One such monument is Arbor Low, a recumbent stone circle and henge located on the Oldham Farm about 10 miles southeast of Buxton. Reached from the A515 via the B5057, final access is gained by a short walk through farmyards and pastures, and across walls fitted with stiles. Arbor Low’s unusually large henge measures 79 x 75 meters, with a flat interior surface measuring 40 x 42 meters. The henge bank is 8–10 meters wide and 2 meters high, surrounding a ditch that is 7–12 meters wide and 2–3 meters deep. This massive structure has openings facing northwest and southeast, directly across from one another. Best scholarly estimates suggest that the henge was originally built about 5000 years ago. The stone circle it contains likely replaced an earlier one constructed of massive timbers.

Though no longer upright, more than 50 huge stone slabs and fragments from the Arbor Low circle still remain in place. Only a few have apparently been removed. Near the center of the circle can be found the remnants of a ceremonial "cove," stones that when upright would have provided a screen to prevent sacred rites from being observed by anyone standing outside the henge. An ancient burial uncovered in the vicinity of the cove contained a human skeleton.

The Arbor Low site also includes several barrows—circular or oblong burial mounds, one of which was constructed on the outer edge of the henge bank near its southeastern entrance. The henge barrow is 21 meters in diameter and more than 2 meters high. Its crest bears the scars of several efforts, ancient and modern, to excavate its contents. The henge barrow was probably built about 3500 years ago.

The most spectacular of the Arbor Low barrows is Gib Hill, a longbarrow measuring 46 x 27 meters on which has been superimposed a more recent, rounder barrow measuring 27 x 24 meters. A square stone cist, which originally stood on top of the older longbarrow was discovered during an 1848 excavation of the mound. The slight elevations provided by both Gib Hill and the henge barrow provide wonderful views of the Derbyshire countryside crisscrossed at odd angles by its famous stone walls.

A wide depression known as "the Avenue" appears to connect Gib Hill with the Arbor Low henge. Scholars caution that this remnant of what appears to have been a road was more likely part of an ancient estate boundary—possibly dating to the Roman occupation of Britain.

The 4000-year-old Nine Ladies circle is located about 4 miles southeast of Bakewell and 3 miles northwest of Matlock. Administered under the jurisdiction of English Heritage and the National Trust, it is accessed off a country lane between the villages of Birchover and Stanton Lees. When Himself and Yours Truly visited the site late last spring, we left our vehicle in a roadside carpark and took a pleasant half-mile walk to the edge of the moor. The footpath is well kept and rises gently over a wooded slope, providing some gorgeous views along the way.

Of the many Bronze Age and Neolithic sites identified with Stanton Moor, the Nine Ladies is the most picturesque and the best known. Smaller and far less overpowering than nearby Arbor Low, it is still the second largest stone circle in Derbyshire. It is, perhaps, the dignified parish church rather than the grand cathedral. The circle is about 10 meters in diameter and comprises nine standing stones. The remnants of a small cairn can been seen in the center of the circle, and the solitary King Stone is located roughly 35 meters to the southwest.

The low bank surrounding the Nine Ladies has eroded to the point of being almost undetectable. Erosion has been accelerated dramatically in recent years—partly due to the 40,000 visitors who arrive annually and partly because modern pagans continue to find clandestine ways to conduct their ceremonies there. All this is a segue of sorts for explaining the monument’s name: Local legend holds that nine "ladies" and a fiddler (associated with the nearby King Stone) were turned to stone for desecrating the Sabbath with music and dancing. Imagining this ancient site on a fog-enshrouded day—or better yet, a moonlit night—it would be easy enough to hear the fiddler's music and catch a glimmer of movement among the ladies themselves.

Now add 4 years of political and social intrigue to the Ladies’ lore. In 1999, the Stancliffe Stone company petitioned to reopen two dormant quarries near the circle. Opponents immediately expressed concern for the region's ecology and for the dozens of Neolithic sites that would either be destroyed or seriously affected. Of these, the fate of the Nine Ladies took on star billing. Anti-quarry demonstrators launched an ongoing protest that quite literally pitched tents in the boughs of trees in the woods near the Ladies—and there they have remained for 4 years. A ruling by Britain’s High Court earlier this month (July 2004) suggests that the quarries will not be permitted to reopen.

Admission: Free