|
 Stile:
Cross the stile by the tree, and walk across the pasture, strewn with wild flowers.
 Spring:
Almost hidden by hawthorn and protected by a small stone wall, this intermittent
spring, discovered in the 20th century, feeds the mere just below it. It used
to provide water for grazing animals, far from the farm. There are often hares
and many birds around here.
 Ridge
and Furrow: This area bears evidence of medieval arable activity where farmers
ploughed in such a way as to form a substantial series of ridges and furrows,
lying in a North- South direction.
 Pre-historic
Farmsteads: this area of apparently random rocky ridges and stony outcrops
was once a collection of circular huts and enclosures. What looks natural at
ground level, once viewed on an arial photograph, takes on the distinct shape
of a man made settlement. Within an enclosure there are a number of clearance
cairns and a much damaged earthwork consisting of a flat platform enclosed by
a rough circular bank of earth and stones, approx. 17m x 15m. To the west are
a number of smaller enclosures relating to the main one. Down the bank are the
small terraces apparently the remains of 'Celtic' fields. (24)
 Earthworks:
Here is a substantial 'L' shaped bank with an additional 'D' shape attached.
A part of this was excavated in the late 1980s. Nineteen shards of pottery were
found, suggesting activity in the later prehistoric period continuing into the
Roman period. Present was Derbyshire ware, widely used locally in the 2nd century
AD. Fragments of cattle, sheep and goat bones were also found.
|
