You are standing near the place where this stone head was found in a garden wall in the 1970s. Although it is not possible to be sure that this head dates from the Iron Age, it has many features associated with Iron Age stone heads including a simple form, flat face and nose, lentoid eyes, abstract features and a lack of facial expression. Another characteristic is the flattened head, possibly for the placement of votive offerings.
The Russet Well, which is in a private garden nearby, produces clear spring water that discharges into Peaks Hole Water. Our stone head may have formed part of a shrine where Iron Age farmers made offerings and sacrifices, perhaps as part of a springtime ritual. The Hope Valley is known to have been settled and farmed in the Iron Age, probably much earlier, and the imposing hillfort at Mam Tor originated in the late Bronze Age, around 1100 BC.