This circle is now lost ( enclosure and forestation ) but once stood on Matlock Moor. It was noted by Rooke in the late 1700’s and by Pegge a few years later. There have been many grid references put forward for the circle, it is now thought to have been SK309639, although John Barnatt has the site further South in Cuckoostone Dale SK305620.
The circle was 25ft in diameter and was thought to have 9 stones originally. One of them being over 7ft tall.
The larger caves are located on the North side (the South side is in Nottinghamshire).
Mother Grundys Parlour where flints and split bones have been found.
The Pin Hole which had a bone with a carved human figure and
Robin Hood’s Cave which also contained engraved bones.
Creswell Crags has around 24 caves and shelters in the steep sided limestone crags. They can only be viewed through the iron gates in the mouth of the cave. Finds suggest the caves were in use periodically from 43,000BC through to medieval times.
It is like a little lost world down by the lake/stream that runs through the crags....only spoilt by the sewage farm between the crags and the visitors centre.....
11/03/03
I visited here again in March and was surprised to see the sewage farm had gone! Re-placed by a picnic looking area. It certainly makes a difference not having to walk past the sewage beds to the crags.....alot kinder on the nose too.
When Rooke came here in the 1780’s he reported that 250ft to the NW of the circle there was what appeared to be a recumbent stone. He said it had what he thought to be a socket, and the stone was not buried as deeply as the natural stones.
The recumbent stone is still visible in the field, although there is no access to the field, therefore the stone.
The neolithic oval barrow according to J.Barnatt was probably used symbolically somehow, no burials were found in the mound.
Excavations did show it’s complex construction. Four mounds of red clay are covered by burnt layers of bone, flint and hazel twigs. And then covered with earth and stones.
Dating Carl Wark has proved to be a bit of a problem. The Dark Ages, Roman down to the Neolithic have all been suggested.
It’s boulder strewn interior has been likened to those at Gardom’s Edge and Cratcliffe Hillfort which have also been suggested to date back to the Neolithic.
No major excavation of the site has taken place.
The interior of the cairn when excavated had several rock cut pits, that contained burials. The largest of these pits 5ftx6ft was over 6ft deep with vertical sides. It’s thought the pit was created by pounding the bedrock with stones.
This cairn like the Raven Tor triple cairn and Hob Hurst’s House had a thick layer of white sand beneath the cairn. The sand was man-made from ground rock, probably from the rock cut pit.
When the triple cairn was excavated at the end of the 60’s, two of the cairns had thick layer of white/pale sand covering the burial ( one of the three cairns is thought to have been added later ). The oval cairn/barrow on Harland Edge and Hob Hurst’s House also had the same deposits of this sand, which was man made by grinding stones.
Only 2 other Derbyshire cairns have this deposit and are located on Stanton Moor.
When the excavation started it looked like the cairn had been illegally dug. Bones and ash were found scattered over a largish area. A ‘Boots’ carriar bag hidden under a stone was found to contain pottery sherds and large pieces of bone.
Maybe 30ft away from the cairn, there is a rectangular setting of kerb stones. 10x5ft.
Thought to be a later burial than the triple cairn.
The interior of the circle is very disturbed, with Rooke in the 1700’s, Bateman in the 1800’s and the Heathcotes in the 1940’s all digging this site.
Cremations, urns and pygmy cups were found on all occasions.
First noted by Bateman in April 1852, he excavated the same day....after digging the centre he found a grave with broken urns and ‘incense cups’.
On one of the entrance stones is a carved ‘56’. This was done by J.P Heathcote, as he mapped out the moor. The Notrhern circle is T61 and the Southern T43. Some of the cairns dotted across the moor still have a numbered stone.(T= Tumulus)
If your ever up here...check out the small chapel at the foot of the rocks. Built by Thomas Eyre in the 18C, the man thought to be responsible for the more modern carvings and rock shelters. On the small porch built on the side are carved stones and stone heads. These were found around the village and are believed to have come from a local Norman church, site of which is now lost.
At the foot of Cratcliffe Tor is a hermits cave which is thought to have been inhabited in medieval times. On the wall of the cave is a 4 foot carving of the crucificion.
In 1549 local records show a payment made to the hermit.... the cave is now behind a metal fence (altho’ the gate is always open) with yew trees either side of the entrance.
Worth a look.
When people started visiting the 9 Ladies on Midsummer and Halloween, a local vicar said ’ The only things the 9 Ladies have seen are, boys smoking and their elders fornicating ‘.
In J.P Heathcotes 1926 book on Stanton and Birchover. He says ’ according to Druidicial antiquarians ’ the Gorse Stone was the Gorsedd-dau, where the Druids spoke to the people from.
In 1980 Devonshire artist Kenneth Evans-Loude proposed cutting a Marilyn Monroe figure on the hill with the giant ( to satisfy his lust ) He got permission off the landowner, but the Arts Council wouldn’t give him the sponsorship.
Long after the settlement had been abandoned, the earthworks on the hill saw use as a fairground and as the venue for the 1873 Grand National.
First recorded in 1985 this stone is of uncertain status and could be a fairly recent rubbing post.
Big slab of limestone, clearly visible from road. O.S marked.