The Seven Brideron (Brethren)
Seven Brideron (Bretheren) is a famous lost Derbyshire stone circle which had disappeared by the 19th century.
A sketch of Seven Brethren was made by Hayman Rooke a Mansfield Woodhouse antiquarian in the latter half of the eighteenth century after he visited the site in October 1764.His accompanying text says –

“the remains of a Druid Circle at the SE end of Matlock Moor, called the Seven Brideron Stones……diameter of the circle 25 feet, several small barrows are scattered about……circumference about 40 feet…..”

There is a mention in ‘A History of the Matlocks’ by PJ Naylor who says –

It is recorded that another stone edifice existed on Matlock Moor called the Seven Brideron, cleared in the 19th century, possibly by quarrymen for the stone. It was recorded in October 1764 as being a seven-stone circle, but another observer recorded it as a nine-stone circle with some stones standing higher than a tall man on a diameter of 7.6m. There is no trace of this circle today, it stood a few hundred metres north of Palethorpe Farm.”

“Rock Around The Peak” by Victoria and Paul Morgan –

The most famous of these lost circles, which had disappeared in the 19th century, is the Seven Brideron. The site was described by Rooke on a visit in 1754 as being located at the South Eastern end of Matlock Moor …….However in recent years a further account by Samuel Pegge has come to light, suggesting that the circle was actually located at the North-eastern corner of Matlock Moor, consisted of nine stones rather than seven and was called the Seven Bretheren rather than Brideron. The debate has now ended as a Boundary Award Map dating to 1779 places the circle around SK310635, where Pegg said it was.”