The Peak District - A Brief History

The oldest thing you will see in the Peak District is the Limestone which is exposed in many parts of the White Peak. The limestone was formed during the Carboniferous period, some 350 million years ago, at that time the Peak District was near the equator & was submerged under warm tropical seas. The limestone is actually made up of millions & millions of tiny fossilised sea creatures.

In the White Peak you will see many steep sided hills such as Parkhouse & Chrome hill near Longnor or the rock pinnacles of Dovedale. These ‘peaks’ are made up of a harder form of limestone formed by the build up of coral reefs in this ancient tropical sea.

The valleys, gorges & caves which characterise the Peak District were formed by the action of melt water during a succession of ice ages. The higher moorland areas of the Dark Peak where formed by the build up of course sediments & grits which were deposited by vast deltas from rivers flowing from the north. These sediments lie on top of the limestone & have been compacted over time to form the Gritstone which can be seen today.

The first evidence of man can be found after the retreat of the last ice age some 10,000 years ago. Early ‘microliths’ – tiny flakes of flint have been found providing evidence of Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) man. Remains of Neolithic (New Stone Age) man have been found in many caves & rock shelters throughout the Peak.

The most spectacular of the late Stone Age or early Bronze Age monuments can be found at Arbor Low, near Youlgrave. Dating to around 2500BC this stone circle was probably used by tribe leaders for meetings & ceremonies. There are 40 stones in total, each weighing around 8 tonnes.

Over 500 Iron Age burial mounds have been found in the Peak District which are usually found at high points at the tops of hills. Ironically these Tumuli often carry the suffix ‘low’ from the Old English Hlaw for burial ground. If you see a place preceding the word ‘low’ the likelihood is that the place is on high ground.

There are also a number of Iron Age forts in the Peak District such as the fort at Mam Tor, near Castleton or Carl Wark, near to Hathersage. These would have been meeting places for ‘The Pecsaete’ or ‘People of the Peak’.

The Romans came to the Peak District to make use of the abundant supplies of lead. Remains of Roman Forts can be found at Navio, near Brough in the Hope Valley, Melandra, near Glossop and Buxton started as a Roman Spa town called Aquae Arnemetiae.

The Dark Ages left their mark with the finest collection of Celtic crosses outside of Northumbria. Good examples of these interesting crosses can be found all over the Peak District in places such as Glossop, Bakewell, Hope & Eyam.

After the Norman Conquest large areas of the Dark Peak were set aside for hunting as the Royal Forest of the Peak. The forest was administered from Peveril Castle, near Castleton.

The Middle Ages saw a period of building which left behind many grand examples of Medieval architecture such as Haddon Hall, near Bakewell or Eyam Hall at Eyam.

This period started a trend which continued for hundreds of years & changed the Peak District landscape dramatically. This trend was the building of Drystone Walls which form an enormous web across the Peak. As wealthy landowners took more and more land for cultivation the open land was gradually enclosed. The major landowners of the time were the Dukes of Devonshire from Chatsworth & the Dukes of Rutland from Haddon. Many more walls were created as farmers & landowners divided their land between their sons to create the picturesque network of walls we see today.

Mining & Quarrying left their mark on the landscape, especially during the 18th & 19th centuries. There is still a large amount of quarrying which continues today, a number of quarries can be found outside Buxton & is often cause for public concern. Many railroads into the Peak were constructed to transport the quarried stone to the lowland canals south of Matlock & Ashbourne.

The Industrial Revolution also left its mark with many mills springing up in places such as Cromford, Glossop, Cressbrook & Litton. Many of these old mills are now being turned into flats, which provide valuable homes for local people as there is very limited building allowed in the Peak District & as house prices increase new generations are finding that they simply cannot afford to live in the places they were raised.

As the surrounding cities of Manchester, Sheffield & Derby continued to spread, large reservoirs were constructed in many parts of the Peak District. These reservoirs blend perfectly into the surrounding landscape & have now become attractions in their own right, most notably the reservoirs at Howden & Derwent, constructed between 1901 & 1916 & Ladybower, constructed in the 1930’s.

As the populations of the surrounding cities increased so did the pressure to gain access to this ‘green island’, however the Enclosure Movement prevented the general public from accessing the majority of the Peak District countryside. This pressure culminated in the Mass Trespass which took place on Kinder Scout, above Hayfield in 1932.

The Peak District became Britain’s first National Park in 1951 which sought to preserve the landscape from unsuitable industrial & residential development. This National Park status has helped to preserve the beautiful landscape which we still see today.