Stanton Moor is a small upland area in the Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

 Peak District

Peak District

The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....

 of central and northern England, lying between Matlock and Bakewell

Bakewell

Bakewell is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, deriving its name from 'Beadeca's Well'. It is the only town included in the Peak District National Park, and is well known for the local confection Bakewell Pudding...

 near the villages of Birchover

Birchover

Birchover is a village and civil parish in the Peak District National Park, in Derbyshire, England. It is about five miles north-west of Matlock, and according to the 2001 UK census had a population of 362...

 and Stanton-in-Peak. It is known for its megalith

Megalith

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...

s and erratics

Glacial erratic

A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...

.

Archaeology

Stanton Moor is one of the jewels of the Peak District. It is important to many people for many reasons:

• it is rich in archaeological remains, particularly of the Bronze Age
  Bronze Age
  The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
  
   but from other periods too
• it has a diverse ecology
• is an important landscape with views out over gritstone moors, river valleys and limestone fields
• it is an important spiritual and aesthetic resource, as well as a leisure opportunity for many people
• it is an agricultural landscape with productive quarries around its periphery

The moor

Moorland

Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...

 has four Bronze Age stone circle

Stone circle

A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....

s, of which the best known is Nine Ladies

Nine Ladies

Nine Ladies is a Bronze Age stone circle located on Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, England. Part of the Peak District National Park, the site is owned by English Heritage and is often visited by tourists and hill walkers...

. To its north lies "Stanton Moor I" (the "North Circle"), and to its south are "Stanton Moor III" (the "Central Circle") and "Stanton Moor IV" (the "South Circle"). These other circles are largely overgrown and have few remaining stones. A further circle, Doll Tor

Doll Tor

Doll Tor, occasionally known as the Six Stones, is a small stone circle near Birchover, west of Stanton Moor in the Derbyshire Peak District. Dating from the Bronze Age, the circle consists of six standing stones....

, lies a short distance west of the moor.

English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 has recently commissioned a conservation plan from the Peak District National Park Authority (see references below). The Stanton Moor Conservation Plan is intended to be used to resolve the often conflicting requirements of all those who have an interest in the Moor.

The Plan examines what the Moor contains, how important those elements are and what they mean to the wide range of people who have an interest in the Moor. It then proposes a series of policies designed to try and resolve the many and varied issues that exist.

The big task now will be implementing the Plan and for that we are all looking to set up significant partnerships that will see sustainable management of the Moor in future, to achieve a marked improvement in the condition of the all the elements that people hold dear.

Geology

Elsewhere on the moor lie a number of cairn

Cairn

Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...

s. Several major erratics are found around its edge. From north, clockwise, these are the Duke of York

Duke of York

The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...

 Stone (in which the legend "Y 1826" is carved), the Cat Stone, the Duchess of Sutherland Stone, the Gorse Stone, the Heart Stone, the Cork Stone and the Andle Stone.

The moor's sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 has been quarried

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 for many years, and has left several old dormant quarries around the moor. Recent attempts to re-open dormant quarries failed after much local and national protest.

Also

On the eastern edge of the moor is the Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, KG, PC , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. A member of the Whig Party, he backed significant reform of the British government and was among the...

 Tower, built by William Pole Thornhill

William Pole Thornhill

William Pole Thornhill was a British Whig and then Liberal Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1853 to 1865....

 and dedicated to the Reform Act 1832

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

.

On the north side of the moor is a large TV transmitter which broadcasts to Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 and Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. It has recently been upgraded with the new tetra

Terrestrial Trunked Radio

Terrestrial Trunked Radio is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification...

police radio antenna. http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/stanton-moor.asp