Heath Wood barrow cemetery is a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

burial site near

Ingleby, Derbyshire Ingleby is a hamlet and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England, situated to the south of the River Trent on a rise between Stanton by Bridge and Repton. It is the location of Anchor Church,

Description

Heath Wood contains a series of 59 barrows which is a Viking burial site near Ingleby, Derbyshire. The barrows are unusual because they are the only known Scandinavian

cremation Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre is ...

site in the British Isles. It is believed to be a war cemetery of the

Viking Great Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...

which arrived in the area in 873 A.D. Early excavations by

Thomas Bateman Thomas Bateman (8 November 1821 (baptised) – 28 August 1861) was an English antiquary and barrow-digger. Biography Thomas Bateman was born in Rowsley, Derbyshire, England, the son of the amateur archaeologist William Bateman. After the deat ...

in May 1855 found that some of the mounds were empty

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

mounds where presumably the body was not available.''Ten Years Digging'', Thomas Bateman Excavations between 1998 and 2000 produced a number of finds which are available in Derby Museum. It is believed that these remains are from the same period as burials discovered in nearby

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

. However, the Repton burials are not cremations. This wood is currently leased by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

from the Church Commissioners and it is designated "Derbyshire 101" as a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. left, One entrance The path that goes through the wood links

Foremarke Hall Foremarke Hall is a Georgian-Palladian country house and manor house. Completed in 1762, the Hall is located at the manor (hamlet) of Foremark, near the hamlets of Ingleby, Ticknall, Milton, and the village of Repton in South Derbyshire, E ...

with Knowle Hill which are two properties previously owned by the Burdett family together with the land belong to Heath Wood. Presumably, the path was useful when the family moved to Knowle Hill whilst building work was in progress in order to visit St Saviour's church which the family built in 1662. In the eighteenth century Heath Wood was actually a field and the growth of woodland has only happened since then. Without the woods being there then this burial place would have had a fine view of the

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

valley. The path that goes through the woods neatly misses any of the ancient barrows and it is believed that no barrows were removed to ease its path.

References

{{Derby Museum Archaeological sites in Derbyshire Germanic archaeological sites Scheduled monuments in Derbyshire Viking buildings and structures