Doll Tor
Derbyshire

This ritual monument, located in Derbyshire, was used by people who lived and farmed on the surrounding land in the Bronze Age between 3000 and 4000 years ago. The stone circle was built around 2000 to 1500 BC. The standing stones were set at the edge of a platform which was probably designed to stage seasonal and family ceremonies. The rites relating to death left buried deposits. Cremation urns and other funerary goods were recovered from within the circle when it was almost completely excavated in the 1930's. Other ceremonies, such as seasonal celebrations, left no traces in the ground.

A low prehistoric cairn, with a central rectangular stone setting, was added at the eastern end of the circle. The design of this laid emphasis on death rites, and it contained further burials. A friend of ours reported at one time that the atmosphere there was not pleasant, but at a later date we found otherwise.