The Derbyshire and Peak District NMP was carried out in conjunction with Archaeological Research Services Ltd, with funding through the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF). The survey aimed to produce outputs which would assist and improve the management of pressures on the historic environment caused by past, present and future extraction of aggregates in the area.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND AGGREGATES
Derbyshire, including the Peak District National Park, is the most heavily quarried area of the British Isles, due to its rich mineral resources including sand and gravel, Carboniferous Limestone, Millstone Grit and sandstone. In the past the area also saw the intense extraction of lead and fluorspars.
The survey produced varying results, spread over a number of differing landscapes within the county. A total of 77% of the records added to the National Monuments record (NMR) were new sites. The mapped features ranged from the Neolithic period to 20th-century military activity.
In the valleys of the Rivers Trent and Dove extremely complex multi-phased cropmarks were transcribed in detail showing activity from different eras, such as the Potlock and Aston Neolithic cursus and potential Iron Age and Roman settlements.
A HILLFORT EXAMINED
Situated in the heart of the Peak District is Finn Cop Hillfort, overlooking Monsal Dale. Examination of the site through aerial photographs not only aided the recording of post medieval quarrying and damage to the fort, but added considerably to the monument itself, revealing the previously unknown western rampart.
Subsequent projects conducted by Archaeological Research Services Ltd, in conjunction with the Longstone Local History Group funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, produced a detailed field survey and gave the opportunity for excavation of the site. The results have been very rewarding - more details of the post-NMP activities can be found here.
The images used on this page are copyright English Heritage unless specified otherwise. For further details of any photographs or other images and for copies of these, or the plans and reports related to the project please contact the NMR English Heritage's public archive.
For further information on a project or any other aspect of the work of the Aerial Survey team please contact us via email using the link above.
