More information : [SK 2874 6923] Hob Hurst's House [T.I] Tumulus [O.E.] (1)
A cairn called Hob Hurst's House on the highest part of Baslow Moor, about 11 yards diameter and 4 ft. high with a ditch and an external bank of 22 yards diameter was excavated 3.6.1853.
A rectangular cist 10 ft. 3 ins by 9 ft. contained a cremation deposit in one corner within a semi-circle of stones and a few more
burnt bones near the north end. (2)
Chambered barrow. Scheduled. In the Charge of the Minister. (3)
The remains are much mutilated by excavations, but are
predominately of earth. Resurveyed at 1/2500. (4)
Additional references. (5,6)
The monument includes a roughly square gritstone cairn measuring 8m by 7.5m and 0.9m high, incorporating a central cist comprising 13 contiguous gritstone orthostats which form a rectangular box-like structure measuring 3m by 2m internally. Surrounding the cairn is a rock-cut ditch 3m wide enclosed by a bank 3-4m wide and 1m deep. Both bank and ditch are rectangular in plan with rounded corners. Erosion on the south side of the central cairn has revealed a retaining wall around its outer edge.
Hob's House is an unconventinal form, being roughly square instead of circular, and containing unconventional features such as the cist and retaining wall. It most closely resembles a saucer barrow but is well outside the main distribution area of this class of monument, in Wessex. (7)
A condition survey carried out in 1994 gives a "snapshot" of the condition of the site at that time. It found that previous conservation work undertaken in 1988 had successfully stabilised the site. (8)
Source 9 includes a brief accessible description of the site for visitors. The site is situated off an unclassified road off the B5057 9 miles west of Chesterfield. (9) |