Wonders of the Peak

Buxton Museum & Art Gallery

Natural History

Don Bramwell: The archaeological artist

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You should be able to see the large entrance of Thor’s Cave up on the craggy hillside to the south. There are many other small caves hidden away around here too. Many were excavated at some stage by the Peakland Archaeological Society, under the leadership of Don Bramwell.

When most people think about the work of Don Bramwell they think about science and archaeology. But there was also a creative side to his work – finds and excavations beautifully drawn and coloured, and notebooks full of doodles and sketches.

Below is his drawing of a bear skull found at nearby Elderbush Cave in the 1940s. You can see the precision he gave to these drawings and how invaluable his talent was to aid in the recording of these sites, at a time when it was much harder to get a perfectly clear image from a camera.

Sketch of a bear skull from Elderbush Cave, Don Bramwell. PAS Collection, Buxton Museum.
Bear skull from Elderbush Cave, photographed shortly after discovery. Now on display at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.

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The Brachiopods of Parkhouse Hill

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If you’ve managed to scramble up the steep sides of Parkhouse Hill, congratulations! You are standing on the remains of a reef attol, formed around 350 million years ago in the Lower Carboniferous. The hill still reflects the shape of the reef that formed it. If you look closely at the rocky outcrops you may find fossils of various sea creatures.

This site is now a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) so removing fossil material is forbidden. However, the collection of JW Jackson at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery contains many specimens from this site – and the collections helps us to understand what this reef would have been like when it sat in a warm, tropical sea.

Fossilised brachiopods from Parkhouse Hill, Spiriferida, JW Jackson Collection. DERSB : 15776

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Peak Discoveries

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In honour of our upcoming Finds Day on 10 March 2018, we’ve relaunched our Peak Discoveries challenge!

Have you ever found something amazing or mysterious while exploring the Peak District? Maybe you turned over a stone to find a fossil, or found some strange shaped flint in a mole hill? Maybe you were taking part in an archaeological dig, or maybe it was a chance find while walking? We want to hear your stories.

What did you find?

Where did you find it?

What happened to it?

Do you know what it is?

We’ll be sharing the most memorable discoveries through this website and the Pocket Wonders app. So keep your eyes peeled to see if yours is picked.

The collections at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery are full of artefacts discovered by local people. This tradition goes all the way back to foundation of the museum in the late 1800s. The advert above, from the early 1900s, encouraged local farmers to report their archaeological finds to the museum.

Click below to respond to the challenge and tell us what you found.

Why not come along to our Finds Day on 10 March 2018 to get your object identified and recorded?

If you want to find out more, need some advice, or are thinking about donating an object to the museum, please e-mail buxton.museum@derbyshire.gov.uk or call 01629 533540.

 

No laughing matter

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Discover ancient animals as you explore Hoe Grange Quarry

Among the many animal bones discovered at Hoe Grange were these strange objects.

Fossilised poo (coprolites) from ancient Hyaena, around 2cm accross

They are pieces of fossilised poo (known as coprolites), left behind by hyaenas around 120,000 years ago. Hyaena dropping are high in calcium and phosphate which increase the chance of becoming preserved. The presence of hyaenas at this site may have helped to build up the archaeological record. The pack may have been using local caves as dens, bringing back and dropping the remains of other animals for us to discover many years later.

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Peak Cavern

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 ‘Of the High Peak are seven wonders writ.                                                                                                                     Two fonts, two caves.                                                                                                                                              One pallace, mount and pit.’ 

Peak Cavern, also known as, “the devil’s arse” is considered a ‘wonder’ by Thomas Hobbes and Charles Cotton in their poems, De mirabilibus pecci and the Wonders of the Peak, which focus on the different attractions Derbyshire has to offer.

Castleton and the Peak Cavern, painted by John Webber in 1789

Charles Cotton states in his poem that Peak Cavern is a ‘village underground’ – referring to the fact rope-makers lived in the cave and often were the guides showing well-to-do tourist around the caves by candle light. As a result, guided tours around the cavern today include demonstrations of traditional rope making.

Despite, the poets’ amazement at the cave’s natural attributes, both Hobbes and Cotton engage with the folklore surrounding the cave, Hobbes associating it with ‘hell’ and Cotton with ‘Satan’.  This language exaggerates what was really like to visit these caves and had a lot more to do with dramatising the experience of travelling to Derbyshire.

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