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Fieldnotes by juamei

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Eldon Hill (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 8/1/12] I came up here in blanket mist, with visibility down to 40-50 metres, but I still found both definate barrows on top of the hill.

First the small "later" barrow to the East, clearly defined and reminiscent of some in the cairn fields in the more southern and eastern moors of the peaks. In the mist watch out for mine workings and just head to the high bit at the East end of the hill. Not worth the trip on its own I have to say, but worth seeing if you are up here.

Secondly I headed for the bigger barrow, keeping in mind it was on the only high point to the West, I tried to keep on the highest points and headed off into the gloom. Via an accidental detour halfway down the slope towards Eldon hole, I found the bigger barrow. This is another good sized barrow in the Northern peaks, of a similar size to Cow low, Lord's seat et al. The obligatory massive hole in the middle didn't disapoint, but the much more recent cairn on top was a sad sight for me. I presume because of the hole and maybe the quarry, walkers felt marking this point in the mist is necessary. To be fair to them, it certainly helps find it!

Via Eldon Hill enclosure I made the obligatory trip to Eldon Hole. A scary open wound into the centre of the earth, no wonder this hill was once called Elvedon Hill. This is definately an entranceway into the nether realm.

Access is across a few fields. I parked near the top of Winnets Pass which is a 40 minute trip to the top of the hill. You could probably park near Perryfoot and come at it from that direction. Stiles abound from either way, but its pretty firm under foot.

Chisworth (Cup Marked Stone)

[visited 27/11/2011] Relatively high effort to reward ratio this one, but worth it in my opinion. The stone is located within 5 paces off the bridleway and easy to spot. It is quite small and most of the cups are easy to work out despite being small themselves. Some would probably be classified as microcups if such a classifiaction were made.

It seems in a weird location, with nothing else within a mile or so apart from the Picking rods, though who knows what else is hidden on this high and barren place. Certainly there are walls which look very old up here (SK007907 ish for example), so I wouldn't be surprised if this plateau was farmed in the Bronze Age. The high grounds containing nearby barrows (Ludworth Intakes & Cown Edge) are visible, though I couldn't make out the barrows.

Access was ok, but very muddy and required me to cross 2 stiles. I parked near Pistol farm and headed along the tracks via Far Slack farm to the Bridle path which the stone is just off. A word of warning, I annoyed two "fierce" labradors at Far Slack farm who decided to chase me off their territory. As there was no owner in sight, I legged it to the stile at the bridle path. I'm sure they wouldn't have attacked, but caution seemed prudent. On the way back to the car I took the more direct footpath which was more uneven but quicker.

Ludworth Intakes (Cairn(s))

[visited 27/11/2011] Mangled and abused but still standing defiant in the corner of a field (or 3). Someone, presumably the combination of treasure hunters and excavators in the 18th century, have removed the centre of the cairn, but you can still get a sense of quite how large this beast was. The views to the North are worth the effort even if you didn't fancy seeing a cairn. Nice to know this lies on a boundary even now. Chisworth is probably visible if you had someone stood near it to pick it out.

Access is on a footpath from the nearest road to the South past Brown low and is over a stile or two. You'll also need to navigate a field of long horned cattle.

Brown Low (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 27/11/2011] I had conflicted thoughts about this one. On the one hand its a sad site, unvisitable as it's enclosed in a walled copse of trees, on the other, its well protected from the modern world and is unlike to suffer damage at any point except for tree roots. I walked as much of the wall as I was legally able, but there was no obvious way in for a sneak and I couldn't work out which house / farm I should approach to ask permission to visit. Maybe I'll be back for a closer look one day.

Access is from the other side of a barbed wire fence and wall and via a stile from the nearest road.

Gardom's Enclosure

[visited 2/10/11] Well I know it's just a big wall now and very hard to make out in places but I think this is my favourite monument on the edge. Carrying on past Three Men you eventually cross an obvious section of the wall arcing back towards you and going through the dry stone wall. Heading into the wood it's initially hard to find amongst the bracken, but with a bit of effort you can trace it's path.

When I heard about this place I immediately thought defence given how it it's superficially similar in layout to some hill forts. But upon inspection I seriously doubt that was ever the aim of this place. It feels much more like one of the enclosures, causewayed or otherwise down south. Defensively the higher edge behind would make much more sense.

