Arbor Low

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Arbor Low is a well-preserved Neolithic henge in the Derbyshire Peak District, England.<ref name="HistoricEngland">Template:NHLE</ref> It lies on a Carboniferous Limestone plateau known as the White Peak area. The monument consists of a stone circle surrounded by earthworks and a ditch.

DescriptionEdit

File:Arbor Low 8.jpg

Arbor Low Henge

The monument includes about 50 large limestone blocks, quarried from a local site, which form an egg-shaped circle. There were probably 41–43 stones originally, but some are now in fragments.<ref name="HistoricEngland"/> They range in size from Template:Convert, with monoliths of between Template:Convert.<ref name="HistoricEngland"/> One stone is partially upright; the rest are lying flat.<ref name="megalithic_portal" /> Although it is often stated that the stones have never stood upright, it is possible that they had originally been set upright in shallow stone holes.<ref name="pastscape">Template:PastScape</ref>

In the centre of the circle lie at least six smaller blocks known as the cove, originally believed to have been set in a rectangle.<ref name="HistoricEngland" />

The stones are surrounded by an earth bank, approximately Template:Convert at the outside edges and Template:Convert high, with an interior ditch about 2 metres deep and Template:Convert wide. There are two causeway entrances breaching both the bank and ditch; a north-west entrance Template:Convert wide, and a south-east entrance Template:Convert wide. The inner bank encloses an area of Template:Convert.<ref name="HistoricEngland" />

Few henge monuments in the British Isles are as well preserved.<ref name="HistoricEngland"/>

FindsEdit

Human skeletal remains were discovered close to the cove during excavations between 1901 and 1902. Other finds have included flint scrapers, arrowheads, and bone and antler tools.<ref name="HistoricEngland"/>

Surrounding landscapeEdit

A large Bronze Age round cairn or barrow was built later, to the east of the henge, using material taken from the earth bank. It was excavated in 1845 and found to contain a cremation burial, flint and bone artefacts, and two pots similar to Late Neolithic Peterborough ware<ref name="HistoricEngland"/> now in the care of Weston Park Museum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Arbor Low is part of a larger complex, and is linked by an earth ridge to the earlier Neolithic oval barrow of Gib Hill 320m away.<ref name="eh">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Construction and usageEdit

The bank and ditch of the henge, as well as its two entrances, were probably established in the Late Neolithic period, with the stones added later, sometime before 2000 BCE. The site seems to have been in use until the Bronze Age, when the outer bank was reconstructed so that the round barrow could be erected. Both the earthworks and the stoneworks are probably later than the nearby Gib Hill.<ref name="megalithic_portal" />

Statutory protectionEdit

File:VR heritage marker at Arbor Low henge, Derbyshire.jpg

One of the VR markers, indicating the Victorian area of statutory protection

Arbor Low was one of the first ancient monuments to be given statutory protection, on 18 August 1882.<ref name="HistoricEngland"/> Small stone markers engraved VR and GR (for Victoria Regina and Georgius Rex) still stand around the henge, demarcating the protected area. One of the VR stones, having been damaged, has been replaced by one bearing CR (for Charles Rex – meaning Charles III).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

AccessEdit

The henge stands on private farmland but is accessible to the public. As of September 2020, an entrance fee of £1 per adult is requested. Children can enter free of charge.