Archaeology

Castleton’s Iron Age Stone Head

11th April 2018 by

*Head on display in Castleton Museum at the Visitor Centre*

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.

*Head found set into a garden wall in 1970s (S. Hampton)*

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.

The Mystery Palstave

21st February 2018 by

A strange object was discovered in this landscape, near to Rainster Rocks, Brassington. It’s known as a ‘palstave’, a form of bronze age axe, 3,500-3,000 years old. Palstaves are usually made from bronze, but this one has been cast in lead. This heavy, soft material makes a very poor cutting tool. So why was it made?

[Read more…] about The Mystery Palstave

Crowdecote – site of a lost castle?

12th February 2018 by

There’s not much visible today, but you might be standing close to the site of a Medieval motte (a mound forming the site of a castle). The objects below are recorded as being from “the site of an ancient mansion, Castle Field, Crowdecote”.

Silver short-cross penny, Henry III, 1216-1247 – DERSB : 1979.1743

Crowdecote is nearby to Pilsbury Castle, which is well documented and still visible today in the form of earthworks. It controlled an important crossing point over the River Dove. But did Crowdecote also have a fortified crossing?

The artifacts above were originally in the collections of local antiquarian, Micah Salt, whose activities and collections were recorded in a series of publications by W Turner, who wrote in 1903:

At Crowdicote, near Hartington, there are remains of foundations of an old castle. A passage like a cave had been made under them. In it were found, about twenty years ago, a number of relics … The cottages near the spot are partly built of sandstone, evidently from the ruins

The Stones of Navio

12th February 2018 by

You are standing within Navio, a Roman Fort established in 80CE. Nearby you should be able to see a pile of gritstone slabs sitting within a hollow – the remains of an underground chamber that sat below the Principia (headquarters building). When the chamber was excavated in 1903 large stone objects were discovered.

The Centurial Stone records the rebuilding of Navio in around 158CE. The Latin inscription translates as:

For the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Father of his country, the 1st cohort of Aquitanians under Julius Verus, the Emperor’s Praetorian Legate in the charge of Capitonius […]scus, prefect, built this.

The first fort had been built from earth and timber, but was abandoned after only around 45 years. The region had been conquered and more troops were needed further north. This stone records the re-establishment of Navio, possibly following a local revolt. This time more of the fort was built in stone, including the Principia with its underground vault. The soldiers came from Aquitaine, in what is now southwestern France.

[Read more…] about The Stones of Navio

The Beeston Tor Hoard

2nd February 2018 by Leave a Comment

What is Beeston Tor, what was found there and who found it?

Beeston Tor is a limestone cliff located in Staffordshire, overlooking the River Hamps and River Manifold, famous for its caves and very popular among rock climbers. The hoard, consisting of Anglo-Saxon coins and jewelry, was discovered in 1924 by Rev. George H Wilson. Most of the coins were of Burgred (King of Mercia 852-888 CE) and Alfred the Great (King of Wessex 849-899 CE), which dated the hoards deposition to circa 875 CE, perhaps associating its concealment with the purpose of protecting it from the Viking army wintering at nearby Repton in 873/4 CE.

Beeston Tor and Manifold River (Taken from ‘Some Caves and Crags of Peakland’ by G H Wilson)

Wilson wrote about his findings on Some Caves and Crags of Peakland and Cave Hunting Holidays in Peakland, which contain sections on the famous discoveries he made at Beeston Tor. Specifically, a large gold finger ring and two silver brooches. Other interesting items discovered there include two plain copper alloy wire finger-rings, along with various fragments and strap ends. [Read more…] about The Beeston Tor Hoard

Benty Grange

31st January 2018 by Leave a Comment

Pause in this field and look south over the nearby dry stone wall. About 150 metres away, beyond the next field, is Benty Grange, an Anglo-Saxon barrow. The barrow itself is on private land and this is one of the closest public footpaths.

In the Anglo-Saxon period, the Peak District lay on the northern edge of the kingdom of Mercia. Its people are recorded in Anglo-Saxon documents as the Pecsaete. The high status burial found in the Benty Grange barrow shows the power and wealth of their leaders, so the finds from the site are all grave goods.

Helmet found at Benty Grange barrow © Museums Sheffield.

The barrow today still has its surrounding ditch and bank. The ditch runs around the whole mound. The outer bank has a steep inside edge and a gentler slope on the outside edge, but has unfortunately suffered from plough damage.

[Read more…] about Benty Grange

Archaeology

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