• Article |
• Discussion |
• Edit |
• History

Nine Ladies (53°10′5″N, 1°37′44″W) is a Bronze Age stone circle located on Stanton Moor, Derbyshire, England. Part of the Peak District National Park, the site is owned by English Heritage and is often visited by tourists and hill walkers. Druids and pagans occasionally celebrate summer solstice there.

There are nine surviving stones in the circle, but excavations have shown that there were once at least ten and possibly eleven. The small "King Stone" lies forty metres from the circle and is clearly visible from it.

Successful campaign to protect it

The site has been the focus of a long-running environmental protest.

In 1999 Stancliffe Stone Ltd submitted a planning application re-open two dormant quarries (Endcliffe and Lees Cross) on the wooded hillside beside Stanton Moor. The proposed quarry was only 200 m from Nine Ladies, on land owned by Haddon Hall estate and leased to Stancliffe stone.

A local protest group SLAG (Stanton Lees Action Group) was set up to oppose the quarry. The group was joined by environmental protestors who set up a long-running and controversial protest camp and they built many tree houses which are hard to evict. They defied a court eviction order in February 2004, and continue to remain there.

In 2004 a High Court classified the two quarries as dormant. This decision was appealed and the court of appeal was upheld in June 2005. This means that the quarries cannot re-open until the Peak District National Park Authority agrees on a set of working conditions for them. The hillside

Lastest planning application

The latest planning application has dropped the proposal to quarry the hillside, but instead to expand the existing quarry.

• Derbyshire
• Peak District National Park

FEEDBACK

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not comment on it? Perhaps you disagree with something in it, or you know something the writer doesn't and can add some extra facts. You may want to ask a question about this article. Making a contribution is easy - either click 'edit' to insert more information or 'discussion' and then 'add comment.' This is your site. Please feel free to use it to the full and share your memories, thoughts and knowledge about Derbyshire with others.

If there is no 'edit' link showing it means the article has either previously been published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, or it has been protected by the site administrator and cannot be edited.'

County:  Derbyshire

Return to You and Yesterday