Burbage Info Sheet.pdf

13/10/2009 Peak District National Park: Study Area
Geology
Prehistoric Settlement
Carl Wark
The landscape in the burbage valley
Routeways
Land Use In The Valley
Land Use Today
Map of the Burbage Valley area
The Burbage Valley lies in the eastern side of the Peak District National Park. It is close to Fox House Inn on
the A625 road from Chapel-en-le-Frith to Sheffield and is approximately 3 miles east of Hathersage and 8
miles west of the centre of Sheffield.
As it is so near to Sheffield, the Burbage Valley is very popular both for recreation - walking, climbing,
picnicking - and for school field trips. Parking is available at Upper Burbage Bridge and there is invalid parking
at the southern end of the valley. Further parking is available at the Surprise car park by Millstone Edge,
which can also accommodate buses and coaches.
Geology
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The Burbage Valley is a basin partly surrounded by scarps or edges of gritstone: Burbage Rocks on the east
and Higger Tor and Carl Wark on the west. The gritstone is resistant to erosion.
The shale valley basin is partly filled with an overlying deposit known as head. This is a deposit which is a
mixture of sands and clay and it is thought to have been brought by ice sheets during the Ice-Age.
East of Burbage Rocks is Burbage Moor, an extensive plateau partly covered by peat. This consists of
partially decomposed vegetation which accumulated in water-logged conditions during periods when the
climate was cool and wet.
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Prehistoric Settlement
The first evidence of human activity comes from flints left behind by groups of hunter-gatherers who travelled
through the area. Early evidence of occupation occurs south of Carl Wark and dates from the Bronze Age
(circa 1500 BC). It is marked by small clearance cairns formed out of stones cleared from the area by the
early farmers. These cairns are now covered by vegetation which makes them difficult to find.
Carl Wark
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Carl Wark
The defended promontory fort of Carl Wark, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, probably dates from the
Iron Age. It may have been used as a refuge when the local inhabitants were under threat. The earthen
rampart and stone wall, built to defend the one acre site, can still be seen on the western side of the fort.
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The landscape in the burbage valley
Burbage Brook
The Burbage Brook rises in the moorland north of the Burbage Valley and enters the valley under the Upper
Burbage Bridge. From here the height of the stream quickly drops from just over 396m down to 335m in less
than 1 km. The Brook therefore provides a good area for hydrological work. Hypotheses showing the different
water velocities along the Brook and the differences in the size of contents of the stream bed, can easily be
tested.
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Aerial view of Millstone Edge
Forest Areas
The 83 acre plantation was planted between 1968 and 1971. The trees are mainly Scots Pine, Japanese
Larch and Lodgepole Pine. Some deciduous species were planted around the edges of the plantation to
soften its outline.
Bird species which are regularly seen in the plantation are jays, rooks and chaffinches.
Ecology
The Dark Peak moorland, such as that on Burbage Moor, is the nearest thing to wilderness in England. The
moorland and blanket bog terrain found here are rare and valuable habitats which support a unique fauna.
Burbage Moor lies around 400 metres above sea level and experiences low temperatures, high rainfall, is
exposed and windy. Plants and animals need to be hardy and highly adapted to live on the moorland,
because of the extreme climate and acid soils. High rainfall carries the few minerals downwards where many
plants cannot reach them.
Heather, cowberry, bilberry and moorland grasses, are found on the gritstone areas. The shale and head
deposits in the valley are more fertile, enabling more vigorous grasses and bracken to grow. Because of the
lack of competition from other plants, bracken has started to dominate the vegetation in these areas. Efforts
have been made to limit this domination by cutting back and controlling the bracken.
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Moorland birds like wheatears and meadow pipits can be seen during spring to autumn. Skylarks can also be
heard in spring. The elusive mountain hare and the red grouse are able to survive all winter on the moors.
