CASTLETON, Derbyshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"CASTLETON, a parish in the hundred of High Peak, in the county of Derby, 13 miles to the N. of Bakewell, and 30 miles to the N. of Derby. Sheffield is its post town. It includes the chapelry of Edale. This place is situated in a district full of interest and attraction, both for its ancient associations and its physical character and natural curiosities. A castle was in existence here before the Norman Conquest, but the erection of the present structure is attributed to William Peveril, son of William the Conqueror. Many lordships in this county were given to him.

The castle, which was named Peveril from its founder, and Peak from its situation, was built on the summit of a steep rock hanging over the entrance to the Peak cavern. The rock is above 200 feet in height, and is very difficult of access. The castle was held by King John, but was captured and retained for some years by the barons. Edward III. granted it to his son John of Gaunt, who being afterwards created Duke of Lancaster, the castle became, what it still remains, part of the duchy of Lancaster.

It was a fortress of considerable size and strength, having walls from 8 to 9 feet thick and 20 feet high. The ruins consist of the donjon, or keep; a massive tower, 55 feet high, standing on the edge of the rock; and part of the gateway on the N. side. It is said that a tournament was held here by William Peveril. The rock on which the castle stands is a mass of limestone, the prevailing rock in the district. The town itself is said to have been formerly fortified with a rampart and fosse, the latter of which is still traceable. Castleton is now a small village, occupied mostly by miners. Basalt and fluor spar are found, and there are several lead-mines.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £186, in the patronage of the Bishop of Lichfield. The church is dedicated to St. Edmund. It is an ancient building of small dimensions, and though modernised and much altered, still retains some vestiges of the early English, its original style. There are a chapel for Wesleyans and an endowed free school in the village. The charitable endowments of the parish amount to about £65 per annum. Castleton is part of the honour of Tutbury, in the duchy of Lancaster. The principal natural objects of interest in the vicinity are the Peak Cavern, the Winnets or Windgates-road, Mam Tor, and the Speedwell, Odin, Trecliff, and Water Hull mines.

The Peak Cavern, also called the Devil's Cave, is at the termination of the remarkable glen or hollow in which the village stands, and consists of a series of vast chambers and passages in the interior of the rock on which the castle is built. The entrance is a great dark arch, 120 feet wide and 40 feet high. One of the chambers is 200 feet square and 120 feet high. A broad stream separates the cavities, and is crossed by a ferry. The entire length of the cavern is said to be 2,250 feet. Various names are given to the chambers, one being called the Bell House, another the Chancel, others the Devil's Cellar, Halfway House, &c.

The Winnets or Windgates-road, is a very steep descent, a mile long, forming the approach to Castleton from Chapel-en-le-Frith, and winding, in some parts, between precipices 800 feet high. The road is so called on account of the rush of wind constantly sweeping through it. Mam Tor, a grand mountain, composed of gritstone and shale, rises majestically above the village to the height of 1,300 feet. From the nature of this rock its surface is subject to constant disintegration by the action of the atmosphere, and the loosened fragments fall and accumulate at its foot.

From this circumstance it is also called the Shivering Mountain. On its summit are remains of an ancient camp, covering about 16 acres, surrounded by a double ditch, and close by are two barrows. Near the foot of Mam Tor is the famous Odin lead-mine, which is said to have been known to the Saxons, and is still one of the best mines in Derbyshire. Silver is found with the lead in small quantities, and the mine yields also a curious elastic bitumen, petroleum, fluor spar, manganese, &c.

The Speedwell mine, near the foot of the Winnets-road, is no longer worked. It is reached by a descent of above 100 steps, at the bottom of which is a great level covered with water. This is crossed by boat, and the cavern is entered. It is believed to be 600 feet high, and to be bounded by an awful gulph several hundred feet deep, into which the water rushes with appalling noise.

The Trecliff mine is near the Peak Cavern, and contains many great chambers splendid with stalactites. One of them is said to be 200 feet high, and another 150 feet. The latter is named Lord Mulgrave's Cave. This mine is celebrated for producing the fluor spar, or "Blue John", a very beautiful mineral, in large masses, a very fine specimen of which is preserved at Chatsworth. Elastic bitumen is also found here. In the vicinity of Castleton is an extraordinary chasm in the limestone rocks, called Eldon Hole, nearly 200 feet deep, at the bottom of which is supposed to be a passage to other caverns. This ravine was once supposed to be bottomless."

"MAM-TOR, (or The Shivering Mountain), one of the loftiest summits of the Peak, in the parish of Castleton, county Derby, 2 miles W. of Castleton. It attains an altitude of 1,300 feet and has on its summit the remains of a double ditched camp of 16 acres, and two barrows. At its base is the famous Odin lead mine, and in various places are obtained fluor spar, bitumen, and manganese."

"ODIN, a lead and silver mine in the Peak under Main Tor, in the parish of Castleton, in the county of Derby. It yields three ounces of silver per ton, and is said to have been worked by the Saxons. Various other minerals, as barytes, manganese, petroleum, and fluor spar, are found in sinking the levels by which this mine is worked."

"TRECLIFF, a lead mine in Mam Tor, county Derby, near the Peak Cavern, celebrated for its fluorspar."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]