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A HISTORY OF DERBYSHIRE Nine Ladies is such a stone known as the ' King,' and near that on Hathersage Moor is a similar isolated stone ; while 240 ft. from the Nine Stones are two. Within the Wet-withens and Froggat Edge circles is (or was) a single upright stone, and within one on Offerton Moor are four such stones. Probably these stones marked interments. The distribution of these smaller circles is noteworthy, for unlike those of Arborlow and Dove Holes, they are confined to districts where cremation prevailed. There is no reasonable doubt that they are of sepul- chral origin. As already suggested, they appear to have been derived from the bowl-shaped barrows through a series of transitions. Their distribution and Mr. Bateman's actual ' finds ' connect them with cre- mated burials of the cinerary-urn stage of the Bronze-age. It is worthy of consideration whether these smaller circles are of the same origin and age as the two larger Derbyshire examples. TLarly Fortifications. There are in the county ten or a dozen de- fensive works which are certainly not of Roman origin, but it is not easy to fix their age. Some may have been constructed by the natives during the English invasion, and possibly some by the English themselves to resist the Danes ; but it seems more likely that, as a group, they are pre-Roman and of great antiquity. The large size and careful con- struction of some of these hill-forts, indicate that they were not raised as temporary barriers against foreign invasion, but as refuges in a permanent state of insecurity, such as tribal warfare would give rise to. In neither the number nor the magnitude of these forts does Derbyshire vie with some of the western counties ; but two that which conspicuously crowns Mam Tor near Castleton and the Carl's Wark near Hathersage are fine and noteworthy. The former is about 16 acres in area, and is enclosed by a double line of rampart on three sides and a triple line on the fourth, on which side is the entrance, approached by a sunken way. 1 The Carl's Wark may be described as a natural fortress improved by art. Crowning a gentle hill is a natural rocky platform about 600 ft. long, which presents on three sides an almost vertical scarp, the gaps of which have been filled with rude masonry. Across the neck which connects this platform with the high ground to the west is thrown an earthen rampart, faced with a cyclopean wall about 8 ft. in height, built of huge natural stones, and in front of this is a slight ditch. The western end of Combs Moss near Dove Holes has been similarly converted into a fort, the neck there being defended by a double rampart." Other defensive works occur at Pilsbury near Hartington, Calton near Chatsworth, Camp Green at Hathersage, and on Fin Cop, Hartle Moor, and Cronkstone, Alport and Tapton Hills. At Staden-low near Buxton are some curious 1 For a recent account and plan of this camp see paper by Mr. I. Chalkley Gould in Journ. Derb. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Sue. xxiv. 27. a Mr. Chalkley Gould has also recently described these two camps (Jottrn. Brit. Arch. Assoc. 1901, and Journ. Derb. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Sue. xxiii. 108), giving plans in each case. 184