Dominated by the ruins of Peveril Castle, the village of Castleton lies at the western end of the Hope Valley and has long been a popular destination for tourists, from the first travel writers like Celia Feinnes and Thomas Hobbs to Queen Victoria and Byron.
The castle was completed in 1086 for William Peverel, a favoured knight of William the Conqueror (although there is no proof that he was William's illegitimate son as is sometimes thought). The castle passed back into royal hands and the only building left on this motte and bailey site is the keep, built for Henry II in 1117.
Fine examples of Norman herringbone stone work can still be seen in the curtain walls. The view from the castle grounds is spectacular and well worth the steep walk up. The castle's name was changed from Peverel to Peveril after Sir Walter Scott published his novel, Peveril of the Peak.
To the west of Castleton lies Mam Tor, locally known as the shivering mountain. Topped by an iron-age hill fort, who's ramparts are clearly still visible, this shale hillside looms large over the valley. From there runs The Great Ridge, past Hollins Cross to Losehill Pike at the eastern end. Overlooking the two valleys of Hope and Edale, and giving stunning views, Mam Tor Ridge is a popular local walk. Below is Odin Mine, one of the earliest lead mines in the country – the crushing ring can still be seen front of the mine.
The limestone of the southern side of this valley is riddled with cave systems, and to quote Arthur Conan Doyle, 'all this country is hollow, could you strike it with some gigantic hammer it would boom like a drum.'
Castleton is now famed for its four show caves, once all lead mines, each offering a different experience to the visitor, although the only cave in the village itself is Peak Cavern, home of rope makers through the centuries and where rope is still made during the cavern tour today.
The entrance to Peak Cavern is the largest in Europe at 40ft high and 100ft wide, and is large enough for cottages and even an inn to have be built inside, some of which have been excavated recently. The current rope makers uphold an ancient tradition that any village bride is given her first washing line as a present, made in the cavern.
Speedwell Cavern offers a boat ride underground through half a mile of passages to the end, with views down the ‘Bottomless Pit'. Though as a lead mine this cave wasn't successful it has proved extremely popular as a tourist attraction.
Treak Cliff Cavern has two distinctly different series of caves. The first half is full of minerals and fossils including the local fluorspar unique to the area, called Blue John. As you walk through the cave, veins of the stone are visible and the cave contains the largest known single piece of Blue John in The Pillar. The second half of the cave is completely different, resembling a fairytale world of stalactites and stalagmites.
Blue John Mine, opposite Mam Tor, is the deepest of the caves and also contains Blue John stone, but its real beauty is in the vastness of the cave system.
Back in the village, St Edmunds Church was built as the garrison church for the Castle. Its Norman chevron arch between the chancel and the nave stands on Saxon plinths indicating a much earlier church on the site. Box pews dating back to the 1600s dominate the church, they escaped the renovations of the Victorians as it was said they at least afforded a protection from the many draughts! With a ring of eight bells, the church is often used by visiting campanologists. Every evening in the winter, the Curfew Bell is still rung, originally to direct people off the hills on dark nights.
St Edmunds has a fine library of mostly 17th century books but which also includes a Cramner bible from 1539 and a Breeches Bible written in puritanical times – in which Adam wears breeches instead of a fig leaf! The entrance to the churchyard onto the main street between the gift shops is known as Edale Gate.
Here you'll find a small toll window on the side of The Toll Bar Gift Shop. This was not a toll into the village but into the churchyard, and was for coffins brought in from neighbouring Edale, which didn't have consecrated ground. The route over the hill from Edale, crossing at Hollins Cross, is still referred to locally as the Coffin Route, though more latterly the path was used by mill workers from Castleton, going to the cotton mill in Edale.
For more information on the village and its history, call in at the Castleton Visitor Centre, which combines the village Historical Society's museum and the National Park Information Centre.
If you plan spending the day here, be sure to check out our Castleton Itinerary, which gives a variety of things to see and do in and around the village.
Further Information
Mam Tor | Treak Cliff Cavern | Peak Cavern | Peveril Castle | Blue John
See location of Castleton on Google Maps
(map reference: SK 149828)
Situated on the A6187 in the Hope Valley
