New Cross is (or was!) a medieval (1066 – 1485) wayside stone cross. It would have been a substantial tall cross, able to be seen from a distance, and needed to help travellers find their way over the moors between the villages of Derwent and Bradfield.
Travellers Crosses used a religious symbol, and were often placed by monasteries.
Only the base of New Cross remains, the cross itself has probably been used as a shooting plot boundary marker.
It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
After the 1750 – 1850 Enclosure Acts the new owners of the moorlands did their best to discourage use on this important crossing by taking down the stone New Cross and other marker stones.
There were five ‘Gates’ across the Derwent moors, this one has been known about four centuries and appears on the OS map as ‘New Cross (rems of), but the footpath is very hard to find on the ground and it has largely become disused.
The Sheffield Clarion Ramblers Club led by Bert Ward campaiged from 1900 onwards to regain the stolen rights of way resulting from land enclosures. His efforts led to much improved access from the National Parks Act 1949, of which the Peak District was the first designated National Park in 1951, and the 2000 Countrysire Rights of Way Act.
Writings and photograph courtesy of Mike Browell.