A recent Time Team programme reports an excavation on Farley Moor north of Matlock, where a single standing stone is thought to have possibly been part of a larger Bronze Age site. The researchers were able to date the site to 3,700 years ago, on the strength of radio carbon dating of charcoal fragments. But what is not clear is whether other stones in the vicinity were part of the monument or just erratic boulders. The stone is in a recent clearing in the Forestry Commission’s Farley Wood, which was planted about 50 years ago. One significant discovery was that below the stone there is a natural spring, so that the stone could have been a marker of this useful source, which might have been more significant when the water table was higher.

Although a good number of stone circles have survived in the Peak District, there is evidence that others have been lost, either through stone robbery or deliberate destruction by landowners who felt they were pagan symbols. However, it does not follow that every standing stone was part of a circle. Others were simply waymarks, such as the stone above Wirksworth on the route of the Portway. It is difficult to imagine the landscape in this area before the conifers were planted, but the ‘Moor’ name suggests an open and fairly treeless area in which a waymark would have been valued, especially if it also marked a spring. There was an ancient route which crossed the Derwent at Darley Bridge and headed up the hillside towards Chesterfield – was this connected?

Despite centuries of speculation we really have no idea of the purpose or use of stone circles. Theories range from astronomical temples to assertions of tribal land ownership. Whether the Farley Moor stone is a circle or a solitary waymark, it is curious that in the vicinity are other named stones, such as The Cuckoo Stone on Matlock golf course or the Wire Stone half a mile to the north. While these both appear to be natural rock outcrops, the fact that they are named suggests that traditionally they were important landscapes features.

See: Youtube/ Time team/ Farley Moor