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Scroll down to find out how ritual and religion has changed though time or use these links to explore topics in more detail: |
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Ritual and Religion through time- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NeolithicApproximately 8 chambered tombs survive in the Peak District from the early Neolithic. These monumental burial sites include: Minninglow, Parwich, which was enlarged over time to form an impressive circular mound with at least four chambers and Five Wells, Taddington, which was originally a low mound with opposing low entrances before being buried under a larger cairn.
Large ceremonial enclosures were constructed as gathering places for people from across the region. Later, probably between 3000 and 2000 BC, two large henges were constructed. One on the limestone plateau at Arbor Low overlooks a valley to the west while the Bull Ring, near Buxton, sits in the bottom of a shallow valley. At an enclosure such as these, comparative strangers from different families and communities would gather for ceremonial meetings, to exchange gifts and feast. Such communities may have had relatively little everyday contact, although they may have used some of the same geographical areas during the year. There was the potential for conflicting claims to the same areas of land - a gathering could have provided the opportunity to resolve these conflicts in advance. It was probably these communities who were responsible for building and maintaining the enclosure banks and ditches.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Later Neolithic - Early Bronze AgeFrom the Later Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age a range of smaller ceremonial monuments - at least 26 small stone circles and over 500 burial barrows - were built which were at least partly contemporary with the henges. Stone circles such as Nine Ladies, Barbrook I & II, and Nine Stones Close may have been places for holding smaller, family ceremonies. Barrows often contain several burials, and inhumations, cremations or both are found. They are usually built in prominent locations where the living could be reminded of their ancestors. On the eastern gritstone moors where survival of Prehistoric landscapes is good, many circles and barrows are closely associated with settlements, field systems and cairnfields dating from the earlier Bronze Age onwards. Some burials were placed in clearance cairns and in stone circles showing how burial rites, ceremonies and agriculture were all linked.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Later Bronze Age - Iron AgeLittle is known about religion, ceremonial monuments and burials in this period. Some of the hill-top enclosures (hillforts) may have been ceremonial gathering places as henges had been hundreds of years earlier. A large stone bank with multiple entrances was built during the later Bronze Age/early Iron Age to enclose the top of Gardom's Edge, Baslow. Only three burials have been found - one was an Iron Age burial in a cave near Carsington and the other was the burial of two adults with grave goods near Winster later in the Iron Age. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RomanWhen the Romans arrived in Britain they began to write about some of the religious practices and gods they encountered, though did so in terms familiar to themselves to make sense of the different cultures they met. It seems that there was a range of gods, shrines in buildings and natural places, and religious leaders. Roman religion was introduced and some groups mixed indigenous gods with these imports. We know very little about Romano-British religion in the Peak District. Votive deposits were made at the springs of Aquae Arnemetiae (Buxton) between the first and fourth centuries AD. The many Roman pot sherds found in caves across the region may also be votive. By the end of the Roman occupation Christianity had become popular across the Empire but no early churches have yet been found in the Peaks.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Early MedievalDuring the 7th century AD the Mercian aristocracy converted to Christianity following the example of the more enlightened Northumbria. Burials were placed in barrows, some of which were newly built while others were re-used prehistoric barrows. The bodies were oriented west-east with the head at the west indicating a Christian rite. However, most also contained simple grave goods and sometimes more precious items such as swords and a helmet found at Benty Grange that indicate pre-Christian rites were still important too. Christian churches and carved stone crosses were built during the early Medieval period. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists six churches - at Hope, Bakewell, Darley, Wirksworth, Ashbourne and Bradbourne. Only at Bradbourne does any Anglian fabric survive, the rest being completely remodelled by the Normans and later modifications. Carved stone crosses broadly fall into two styles of decoration. During the late 8th to early 9th century Anglian styles are characterised by twisted vine scrolls and stylised figures. Examples can be found in Eyam and Bradbourne churchyards. Late 9th to early 11th century crosses are influenced by Viking art and are more abstract with interlacing predominant. A good example is one from the moors above Darley which is now in Bakewell churchyard. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Medieval - ModernMore churches were built in the region after the Norman Conquest and about 70 were in existence by the 16th century. Most villages had there own church with graveyard in its own ecclesiastical parish. Most of these Medieval churches are still in use today, though many were rebuilt in the Victorian period. Tideswell church, known as the 'Cathedral of the Peak', is a fine Medieval example which was built in the 14th century in Decorated and Perpendicular styles. Tissington has a good example of a Norman tower while in Youlgreave a tower was added to the Norman church in the 15th century. The 16th century Reformation resulted in the dissolution of the monasteries. While there had not been any monasteries in the region, many had agricultural farms - granges - which were taken into secular ownership. Non-Conformist Churches became popular with some hill farming communities and many chapels were built for worship, such as the Methodist chapel built in the Woodlands Valley in 1868. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
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