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Curbar Edge is a roughly southeast-northwest
gritstone outcrop that becomes Froggatt Edge towards its northern
end (see Froggatt Edge circle).
To the east is a flattish shelve of land underneath White Edge and
beyond is Big Moor, the location of the Barbrook group of stone
circles and cairns.
Curbar Edge also has its own collection of cairns and although some
of these are quite large they are mostly heather covered and blend
inconspicuously into the landscape. One cairn of note however is the one pictured above at SK25467561. Instead of standing to the east of the outcrop this one stands right on the edge looking westwards over the Derwent Valley and to the hills beyond. Built on a small promontory it survives as a flattened circle of grass covered boulders with an outer bank measuring about 18 metres by 15 metres with several large earthfast rocks within the central area as well as the remains of a cist with a leaning lid or cover stone. In the photograph above the bank can be seen extending across the bottom of the image round the right hand side and then back round across the middle of the picture. The site was excavated in 1913 by the Duke of Rutland when the cist was found to contain cremation remains and sherds of a type of pottery known as a food vessel, along with a flint scraper and a broken bronze knife. While most of the cairns in the area do not stand close to the Edge itself this one seems to be deliberately sited to take advantage of the views to the west and feels almost like a giant eagles nest perched on its rocky outcrop, these views were surely an important, if not the most important, reason why it was built here. Date: Bronze Age |
 Looking south across the centre of the cairn with the cist in the middle of the picture. |