Access is varied. A relatively easy walk to the parts exposed on the edge. Bracken and tree fighting to the bits in the woods.

Gardom's Edge (Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art)

[visited 2/10/11] I've seen the other replica of this stone in Sheffield museum and so I was extremely glad to find this ones surroundings were so nice. Just don't touch it else the illusion is shattered, which is a shame as I am wont to stroke rocks (away from any carvings obviously).

Its relationship to and siting outside of the neolithic enclosure is interesting. In fact, the whole of the edge looks to have been a ceremonial focus point for quite a long time.

Access is fairly easy after a mile or so along footpath to get to the top of the edge. In summer the way is hampered in the wood by all the bracken.

Gardoms Standing Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir)

[visited 2/10/11] This is an oddity, standing alone outside the neolithic enclosure, nowadays located in a small clearing in the woods. I spent a while here studying this gorgeous stone, enjoying the lovely hot October day.

Its lean is interesting given the theories about it being a crude sundial, certainly it seems deliberate. Though excavation would be needed to be sure. If true it gives a new perspective to other leaning stones in the UK.

Access is fairly easy after a mile or so along footpath to get to the top of the edge. In summer the way is hampered in the wood by all the bracken.

The Three Men of Gardoms (Cairn(s))

[visited 2/10/11] Well this its a great place to be buried. An almost archetypal location for some Neolithic chambered barrows shouting out to all and sundry that this land its occupied.

Of course there is previous little of that left on the ground. A mere outline under the 18th Century mounds of rocks, presumably made from the barrow stones.

Access is relatively easy if you continue from the Gardom's Ring Cairn. But the provisos for wheeled seekers there applies.

Gardom's Ring Cairn

[visited 2/10/11] This was a side thought for me, a visit purely on the way to the standing stone and the rock art. So I was surprised to find The Prehistoric Peak had an entry just for it. After I got here though I understood entirely, this thing its a brute. It's got a big diameter and a well defined bank together with several surviving stones feeling analogous to Barbrook II. This would have been worth the trip onto the edge all on its own.

Its position is slightly weird 100 yards further on and its views would have been increased dramatically. Instead it just looks out to Beeley Moor where Hob Hurst's house etc are. Interestingly it is completely out of site of barbrook which is on the other side of this hill.

Access is ok for a moderately healthy person but may be hard for wheels due to a stile and a thinish gate/opening. It is hard to spot in summer and if I hadn't been looking for it I wouldn't have seen it from the path. As you approach up hill you can just see a stone poking out of the bracken to the left of the silver birch.

Whaley Bridge Stone (Standing Stone / Menhir)

[visited 28/4/11] This is a pretty little stone located with cracking views. I was slightly surprised it wasn't bigger, but as with many "head of valley" stones, it is about waist height or so. If this were here just for the views, as FlopsyPete points out, it could have been sited less than 20 metres away and got much more. So, this is presumably here to be seen from the East, where it can be seen from a fair way away, possibly as a marker to a track towards the Goyt Valley.

Interestingly, it's shape as you face Eccles Pike reflects the Pike. Angles and lengths are not exact, but topologically they seem the same. Eccles Pike being a barrowless spine of a central hill surrounded by farmland and hills, all of which have barrows.

Access is a pleasant 1/2 mile walk along a bridleway then across a field up a medium slope from the Whaley to Disley higher road.

Kiln Knoll (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 28/4/11] This is one sorry mutilated cairn, but still recognisable as such. I presume this was robbed either for treasure or for stone years ago. As you can see from the photos, they took the very centre out and left just surrounding mounds.

In its day it would have been large and would have been a dominating presence across Furness Vale. The views stretch from the North West right round to the South East, 15-20 miles is probable on a good day. Manchester is certainly in sight now.

Access is 300 metres or so down a footpath from the Whaley to Chinley higher road.

Ladder Hill (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 20/3/11] What a lot of pain for what is actually a very easy to find site. For any future seekers, the site is to the North of long lane, so there really is no need to get right up on the top of the hill which is South of long lane. This sits in a very similar landscape position to Green Low, overlooking a clough to the left facing downwards and some way down from the top of the hill it sits on. As such I view them in a similar light.

