Padstone sleeper blocks and a cobbled surface belonging to the 1796 Peak Forest Tramway, Ashbourne Lane, Chapel-en-le-Frith. Photo credit Civic Heritage

Nice preservation of padstone sleeper blocks and a cobbled surface from the 1796 Peak Forest Tramway at Chapel-en-le-Frith, courtesy of Team Civic. Originally a horse- and gravity-powered tramway linking Dove Holes quarries to the Peak Forest Canal at Bugsworth Basin

#Derbyshire #Archaeology

A cartoon to illustrate Ellen Durbin's excellent Diggers' Forum article on the awkward disconnect, raised by @sarahmay1.bsky.social, between the impact of archaeology and the impact on archaeologists.
There'll be more from me in future issues of British Archaeology. 🏺

The finds that we got around to cleaning from our test pit trial day. Still finding whiteware 60cm down was a little annoying, but all adds to the story I suppose! Nice chunky Pancheon Ware sherds though!

Continuing this weekend to see if we can get to an older layer! #archaeology #derbyshire

Ok, it's coming! @buxtonfringe.bsky.social is in July and we have some talks for your delectation! First up we have @jpwarchaeology.bsky.social who will be giving us the lowdown on the Castles of Derbyshire on the 8th July. Tickets on sale now! Castles of Derbyshire.
tinyurl.com/5n7dh2pm

Map of the Peak District National Park, designated 13 April 1951

Happy birthday to the Peak District National Park, designated #otd 13 April 1951. Originally 555 square miles of moor and valley, the 'great north roof of England.' It would never have happened but for one woman... 1/4

A black and white aerial photograph of a large hill, with a bank and ditch circuit around the top. The near side has suffered heavily from landslips.

Mam Tor, viewed from the south east in 1975. Signs of occupation are visible, terraced into the slope away from the prevailing westerly. The A625 is just out shot at the bottom right - it closed four years later.

#HillfortsWednesday #Derbyshire

📷 Cambridge Air Photos CUCAP BWG84

This strange arrangement on Chatsworth Road in Chesterfield always makes me smile. Perhaps even more mysterious than its Neolithic stone counterparts as to why it's there! 😂

Old photograph of Farnah Hall, near Duffield in Derbyshire. © Unknown

25in OS Map from National Library of Scotland's website. Farnah Hall and The Moat are featured.

Google satellite image of the area around Farnah Hall and Champion Park.

LiDAR image created using data from DEFRA's website. The image shows the sides of the moat very clearly. The remains of Farnah Hall...not so much.

Trying to post some regular archaeological sites in #Derbyshire over on the Derbyshire Archaeological Society's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/groups/69721...). This site has captured my interest lately, so thought I'd share it here, too. Farnah Hall / Champion Park nr Duffield. #archaeology

A little information about the finds at Rykneld Square in Chesterfield! It was wonderful hearing about this at Derbyshire Archaeology Day at the Winding Wheel back in January www.chesterfield.gov.uk/latest-news/...

Historic Environment Records (HERs) | Historic England This is a brief guide to the wealth of information on archaeology and the historic built environment held in Historic Environment Records.

📢New film explaining what Historic Environment Records (HERs) are📢
If you ever wondered what HERs do, please watch and you will see why they matter so much for the heritage around us…..
🎥 historicengland.org.uk/advice/techn... 🎥

The famous crooked spire of St. Mary’s and All Saints Parish Church at Chesterfield in Derbyshire. The twisted effect was caused by the use of unseasoned wood during its construction in the mid-14th century. 📸 My own. #SteepleSaturday #Chesterfield #Derbyshire

If you want to find out how heritage is recorded by HERs such as@exmoornp.bsky.social , @northyorkmoors.org.uk , @derbyshirearch.bsky.social , @myworcester.bsky.social and
@ciosher.bsky.social watch out for a new film we are launching on Monday. #historicenvironmentrecords #historicengland #ALGAO

