 View of the circle, looking west from the cairn |
Doll
Tor is a wonderful stone
circle and cairn
that is 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 6 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.
Heathcote re-excavated between 1931-1934 and discovered 5 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. It was found
to consist of a central rectangular stone grave pit which contained a female cremation
along with a segmented faience
bead, with 4 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 it's original Bronze Age condition. |
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Map of the site from the 1930's
excavation