A clear circle, but relatively small, any stones are mostly buried. I see this as a ring cairn ahead of the embanked circle classification, though they do have a tendency to meet in the middle! Great views looking North and definately worth a visit.

Access is not difficult in a small field next to a rocky track. I parked down in Horwich End and walked about a mile up hill to the site, but temporary parking might be possible at the end of long lane.

Roosdyche (Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork)

[visited 22/4/11] Widely accepted by academics as glacial but a vocal minority insist its man made and prehistoric, so I thought I'd have a walk about, over and round to see what I could see.

So er, this is not a hill fort at least not in any classic sense. I've been to a couple of the Peak forts and quite a few more in the rest of the country and not one looks like this. However, there are parts and hints which point to this being more than a glacial feature. I should say though, I am no expert on or amateur obsessive of glacial features...

I started on the Chapel road and headed for the new cricket pitch (nice and level). The end of the Roosdyche (henceforth known as RD) starts not long along the footpath, I followed it to the new cricket ground and then along the footpath which runs parallel to the RD (which is private property keep out!), up to the Northern end of RD. The overriding fact of walking this part is that the land to the West drops off and that the land to the East on the other side of RD from me, rises appreciably. A couple of peaks over the 5'8'' stone wall as I walked revealed no bank on the western side of RD, the land on the western side going up to the edge. These facts lead me to categorically believe any fort or defended enclosure cannot be to the West and so the conjectured map on here is wrong. Another discrepancy to hillfort normality is that the sometimes large undulations of the floor of RD do not follow the contours of the land and so are perhaps symptomatic of bedrock changes being reflected in the erosion caused by water.

However, I then continued the walk starting at the Northern end of RD heading east to Mosley Hall Farm, then past the old cricket pitch (on a slope), onto a sneaky 30 yards of RD, to the lane by the new cricket pitch, up the lane past Horwich House and Horwich Farm, then finally back down the road to my car by the Chapel road. This where the weirdness and hints of prehistory start.

As I crossed the RD I am sure you can detect a hint off a bank on the Eastern edge, though certainly not all the way along. Nothing sprung out at me until Mosley Hall Farm, there the track to the North East of the farm follows a ditch, then as you are given the option of the farm to the right, look left and what could be an earthworked rampart looks at you. Back at the RD, on the track that heads East past the new cricket ground, on the East side of RD, there is what seems to be the spitting image of a mutivalate hillfort entrance. Looking south through the barbed wire fence along Dingle Wood a bank ditch bank combo can be seen, but not accessed. East of Horwich house a track runs North to South, in a ditch. Finally on the West side of the road which heads South from Horwich Farm, a bank could be veering West back towards the Southern end of RD.

So, what's going on? Certainly any of the ditches and banks to the east of RD taken individually, with the exception of the possible entrance, could just be geology or sunken ways or all sorts of other later features. But taken together I think there is a real possibility, that this was enclosed at some point in the past. Issues would be geography and size. Frankly the high ground further west would be much more likely for a hillfort, even with Eccles pike looking over it. Size-wise, the area enclosed would be larger than (say) Maiden Castle, so this would be a massive enclosure. Another issue is that Castle Naze is only 2-3 miles to the South East and the peak's forts don't tend to be that densely located.

Personally, I think this could be a status symbol, a great and effectively undefendable folly, aimed to the North. Using the existing glacial RD to enhance the front which would be well protected whilst it's sides and back could be a small bank and palisade. It does lie on or near a tribal boundary and would be clearly visible from the North for several miles. It also sits on the Goyt, one of the major tributaries of the mersey.

Harrod Low (Long Barrow)

[visitedish 13/3/11] Apparently not much to see here, but as genuine earthern long barrows are rare in these parts, I headed over for a shufty. I only got as far as the field next door though. From there the barrow is clearly flattened from what it was but surviving and obvious as a raised bank in the field.

Then I met the friendly son of the farmer who owns the land and was politely told I was off the footpath and I should ask permission from the farm if I want to see the barrow close up...

Access is either across fields from sparrow pit or via Harrat Grange farm which is within clear site of the barrow. *whistles*

Gautries Hill (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 13/3/11] My overriding thought as I reached the summit of Gautries hill was how small the hill was to merit a cairn on its top. I guess being one of the northern most of the limestone hills was enough. Great views in all directions but the North where the looming hills of Dark Peak are starting to form.

