given for the cairn due to a thick layer of peat that
overlies the monument. However, the overlying peat does form a low mound
(measuring approximately 48m by 50m) and the entirety of the cairn and kerb is
believed to be contained within this mound. Small areas of the cairn and kerb
eroded out of the peat during 1989 and in subsequent years a survey and small
scale excavation were undertaken to examine these areas. During 1994 a barbed
and tanged arrowhead was recovered from the area of peat erosion. There are
no indications of other disturbance to the monument, the peat having preserved
the cairn from natural and human erosion and the attentions of antiquarian
excavators.

The location and physical characteristics of the monument are typical of a
funerary monument of early Bronze Age date. The monument is indicative of the
settlment and ceremonial use of the surrounding area during the Bronze Age.

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. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch.
Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the
modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are
the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provides
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative
of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

The round cairn 200m west of Margery Hill triangulation pillar survives in
excellent condition and is characteristic in form and location of its monument
type. The monument is very rare in being unexcavated, the majority of barrows
in the region having been subject to excavation by antiquarian collectors
during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The monument will retain substantial
information about its construction and date and will contain undisturbed
funerary remains. The blanket peat within which the cairn is situated may aid
the preservation of organic artefacts and will also provide important
environmental evidence from its period of construction.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Bevan, WJ, The Upper Derwent Archaeological Survey 1994-1997, (1998), 175
Reeves, P, Batchelor, D, An Evaluation Of a Cairn at Margery Hill (Peak National Park), (1994), 1-10
Reeves, P, Batchelor, D, An Evaluation Of a Cairn at Margery Hill (Peak National Park), (1994), 1-10
Reeves, P, Batchelor, D, An Evaluation Of a Cairn at Margery Hill (Peak National Park), (1994)

Source: Historic England