Burbage Brook is home to dippers and grey wagtails throughout the year
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Routeways
Packhorse Routes
Routeways through the Burbage area may have been in existence for thousands of years. However, the hollow
ways and the pack horse bridge, which can be seen below Carl Wark, are mostly from the Medieval Period.
One pack horse route crossed Millstone Edge and forded the Burbage Brook to the south of the more recent
A625.
The pack horse trains could consist of up to 50 horses all carrying goods through the landscape.
Turnpike Roads
The roads which now surround Burbage Moor were first built as turnpike roads, though many of the routes
may have followed existing trackways. The owners of these roads were able to charge a toll to people using
the route. This funding enabled the roads to be maintained to a higher standard than the normal roads and
therefore movement of goods and people along them was quicker.
The Houndkirk road was built in 1758 and was never surfaced with modern materials. It is therefore an exellent
example of a turnpike road. Another road built at this time crosses over the Upper Burbage Bridge and
continues into Ringinglow. Part of the main A625 road, which crosses the bottom of the valley area was built
in 1781.
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Land Use In The Valley
Quarrying and the Millstone Industry
Quarrying in the Burbage area probably started over 2000 years ago when millstone grit was used to make
rotary querns. These were the hand-held equivalents of the later millstones.
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Millstones
During the 18th and 19th centuries Wild Moorstones Edge Quarry manufactured millstones, grindstones (for
the Sheffield edge-tool industry) and other stone products. The sizes and shapes of the millstones varied
through time. The earlier were dome-shaped on top whilst the later ones were flat on both sides. The average
size was approximately 5 feet in diameter and over a ton in weight.
The millstones were made at the quarry site and transported all over Britain and even abroad. Discarded
millstones can still be seen at the quarry sites in the Burbage Valley and also at other quarries in the Peak
District.
Land Ownership
Since 1928 the Burbage Valley has been owned by Sheffield City Council, who bought it from the Duke of
Rutland, with the idea of building a reservoir in the area. Due to local opposition to this proposed reservoir, the
project was cancelled but Sheffield Council continued to manage the land, which is now tenanted out to a
local sheep farmer.
The rights to use the valley for grouse shooting and other sporting activities were leased out by the council
until 1936. This limited public access to the land. After 1936 new paths were gradually opened up and public
access was extended in to the valley. A new access agreement has recently been completed.
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Land Use Today
Farming
Higger Tor
The area is classed by the Ministry of Agriculture as Grade 5 land which means the land is very poor farming
land. Grants are available from the Government to help the farming community. Only a small number of sheep
can be kept on the moors, as overgrazing has a serious effect on the vegetation, which cannot regenerate
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quickly due to the difficult growing conditions. Overgrazing also allows invasive species like bracken to
encroach onto the moors.
It is likely that much of the area was once covered with trees. Bronze Age and Iron Age farmers cleared the
trees to grow crops and centuries of sheep grazing have prevented their regrowth. The natural moorland is in
fact a man-made environment.
Recreation
The closeness of the Burbage Valley to major towns has led to its popularity with a wide range of people. The
many tracks and paths through the valley have encouraged walkers into the area and rock climbers can be
seen on many days throughout the year taking advantage of the climbing routes available on Burbage Edge.
Another sport popular with many youth groups is that of weaseling and this involves scrambling around some
of the large gritstone blocks on Higger Tor.
Management of the Moors
When the moors had shooting rights let out on them, they were specifically managed to encourage the
grouse. This involved the burning of small patches of heather in rotation during the winter to encourage new
growth. Recently, controlled burning has taken place to encourage regrowth of heather, creating habitats for
wildlife and food for sheep. Uncontrolled summer fires can cause a lot of damage to vegetation and to
creatures. An area devastated by fire in 1976 is still mainly bare peat and (where the peat has burnt away)
bare gritstone.
Further management problems come from the erosion of footpaths by walkers and increasingly by mountain
bikes. Footpaths around Higger Tor are being repaired and re-surfaced by the Peak District Rangers to keep
erosion to a minimum.
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