An Archaeological Resource Assessment of Anglo-Saxon Derbyshire

As is so often the case with the archaeological record for Derbyshire there is in the early medieval period a marked contrast between the types of evidence which characterise the Peak District and that from the areas to the south and east. The evidence in the Peak District is dominated by the seventh century barrow burials and the later stone crosses and other sculptural remains. Outside the Peak District barrow burials are rare and indeed any cemetery or settlement evidence is hard to come by. Stone crosses do occur across the county and into neighbouring counties, but clear evidence of surviving Anglo-Saxon churches is rare, as is evidence for settlement. Documentary evidence for the kingdom of Mercia in which Derbyshire formed a border land with Northumbria is also sparse.