A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE 



area averages 160 ft. In each the curve of the rampart crest closely 

 accords to that of a circle, the deviations at Dove Holes rarely exceed- 

 ing 2 ft., but the outline of the central area is less regular. The present 

 average height of the rampart above the old surface level at Arborlow is 

 6 ft., and depth of the ditch 4 ft. 6 in., according to Mr. H. St. George 

 Gray, who carried out a number of excavations on the spot in 1901 and 

 1902 on behalf of the British Association. At Dove Holes these 

 measurements are somewhat less, but on the whole this circle, or rather 

 its remaining earthworks, are more symmetrical in plan and less dis- 

 turbed by the accidents of time. Arborlow has the advantage of still 

 retaining most of its original stones, but they are in a more or less re- 

 cumbent position. Of those which formed the inner circle (a few feet 

 within the inner brink of the ditch) about forty remain, the largest of 

 which is about 1 3 ft. long ; while near the centre of the enclosed area 

 are several still larger stones, the remains of a fallen megalithic structure 

 of some sort. All these stones are of the local limestone, rugged and 

 much weather-worn. There is little doubt that those of the circle, at 

 least, were once erect, and there are uncertain traditions that some were 

 still standing in the eighteenth century. 



As might be expected, the present shallow condition of the ditch is 

 in each case due to slipped soil from the banks, and silt. Mr. Gray 

 found that the original bottom at Arborlow was in the limestone, ex- 

 tremely irregular, and from 2 to 4 ft. below the present surface. At 

 Dove Holes, Mr. Salt, the writer and others recently cut a trench across 

 the ditch and found a similar irregular rocky bottom at a depth of from 

 2 to 3 ft. 6 in. ; and there were indications that the rocky surface had 

 been long exposed. These excavations have thrown little light upon the 

 age of these monuments. Mr. Gray found many implements and pieces 

 of flint in the filling of the former ditch, and the general conclusion 

 he and his colleagues came to, was that the circle was of late Neolithic 

 age. We also found at Dove Holes a few pieces of flint, one slightly 

 trimmed, and several potsherds of pre-historic character, the latter rest- 

 ing upon the old bottom. A more reliable gauge of the antiquity of 

 these monuments is furnished by the presence of a Bronze-age barrow 

 upon the rampart at Arborlow, and partly made of its materials. This 

 was successfully opened in 1848, when it was found to contain a cre- 

 mated interment accompanied by two small food vessels and other relics 

 in a cist. This shows that the period of the circle cannot be later than 

 the Bronze age. 



About 1,000 ft. to the west of Arborlow is a large bowl-shaped 

 barrow known as Gib Hill, about 1 5 ft. high, which according to the 

 older writers was connected with the circle by ' a serpentine rampire ' of 

 earth. Probably this was so, for a slight bank starts from the rampirt 

 of the circle on the south-west side, in a southerly direction, but is soon 

 lost, probably having been obliterated through cultivation. This great 

 mound was explored by Mr. Thomas Bateman in 1 848,' when he found that 



* Diggings, p. 1 7. 



182 



