Minning Low Chambered Tomb and Barrows

Minning Low preserves a sequence of burial monuments on a prominent Derbyshire hilltop. Its large oval cairn contains several stone chambers, including surviving capstones, and developed through successive phases beginning in the Neolithic. Later prehistoric use extended into the early Bronze Age, while two nearby bowl barrows represent a further episode of burial activity. Thomas Bateman investigated the chambered monument in 1843 and 1851 and the round barrows in 1849. His finds included human remains, pottery and Roman coins, indicating that the older tomb had been disturbed long after its construction. Barry Marsden’s excavations in 1973–74 identified further evidence of the monument’s complex development and Roman reuse. The remaining chambers are therefore parts of an evolving burial place, not a single securely dated grave. Their association with the later barrows illustrates how communities returned to an already significant location over extended periods. Period: Neolithic tomb with Bronze Age barrows and later Roman disturbance Grid reference: SK 20935 57290 Protection: Scheduled monument Source: Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1009102 (Open Government Licence). © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Banner photo: "One of the chambered tombs on minning low with surviving capstone visible" by Beep boop beep, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.