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In 1691 the 'remarkable Ashover personality of later Stuart times', Leonard Wheatcroft, wrote in his autobiography "And in that yeare I bu(i)lde(d) the fabrick upon the top of Ashover Hill, upon which I made a song which you may find in my booke of poetry'. This records how on April 11 1689 Wheatcroft had lit a bonfire on the hilltop to celebrate the coronation of King William of Orange and Queen Mary Stuart and that he had decided to "bu(i)ld me up a fabrick, to behould each pleasant day". It was obviously intended as a kind of rustic folly or summer house where he and his friends could celebrate the Protestant Succession. We have some knowledge of the appearance of his 'Fabrick' as it was recorded on a plan and elevation by Hayman Rooke in 1784. This shows that the natural rock outcrop sloping from north-east to south-west had been built up with squared stone to create an oval tower-like structure measuring 9 ft by 6 ft. The top of the wall has the effect of being battlemented, but this may simply be the result of years of decay. An entrance was left at the south-east side and around the inside of the horseshoe-shaped wall was a continuous stone seat. The top of the rock seems to have been made up with earth or stones to form a flat but sloping floor, in the middle of which stood an oval stone 'table'. The sketch agrees with Wheatcroft's own description of the structure. "This fabrickes bu(i)lded like an ovall, 'tis neaither square nore loung nor round". He also mentioned that "in it there is but one doore". Whether it ever had a roof or any type of wooden superstructure is not clear but no trace of this artificial building now remains.
From the Derbyshire HER
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I wasn't aware of the wishing side of things to this outcrop.....
I remember it from raves in the Butts Quarry in the early 90's when we would set off across Ashover and up the hill to watch sunrise from here.....and maybe try to break into the cold war listening station that's buried 30ft away.
On the rocks that surround the Fabrick are also nicely carved animals such as ducks, dogs and a donkey.
Parking spots at the T-Junction at the top of the hill and the rock is a pleasant flat walk of a quarter of a mile away.
Nice one Rhiannon for adding it.
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The aim of this project is analyze the Bateman archive of manuscripts, correspondence, and drawings and to look at the archaeological objects from his collection largely located at Sheffield's Weston Park Museum.
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On the South Western doorstep of Minninglow the Roystone Rocks and the valley are a great place to explore.
There is so much interest here; in regards to TMA the barrows along the eastern edge of the valley are worth finding not for their remains
but their position and views over the Roystone Valley.
Much of what lies in the valley bottom dates to the Romano period, wall foundations, enclosures,house terraces right through to the foundations of a 13th Century grange and
excellent 13th Century stone walling.Along with todays working farm.
It's Roystone Rocks where the real interest lies. A small hiltop topped with a shattered limstone pavement with rocks that pertrude from the ground like rotten molars.
The rocks have been part excavated and part test pitted. Both Methods recovered a large amount of chert and flint tools and flakes dated to the Mesolithic. A hunting platform
has been identified on the rocks overlooking the western side, although I couldn't say where...on the western slopes are said to be Neolithic field plots, but once I again I couldn't tell from the natural.
All within Minninglow's shadow.
For a good read on the areas history try Richard Hodge's "Roystone Grange 6000years of a
Peakland Landscape"
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It is thought the barrow is one excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1851. He found it to contain a central limestone cist containing a pottery urn
inverted over the remains of a cremation and a burnt bone pin.
He discovered a second cist containing the crouched skeletons of two adults and two children accompanied by a food vessel and a number of flint implements.
An adult crouched burial was found close to this second cist and a further two burials of children by the central cist
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On the higher ground just to the south of Gibbet Moor North are a handful of cairns of various sizes.
Hard to say whether they are burial or clearance cairns...the stones of Gibbet Moor North aren't visible from them.
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