The homepage of Derbyshire Historic Environment Record's website. Reads 'Welcome to the Derbyshire Historic Environment Record', with an image of medieval cross slabs in All Saints' Church Bakewell. The HER menus read 'Home' 'Essentials' 'Explore' 'Links & Resources' 'Search' 'Map'

An image with the text 'HERs help us understand and enjoy where we live', showing a collage of historic environment images including maps and historic sites

There are over 80 Historic Environment Records in England, bringing together information about archaeology and heritage and helping people access trusted local knowledge for research and management. Explore your local HER at her.derbyshire.gov.uk

#Historicenvironmentrecords #Derbyshire #Archaeology

'The Wild Between' opens this Saturday at the Silk Museum in Macclesfield - with work by Iain Davidson, Ailsa Holland, Becca Smith and myself. 🪨 www.thesilkmuseum.co.uk/whats-on

@derbyshirearch.bsky.social @chesterarchsoc.bsky.social @staffsarch.bsky.social

#ScientificRambles #ThreeShires

Is #mapMonday still a thing..? Regardless - here's an interesting little spot just north of Bradwell in the #PeakDistrict along part of the Roman road heading from Buxton to the fort at Brough. Intrigued by the 'Site Of Eden Tree' ? @derbyshirearch.bsky.social (map from @natlibscot.bsky.social )

Call for Papers: BIRAG Conference 2026!

Join us in Cromford, Derbyshire (Sept 4-6) to investigate new interpretations of ancient art. Our own committee member, George, is part of this significant event!

Details: birag.co.uk
#RockArt #Archaeology #DeepHistory
#1902Committee (1/2)

The new Archaeology and Conservation in Derbyshire (ACID) magazine is out now! 🛠🏺💎

Read the annual round-up of archaeological highlights in #Derbyshire and the #PeakDistrict during 2025...

👉 http://bit.ly/ACID-mag

You can also pick up your free hardcopy from our National Park Centre in Bakewell.

Nine Ladies Stone Circle on Stanton Moor, Derbyshire from a visit on 22nd February last year 🪨❤️ #StandingStoneSunday

A rather mud-smeared stoneware jug, sitting on a brick wall, in the middle of an archaeological site. The writing on the jug reads 'Young's Botanic (Brewery), Derby'. Image credit Wessex Archaeology

#FindsFriday

Fresh out of the ground two years ago, at Castleward in Derby

An intact stoneware flagon from Young's Botanic Brewery, Derby. This company was active in late 19th-early 20th century, and specialised in these lovely stoneware containers. I wonder if there was any botanical beer inside?

The Milky Way and the Cork Stone, Stanton Moor, Peak District, Derbyshire.

#Photography

A muddy digital camera, showing a preview image of a rather ephemeral and puddle-filled archaeological feature, at Boulton Moor, Derby.

Muddy feature, muddy camera, muddy site

Spare a thought for field archaeologists today. Zero degrees, driving sleet, rain forecast every day for a week

Full disclosure - I'm sitting at a warm dining room table! But kudos (and 📸credit) to PCA on site at Boulton Moor, Derby

#Derbyshire #Archaeology

a two-tiered theatre filled with people sat down attending Derbyshire Archaeology Day at The Winding Wheel theatre in Chesterfield. Photo by me.

Landscape archaeologist David Went standing on stage pointing at a screen during his presentation at Derbyshire Archaeology Day. Photo by me.

A man with a beard and a flat cap sat in a theatre crowd holding a microphone during the Q&A section of a talk at Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026

Alex Cave from Derbyshire Records Office stood on a stage at Derbyshire Archaeology Day giving a talk about her archive project. Photo by me.

A few of my photos from a fab time at Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026 in Chesterfield. Full of fantastic talks, great archaeology chats between speakers, and the infamous Colin Merrony book stall! January 2027 seems a long way off! Maybe some sort of Summer heritage social is in order? #archaeology

PS if you are the gent who lent us a laser pointer when ours ran out of juice, and then left before we could return it, please do DM me and I will post it to you!

