Carsington Pasture Cave, Brassington, Derbyshire.
A Prehistoric Burial Site.
Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield.
Carsington Pasture Cave is located at national grid reference SK 2415 5368, about 1 km southeast of Brassington (Figure 1). The cave entrance is situated at an altitude of 300m on a promontory ridge that curves south and then westwards from the main limestone escarpment, giving a distant viewshed in all directions. The low "natural" or walk-in entrance to the cave is hidden in a north-facing hollow, and a second artificial entrance 6 metres to the south (possibly an access shaft created by lead miners) provides the current vertical entry to the cave. Immediately inside the walk-in entrance the cave widens into a 5m diameter chamber (hereafter the "Entrance Chamber") which has flowstone decorated walls and a clay floor. An unsuccessful attempt to dig through the floor of the Entrance Chamber was made by members of the Peak District Mines Historical Society in 1965 (Tune, 1967), but no other speleological investigations of the cave have been recorded.
This report provides a preliminary account of recent archaeological discoveries in Carsington Pasture Cave made by members of the Pegasus Caving Club, assisted by archaeologists from the University of Sheffield. The report describes human and faunal remains recovered from the surface of the cave deposits and bones and artefacts revealed during operations to gain access to the deeper parts of the cave system. Exploration of the cave has led to partial disturbance of the deposits, but wherever possible the sediments have been left in situ in recognition of their importance for future archaeological and palaeontological research. At an early stage of the investigation it was recognised that the cave could not be secured easily against unauthorised entry, and it was decided to remove most of the human remains that were visible on the surface of the floor of the second chamber. This recovery exercise was undertaken after obtaining a Licence for the Removal of Human Remains from the Home Office and with the agreement of the county archaeologist and the land owner. Exploration of the cave is continuing, and the present report documents discoveries made up to July 1999.
Geology and Mining History
Carsington Pasture Cave is formed in dolomitised Bee Low Limestone of the Carboniferous limestone series, near the southern margin of the Derbyshire lead-zinc orefield. The limestone dips gently to the ENE, and the presence of reef facies and dolomitisation renders the limestone resistant to weathering, producing steep-sided hills with localised vertical exposures of bedrock. The limestone is extensively mineralised, mainly with lead and zinc ores together with gangue minerals. A dense network of mineral veins, principally trending WNW-ESE, permeates the limestone underneath Carsington Pasture and the local area has been mined intensively for lead probably from as early as the Roman period (Willies, 1995). A large number of mine shafts are located within 100 metres of the cave: Great Rake Mine, a substantial lead mine originally developed in the 17th century, is situated about 250 metres WSW of the cave (Slack, 1987).
Immediately to the west of the cave is Wester Hollow, a dry valley floored with Tertiary sands, clays and gravels of the Brassington Formation. These deposits are believed to have formed by the infilling of large solution hollows in the surface of the Carboniferous limestone, and they are sometimes associated with the formation of cave systems, as for example at Golconda Caverns (Ford, 1977). The presence of large numbers of quartzite pebbles in Carsington Pasture Cave provides evidence that the Wester Hollow pocket deposit was formerly more extensive and outcropped at a higher level than it does today.
Regional Archaeological Context
Carsington Pasture Cave is located in an area that is rich in archaeological finds of the Romano-British period. Nearby settlements of this date have been excavated at Rainster Rock