Close to Chatsworth, with a history ghoing back to the Bronze Age.
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At the southern end of Chatsworth Park and with a Church dating back to the 12th century, Beeley lies at the foot of high, desolate moorland. Beeley Moor contains plenty of evidence that the area has been occupied for thousands of years. Hob Hurst’s House is a Bronze Age tomb and local legend has it that if you listen carefully at dusk, you can hear the voices of it’s long-gone internees. It is a well-preserved square burial mound with a deep ditch and external bank. Also on this moor are at least four stone circles plus other burial mounds. They are generally not well preserved, the best of the bunch being Park Gate circle. This has a continuous bank but only a few of the original 10 - 14 standing stones remain upright. Several sunset alignments ahve been postulated from here.
Down in Beeley itself, Dukes Barn is a late 18th century building from which an outdoors activity centre is run. Pig lane marks the route of an old Pack Horse route to Chatsworth. See if you can spot the pig pens that give this route its name. The Old Hall was the original manor house until it was supplanted by Hill Top (originally called the Greaves I believe). The Duke of Devonshire pub is a popular location for food.
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