People browsing an archaeology book stall, Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026, 📸Derbyshire HER

View from above of the stalls at the Winding Wheel Theatre, Chesterfield - people sitting, standing, milling around and talking, waiting for the event to start. A stage and screen with image reading 'Happy 75th birthday, Peak District National Park' 📸Derbyshire HER

A very full circle at the Winding Wheel Theatre, Chesterfield, as people take their seats for Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026 📸Derbyshire HER

Anna Clark and Prof George Nash giving a presentation on new rock art at Rowtor Rocks, Birchover, Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026. A stage with lecterns, image on the screen reading 'The Deer Stone', rock engraving of a cervid 📸Derbyshire HER

Derbyshire Archaeology Day 2026 - what a great day on Saturday. A packed house, 8 diverse and fascinating talks, engaging speakers, informed and stimulating discussion and debate.

Thank you to all our speakers and to everyone who came - we couldn't do it without you.

#Derbyshire #Archaeology

Anchor Church caves, Foremark, Derbyshire, showing the caves cut into a sandstone cliff at the southern edge of the Trent floodplain, overlooking a palaeochannel (and, at the present moment, the active Swarkestone South gravel quarry). Image credit Prof Mark Horton

Anchor Church caves, Foremark, Derbyshire. The door and window shown are of Anglo-Saxon style and believed by Prof Ed Simons (Royal Agricultural University) to demonstrate an early date - perhaps 9th century - for the caves. Image credit Edmund Simons

The interior of the Anchor Church caves, Foremark, Derbyshire. The Anglo-Saxon or medieval hermitage was enlarged and altered during the 18th century to allow use as a picturesque dining room associated with Foremark Hall, with doorways widened to admit well-dressed ladies. Image credit Edmund Simons

The Anchor Church, Foremark - a former hermit's cave with possible Anglo-Saxon origins (there is a legendary link with St Eardwulf, a deposed Northumbrian king/hermit who died in 830). Later repurposed (18C) as a dining-room-with-a-view for Foremark Hall!

her.derbyshire.gov.uk/Monument/MDR...

Not a tiny fragment, nor a single sherd of pottery, but a full, voluminous Anglo-Saxon space from the 9th century at St Wystan’s in Repton, Derbyshire. The spiral columns - perhaps a memory of St Peter’s shrine. Holy air encased in stone. Betjeman’s words describe it perfectly.

A glass bead held between finger and thumb. The bead is a dark, almost black glass, with spiral decorations in a cream or white colour. Thought to be Late Iron Age or Roman, Boulton Moor, Derby. Image credit PCA Archaeology

Well hello there - literally fresh out of the ground on #FindsFriday

This lovely bead from the ongoing excavations by PCA at Boulton Moor, Derby. We think Late Iron Age or Roman, but specialist confirmation is awaited!

#Derbyshire #Archaeology

Cervid panel at Rowtor Rocks - head with antlers to left, body and legs to the right. There is a baby deer bottom right (not showing particularly well here). Possibly Mesolithic based on comparison with similar engravings in Scandinavia. Photo my own

Bovine engraving at Rowtor Rocks, thought to be an aurochs. The head is missing (top left), but the curve of the back flows left to right into the animal's tail, with the forelegs and hind legs visible in relief below. Photo - my own

The 'Rosetta Stone' at Rowtor Rocks, an unusually complex abstract rock art panel on a boulder, probably dating from the Early Bronze Age. A cross within concentric circles, surrounded by flames or petals, with cup and ring around. Photo: my own

At Rowtor Rocks to see new prehistoric rock art with Anna Clark and Prof George Nash, on one of the wettest mornings the Peak District could muster (yep that's wet)

You can find out more at Derbyshire Archaeology Day, last few tickets here: chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk/shows/derbys...

Stoke Flat: Froggatt Edge stone circle is set on a flat shelf, overlooking the picturesque Derwent Valley. Often referred to as Stoke Flat, the site is complex, though now sadly quite ruined.

Colour image of medieval ridge and furrow earthworks in Tissington today with a dusting of snow and bright sunshine.

The ridge and furrow at #Tissington was looking fantastic today. #Derbyshire #PeakDistrict #Medieval