Another reason for placement was presumably the fact you could have seen Harrod Low and perryfoot from up here.

The cairn itself is well formed and small befitting perhaps the small hill, but obviously worked over by an antiquarian or two. Definitely make the effort to pop up here is you are visiting Harrod Low.

Access is across a few fields from Sparrow pit, through a bit of mined wood and then up a (dare I say it again) small hill.

Lady Low (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 20/2/11] This is in better nick than its near neighbour, Cow Low, presumably due to the additional effort required to get up to the ridge top. It does have a big chunk missing however so has been had at. The snow was a foot deep in places and its fair old bitter up here in winter but I'd say this was worth the effort. However I could only see 50 metres or so due to the mist, so the panorama sometimes on offer didn't open up for me.

Access is over a gate and up a steep field so probably not for the unfit unless they have a while. Its on open access land.

Cow Low (Round Barrow(s))

[visited 20/2/11] Not much to see here but worth a look if you are trawling the peak barrows. Its quite denuded now and has obviously been hacked apart presumably by treasure seekers in times past. Some stones are visible poking out the top. I came up in the deep mist with snow on the ground so saw very little of the surrounding cast, but should have a clear view down to the Bullring and several hilltop barrrows to the east.

Access is up a field from the nearest road. This is on private property and permission should be sought from the farm at the end of the track.

Green Low (Ring Cairn)

[visited jan 2011] As the current holder of the dubious title "closest site to my house", I've been eyeing this up for a while. Stupidly I failed (again) to read tma before hand and completely missed the other smaller circle nearby. This one though was plenty for the effort, the view alone meaning I'll be back here in the summer for a picnic.

Its a weird site and I can see why opinion had been divided over the years. Personally I'd say ring cairn, but it is reminiscent of the disc barrows in Dorset in that with not too much work it would be a small henge. Saying that the bank is very small in comparison to the larger disc barrows. Also what's with the bit in the middle?

Plus, its large for a ring cairn, so large in fact as stu says, it would be the best in the peaks. I can't recall any stone walls about, but in my mind there is a real possibility this was an embanked circle and the stones have been pinched.

Access is ok. I picked seemingly the easiest route starting from the chapel to castleton road where there is a large layby by the bridle path. Walk along the path for 15-20 mins or so then its a 30m scramble up the slope to the site.

Perryfoot (Long Barrow)

[visited jan 2011] This is a weird melange of an earthwork added to by the somewhat surreal landscape immediately behind it of what's left of eldon hill. The focus seems however to be to the west and south as that is where the landscape opens up.

According to the HER this is a bronze age round barrow on top of a neolithic long barrow. Both are obvious upon inspection, the long barrow very denuded, the round barrow somewhat damaged presumably by excavations in the 18th and 19th century. Without guidance though this could be a round barrow simply spread out in one direction. The round barrow is large and I saw a few larger stones poking through on top, presumably from the two cists which were found in the 19th century.

The barrows themselves seem similar to the injected barrows at various henges about the land including the one at Arbor Low. A new religion interposing itself onto the old perhaps.

Access is over a stile, through a gate and easily accessibly from the nearest road along a muddy track/footpath.

Bamford Moor South (Stone Circle)

[visited 6/11/10] This is a delight, especially in the late autumn sun casting long shadows with the pheasants adding a symphony of noise about me. I was released from my own nest for a few hours out to enjoy for my birthday and picked this as it fulfilled 3 main criteria; away from the masses, still in very good nick and, unlike most now in the peaks, it was new to me. I've been to Seven Stones of Hordron Edge a couple of times but hadn't realised anything else this good was on the same moor. Really should finish reading through "Stone Circles of the Peaks"! Next up for me on here is a nice long walk taking in this, Seven Stones of Hordron Edge with hopefully Moscar Moor and Bamford Moor North as well.

Access is across wet peat bog and up a moderately steep hill, without decent paths. Many many thanks to Postman without whose instructions, I would no doubt still be struggling to find this delightful little circle. For anyone else following the instructions, two amendments may be helpful; firstly after crossing the stream follow the trees up the hill and secondly head in a North-North-Easterly direction from the modern stone, not North east as stated...
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