Archaeology

Reynard’s Cave

30th July 2018 by

Pause where you can see the natural arch of Reynard’s Cave. To find out how it formed we need to travel back to the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, when glacial meltwater swelled the Dove into a powerful torrent. Icy waters cut down through fissures and faults in the rock like a knife through butter. The vertical crags and pinnacles we can see from here are harder bands of limestone that the water could not cut through, but just how did these natural caves and arches form?

Reynard’s Cave © Beth via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Limestone has many joints and cracks. When acidic rainwater trickles into these joints, it dissolves and widens them into underground drainage systems, including tunnels, caves and caverns. As the river cut down through the limestone it intercepted some of these secret tunnels and caves, opening them up for the first time. Reynard’s Cave is the remnant of just such an old cavern, exposed as the Dove cut down through the limestone.

[Read more…] about Reynard’s Cave

Staden – The Medieval Long House

19th July 2018 by

During an excavation in 1989, Archaeologist Dr Makepeace discovered a medieval longhouse. Which was uncovered not far from the path that runs past Colt Croft that you may be on. The longhouse was approximately 5.5m wide and 22.5m long, making it a behemoth of a structure in a relatively uninhabited rural landscape. Longhouses provided a large horizontal living space for a large amount of people, albeit in close quarters; as well as additional loft storage space above for hay and grains to be kept over the winter months.

**Fragments of Medieval Pottery from Staden.**

The house is believed to be part of a medieval farming settlement. Archaeological and historical evidence allow us to date the long house to the early 12^th century AD. Pottery from the site such as the green glazed ware, were medieval in nature and matched this date period. The earliest written records state Staden as a farming settlement in 1101 AD.

Roman Staden

19th July 2018 by

The year is 110 AD, Trajan is emperor of Rome, Britain is well within the grip of the Roman Empire. In the Peak District the Romans flock to the small town of Aquae Arnemetiae, now modern Buxton, for the healing quality of its natural springs. On the outskirts a small farmstead is thriving on the limestone scarp of Staden.

Along the path leading to Colt Croft there were numerous paddocks, kilns, and small Roman houses. This was the Roman farm at Staden. To the rear of Colt Croft, further along the path, lie the Romano-British fields. This small slither of land was once an extremely fertile piece of farmland in an area of otherwise extremely acidic soil. They practiced mixed farming, meaning they produced both grains as well as herded cattle and occasionally hunted local deer.

[Read more…] about Roman Staden

Staden Low

19th July 2018 by

As you move along the trail across the Limestone outcrop of Staden, take a chance to look down the hillside. If you are lucky you may notice an outline of a circular structure amongst the lower fields, this is believed by some to be a Neolithic earthwork enclosure – this is Staden Low.

Standing at Staden Low, the view of the skyline of the surrounding hilly landscape is believed to have been highly significant to the Neolithic people. The earthwork may have been constructed as a place to observe the major lunar standstill in the 18.6 year cycle, and the Midsummer and Midwinter Solstices. Imagine yourself on a dark night, with no artificial light, only the stars above and a mystical moon hovering low over the rolling landscape of the Peak District. It would have truly been a sight to behold for the Neolithic people! Perhaps you’ll come back on a Lunar Solstice and see for yourself?

[Read more…] about Staden Low

Totley Moor – a shale-working site

29th May 2018 by

Totley Moor is a Bronze Age industrial production site that lies east of Nether Padley, in the Peak District National Park (grid reference SK 284 790).

The area has produced evidence for activity in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age. In the Bronze Age, shale-working took place on the moor at Flask Edge, where shale-bearing rock is visible at the surface.

There are public footpaths across Totley Moor, but no access to the site itself.

Survey

In 1959, fires cleared some of the vegetation from parts of Totley Moor. In 1960, Jeffrey Radley found a Bronze Age shale-working floor. On this floor were 20 shale bracelet fragments, and other worked pieces.

Shale or cannel coal is found in coal seams in North Derbyshire gritstone. It was also worked into rings and bracelets at Swine Sty, a shale-working site on Big Moor, near Baslow.

View across Totley Moor ©Museums Sheffield

Saxon Ruins in Bakewell

24th May 2018 by

Etching of Bakewell and the surrounding view. Date unknown. [DERSR: 41438]

The peaceful and picturesque market town of Bakewell sits along the River Wye and is the birth place of the famous ‘Bakewell Pudding’. Whilst there is a strong indication to support the presence of much earlier settlements, Bakewell was founded during the Anglo-Saxon period, along with neighbouring villages Tideswell and Eyam. An early variation of the name also appears in the Doomsday Book.

There is evidence of a Saxon church in Bakewell which dates to 920, but the present church dates to the twelfth century in a typical Norman style, of which only the front and west parts of the nave survive today. The rest of what you see before you now was built in the early thirteenth century, with an assortment of restoration taking place in the nineteenth century.

Archaeology

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