PEAK-FOREST, Derbyshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"PEAK-FOREST, an extra parochial liberty in the hundred of High Peak, county Derby, 4 miles S.E. of Chapel-en-le-Frith, and 3 N.W. of Tideswell. The village, which is of small extent, is situated in the Peak, a ridge of limestone stone rocks at the head of the river Derwent. Peak Forest was anciently called Peaclond by the Saxons, and De-Alto-Pecco by the Normans. It comprised the parishes of Castleton, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Glossop, Hope, and Mottram (which see), also the peaks of Kinder-Scout, 1,800 feet in height, Mam Tor, 1,751 feet, the Devil's Cave, &c.

A portion of the inhabitants are employed in the stone quarries. The impropriation belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £153. The church is dedicated to King Charles the Martyr. There is a free school for both sexes, which is entirely supported by the Duke of Devonshire, who is the lord of the manor."

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