XC. An account of a remarkable monument found near Ashford in Derbyshire: In a letter from the Reverend Mr. Evatt, of Ashford, to Mr. Whitehurst, of Derby. Communicated by Benjamin Franklin, LL. D. F. R. S


[ 544 j

XC. A n  Account o f a  remarkable Monument 
fo u n d  near AfMord Derbyfliire : a
L e tte r  fr o m  the R everend M r . Evatt, o f  
Afhfbrd, to M r.. Whitehurft, o f Derby. 
Communicated hy Benjamin Franklin,,

L L . D .  F. R. S.

Dear Sir, Afhford, October 5, 1761.

Read May 13, r  |  1 H E  following is the beft account I 
J [  am able to give you o f the curiofity 

X told you of, difcovered fome time ago in our neighs 
Bourhood 3 to which I have added, an im p erfed  
drawing, that, I hope, will, notwithftanding, give 
you a tolerable idea of it.

In the year 1759, as fome people were making a 
turnpike-road through the village of W ardlow, near this 
place, they thought proper to take out of an adjoining 
field, a heap of ftone, that had lain there time im m em o­
rial, and without any tradition, that I could find, w hy 
it was thrown together in that place, although it was 
manifeft it was a work o f art. Here, to their great 
furprize, upon removing the ftone, they found a m o­
nument, to the memory o f feventeen perfons, or 
more, who had been there interred, in the manner 
exprefied in the drawing annexed. [Vide Tab. X V .] 

T h e bodies appeared to have been laid upon the 
lurface of the ground, upon long flat ftones, and 
their heads and breads proteded from the incum bent 
weight of ftone, by fmall walls made round them , 
with a flat ftone over the top, as I have endeavoured 

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iPhilos. jrans. VoZ. XU. TAB. JOT/?.54 4

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[ 5+5 ]
to exprefs in the figures, excepting the two capital 
ones, m arked a, a, w hich were walled up, and co­
vered from  head to foot, in the form  o f a long cheft, 
w ith a Hone cover over each.

Upon removing the rubbilh, many bones, fuch as 
jaw-bones, teeth, and the like, were found unde­
cayed; but none at all o f the larger bones o f the 
body, that I  could learn. T h e  heap o f flones, that 
covered them , was 32 yards in diameter, and about 
five feet h ig h ; and the (tones, o f which the coffins, 
or tombs, were compofed, appear, very plainly, to 
have been taken from a (tone quarry, above a quarter 
o f  a mile diltant. In  the drawing, you fee a part o f 
the circle is vacant; but it is probable it was not fo, 
as there were found feveral bones and teeth in that 
(pace; _ the caufe m ight be, that as part lay next the 
road, it m ight have m et w ith an accidental di- 
ltu rb a n c e ; or, what is yet m ore likely, the people 
that came to lead the (lone away, beginning on that 
ide of it, destroyed that part, before they were aware 

that it was any-ways remarkable, or worthy note.
T h e re  is one circumftance, that feems to denote 

the m onum ent to have been rather m o d e rn ; which 
is this. I t appears, from the beft obfervations I  could 
m ake, that the wall, marked 4, was eroded before 
th e m onum ent was made, as I think it hardly pro­
bable, that the perfons, w ho built it, would be at th e  
trouble to remove that part o f the circle, that was 
w ithout, for the fake of building a field-wall, entirely 
level; w hich is die cafe, for all that portion o f the 
circle, frotti the infide o f the wall, was as level as 
any other part o f the field : and as walls, I appre­
hend, are not o f very antient date here, ( if the above '

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C 546 ]
be a fa d ) I cannot help concluding, that the monu­
m ent mu ft have been eredted in fome or other o f the 
wars of the houfes o f York and Lancafter, or later. 
But this is only conje&ure, and muft be fubmitted to 
the judgm ent of the more curious, or thofe who may 
have heard of, or leen, fome fimilar ones ; for my 
part, in my reading, I have not met with any thing 
at all like it. T h e  feveral coffins were about two 
feet high each; the two complete ones about j .6 
long each ; and the others had the flat ftone nearly 
the fame le n g th ; but the covering extended only as 
far as the breaft.

T hefe are all the particulars I am now able to give 
you, o f this remarkable m o n u m en t It is now to­
tally deftroyed. I f  any of your friends, to w hom  
you may, poffibly, communicate this, could afcertain, 
in any meafure, the date of it, ftiould be extremely 
glad to hear it from you, as, I think, it would greatly 
affift me in tracing fome other remarkable curiofities 
in our neighbourhood, by way of preparation for a 
natural hiftory of this part o f our county.

* I  am,

Dear Sir,

Your fincere friend,

and hum ble fervant,

Samuel Evatt.

X C I. Dejcriptio

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