The Bull Ring is a Class II

henge There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...

that was built in the late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

period near

Dove Holes Dove Holes is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England. It has a population of about 1,200 (2001), shown in the 2011 Census as being included in the population of Chapel-en-le-Frith. It straddles the A6 road approximately thr ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. It has coordinates (), and is National Monument number 23282. There are also two barrows about 20m away from the henge; one oval, one bowl. The henge consists of a large, circular earthwork, which is currently about high and wide; however it was originally high and wide. The henge has a

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

on the inside, which varies between deep and wide; it was originally deep and wide. The ditch and bank are separated by a

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...

, which was originally wide. It encloses an area 53 (north–south) by 46 (east–west) metres, with entrances to the north and south, each of which have a causeway across the ditch. A skeleton was reputedly found near the north entrance; this entrance was also damaged in the 19th century by

quarrying A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

. The centre of the henge was ploughed in the 18th century; a

drystone wall Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...

was also built across the site during the same era. A single standing stone (

orthostat This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic (Stone Age) structures. Forecourt In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb. Forecourts ...

) was recorded as remaining in 1789 by Pilkington, potentially the remnant of a stone circle. It has been suggested that stones from the henge were used as

sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...

for the

Peak Forest Tramway The Peak Forest Tramway was an early horse- and gravity-powered industrial railway (or tramway (industrial), tramway) system in Derbyshire, England. Opened for trade on 31 August 1796, it remained in operation until the 1920s. Much of the rout ...

circa 1790. A minor excavation was carried out in the west ditch in 1902 by Micah Salt; this reputedly discovered some pottery sherds and flint flakes, which have since been lost. A trial excavation by

Oxford University Archaeological Society Oxford University Archaeological Society (OUAS), revived in 2020 as the Oxford Archaeological Society (OAS), is a society at the University of Oxford which promotes matters of archaeological interest through lectures, excursions and fieldwork. I ...

in 1949 established that the ring has two entrances, and also provided information about the original size of the bank and ditch. However, it did not provide any evidence of stones on the site. The excavation also turned up flint flakes, as well as a rim from a pottery food vessel. A third excavation was carried out in 1984 outside the south entrance, which found further flint flakes and pottery, several pits, and stakeholes of a fence following the henge bank, which are potentially original features of the henge. Most recently, magnetometer and earth resistance surveys were carried out in 2000, with no conclusive results. The

oval barrow An oval barrow is the name given by archaeologists to a type of prehistoric burial tumulus of roughly oval shape. In the British mid to late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, oval barrows may indicate a transition between earlier long barrows with m ...

to the south-west of the henge is about , and is approximately high. It was constructed some time in the early to mid-Neolithic period. A later (late Neolithic to late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

)

bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...

is superimposed on it. The summit of the oval barrow was disturbed by a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

slit trench; the edges of the barrow have also been disturbed by ploughing as well as a drystone wall, which has subsequently been removed. The barrow has not been excavated.

See also

References

Further reading