Monument record 152/3/0 - Earthworks near Cloud End

There are crater like features in the area beyond the forest which may be the product of quarrying (1). It is possible that some or all of the excavations undertaken by members of the Macclesfield Scientific Society around 1877. They describe the excavation of two possible barrows as follows: 'The first one showed a very nicely formed cist, but in it we found nothing, and upon digging a couple of feet below the surface not the slightest indication was discovered of any remains. The second one showed no cist, and had in every way a rougher appearance than tho first opened. So carefully did we work that we can with confidence pronounce them of no historic value, and suppose them to be simply heaps of stone cleared off the land many years ago'. A further mound, described as being 'three miles uphill' was found to contain a piece of coal and two short lengths of tobacco pipe (1). The 'craters' are clearly visible on aerial photographs dating from the 1940s (2). The Cloud Plantation extended over this area until the 1940s (2 & 3) which suggests that the 'craters' have been ceated by the removal of tree stumps (4). The field that the aircraft crashed in (see CHER 4649) was later used as a temporary camp by US Army personnel and they left a large amount of detritus (5).

<1> Longley D, 1977-1978, Longley Archive, No. 486 (Paper Archive). SCH2005.

<2a> Royal Air Force, 1944-1947, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH8041.

<2b> The GeoInformation Group, 2005, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH4608.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

<4> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R 29/01/09 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

<5> Clark, AL, 2000-9, Peak District Air Accident Research, 06/02/09 (Web Site). SCH5157.

<6> Higham N J, 1984-9, Professor Nick Higham's Aerial Photographs, 1988/1/7/16 (Aerial Photograph). SCH7659.