Five Wells

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Fivewells Chambered Cairn

Five Wells is a Neolithic chambered tomb on a hill between the villages of Chelmorton and Taddington on Taddington Moor in the Derbyshire Peak District. The tomb is a protected scheduled ancient monument.[1] It is believed that the tomb was built between 3400 and 2400 BC.

Three stones mark the main chamber, which has been dramatically reduced; a second less well-preserved chamber is to the west. The burial mound is over 65 feet in diameter and was first excavated by the local archaeologist Thomas Bateman in 1846. The chambers have paved floors. Bateman discovered the remains of at least twelve human skeletons. Subsequent excavations (by Llewellyn Jewitt, William Lukis and Micah Salt between 1862 and 1901) found further human remains, pottery and flint tools in the chambers and passages and a separate cist (stone coffin) within the mound.[1][2][3]

Access can be made on foot by way of a permitted path from Pillwell Gate to the west. Access along the permissive path can also be made from the Limestone Way long distance footpath, which runs along Sough Lane 500 yards to the east.

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