 View of the circle, looking west from the cairn in 1999. |
 Doll
Tor is a wonderful small stone
circle and associated cairn that lies hidden beneath the dappled shade of a small wood (of much later
date) a short distance from the natural rock outcrop of the Andle Stone
and the circles and cairns of Stanton
Moor beyond. The tiny circle of six stones, with a diameter of around six metres surrounding a central leveled platform is unusual for this area as it has no bank, although the stones were once connected with a low drystone wall. The circle itself was first excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1852 who found bucket urns and small cups while Heathcote re-excavated between 1931-1934 and discovered five cremations and more urns. There were further discoveries in the low cairn that is built on to the eastern side of the circle incorporating one of the circle stones. This was found to consist of a central rectangular stone grave pit which contained a female cremation along with a segmented faience bead, with four other cremations having been placed round the inner edge of the stone bank before it was all eventually filled in to form the cairn. Sometime during 1993 somebody attempted to restore the circle and cairn, re-erecting some of the stones as well as bringing in others to replace missing ones. In 1994 an annoyed English Heritage and Peak National Park Authority restored Doll Tor to what is thought to be its original Bronze Age condition. |
Views of Doll Tor in the winter of 2010 - Click to enlarge
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