HOME | PEAK DISTRICT COTTAGES | PEAK DISTRICT B&B | PEAK DISTRICT HOTELS

Peak District Tourist Information Search
HOME | More Peak District Tourist Information...

Castleton in the Hope Valley
Click images to enlarge

128_peveril-castleton4-2006.jpg
Peveril Castle in Castleton

128_castleton6-2006.jpg
Blue John cavern - just outside the village of Castleton

128_castleton2-2006.jpg
Mam Tor - the shivering mountain - Castleton's famous landmark

128_castleton1-2006.jpg
Pretty cottages at Castleton

128_castleton7-2006.jpg
Castleton shops

128_winnats-castleton5-2006.jpg
Famous Winnat's Pass near Castleton

128_castleton3-2006.jpg
Castleton with Peveril Castle keeping an eye on things

Location: Castleton
County: Derbyshire
Telephone - please mention Let's Stay Peak District: +44 (0)1433 620679 (Castleton Tourist Information centre) - To advertise on the Castleton holiday accommodation page: 01246 828833
Send email: To advertise YOUR Castleton business - please email from here
Website: http://www.peakdistrict-nationalpark.com/tourist/Castleton-in-the-Hope-Valley.html

Area Guides:
Castleton


Details: Castleton mini holiday guide featuring Castleton hotels and pubs, holiday cottages in Castleton, b&b in Castleton plus campsites and more tourist information and village guide.

For Castleton holiday accommodation listings - please click here

Castleton Holiday and village guide

Situated on the north western side of the Peak District in High Peak of the Hope Valley is the famous village of Castleton, renowned for its Blue John mine, Peveril Castle, Mam Tor and more.

The earliest known settlement in the Castleton area was the hillfort on the top of Mam Tor. The fort itself is Iron Age, though it is believed settlement began in the Bronze Age, around 1400 BC. Even earlier traces of Stone Age man have been found in caves on Treak Cliff.

Mam Tor - the 'shivering mountain'
The road from Treak Cliff Cavern to the Blue John Cavern used to be the A625 which once ran at the foot of Mam Tor, known locally as the Shivering Mountain due to its unstable composition - layers of shales and gritstone.

Over the centuries, as water and ice worked their way into these layers, they started to erode and crumble and the hill side 'shivered'.
This caused many problems for road engineers in the middle part of the 20th century, as the crumbling led to regular land slips which ultimately made the road unstable and therefore unsafe for the burgeoning number of motorists drawn to the area for recreation.

Eventually in 1977, Mam Tor was victorious and the road was closed. It is still possible, however, to walk along the remains of the devastation and consider, in awe, the real power of nature made manifestly clear by the huge land slips in evidence before you.

There is a local legend that Odin Mine, at the foot of Mam Tor, was worked as long ago as the 10th century in Saxon times.

Peveril Castle
Peveril Castle which was built on top of a hill for protection, was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 and was built by the son of William the Conqueror, William Peveril. It is now in the 'keep' of English Heritage.

'Castle town'
The village which takes its name from the Castle (Castle town) was laid out in a grid pattern at the base of the hill.

From the 12th century, Castleton was the centre of the Royal Forest of the Peak and it became a market town in the 13th century.
It was also on the packhorse route bringing salt from Cheshire to Sheffield. The men who travelled the routes were called Jaggers and have given their name to lanes and natural 'cloughs' in the area and on the surrounding hillsides

The building of the turnpike road from Sheffield to Sparrowpit (passing through Castleton) in 1759 made access to the village easier and was an important early link between Sheffield and Manchester.
By the mid 19th century the Wellington express coach stopped twice a day at Castleton on its journey between Sheffield and Manchester.

The railway line between Sheffield and Manchester calling at Hope was opened by the Midland Railway in 1894 and opened the way for even more tourists to visit the village. This delightful country station is still used today.

Please visit the official Castleton chamber of trade holiday accommodation and tourist website - here


(id: '128') This listing has been viewed 6074 times

Another Peak District Tourist Guide listing created by Let's Stay Peak District - Tel: 01629 640 640.