Cave Dale March 7, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in British Isles, Derbyshire, England, Great Britain, Peak District.Tags: bridle path, Castleton, Cave Dale, caverns, dale, Derby Ram, Derbyshire, Dove Valley, lead workings, limestone valley, Limestone Way, Matlock, Miller's Dale, Normans, outcroppings, Peak District, Peak District National Park, Peveril Castle, pitches, ridge, Rochester, rock climbing, Staffordshire, Tissington, walkers, Winster, Youlgrave
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Cave Dale, Castleton, Derbyshire
Here is a jewel of the Peak District National Park; Cave Dale is located immediately to the west of the ridge on which Peveril Castle stands. It is a steep sided limestone valley, or dale, in Derbyshire terms. Cave Dale’s steep sides are almost impossible for attackers to scale at this point, forming nearly sheer walls around 200 feet high, which is why the Normans (lead by William Peveril) chose this site for their castle. Underneath this dale, there are huge cave systems such as Peak Cavern, most of which can be accessed from Castleton. The dale is scattered with outcroppings of old lead workings, and some of these can be dangerous, so walkers need to be careful. Rock climbing enthusiasts enjoy the ‘pitches’ at the top end of the dale, as some of them are rated ‘Very Severe’.
If you look closely, you will see two walkers going down the dale, several hundred feet below you; they are on the Limestone Way, which goes from Castleton, all the way to Rochester in the Dove Valley in Staffordshire . The route is extremely interesting, affording many beautiful views of the Peak District, and includes such notable spots as Miller’s Dale, Youlgrave, Winster, Matlock, and Tissington (about 50 miles, in total). If you want to tread this pretty bridle path, then follow the small, green ‘Derby Ram’ signs!
Curtain wall, Peveril Castle January 29, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, Derbyshire, England, Peak District.Tags: Castles, Castleton, curtain wall, Derbyshire, England, glaciated valley, guard tower, Hope Valley, Mam Tor, Normans, Peak District National Park, Prehistory
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- Curtain wall, Peveril Castle
As I said earlier, the Normans erected a castle on the heights above Castleton which absolutely dominated the surrounding land. Nearly impregnable, it has finally fallen to the ravages of time. This is a section of the curtain wall enclosing the site, complete with one of the guard towers, facing the Hope Valley, and the fertile grazing land in the valley bottom. Close up, this section of the wall feels impressive, and I can imagine the feeling of awe this castle would generate in the local populace, and also the feeling of safety which led to them building their dwellings near to the castle walls.
St. Bartholomew’s, Burwash January 28, 2009
Posted by shortfinals in England, Literature, Rudyard Kipling.Tags: 'My Boy Jack', Bateman's, Battle Abbey, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Loos, Carrie Kipling, East Sussex, Irish Guards, iron-master, John Kipling, Kipling, Literature, Normans, Rudyard Kipling, Senlac Hill, St Bartholomew's, Victorians, war memorial, World War One
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St Bartholomew's, Burwash, East Sussex
That this church is beautiful there can be no doubt, but if the Victorians had left more than just the Norman tower to St Bartholomew’s, and not ‘restored’ it, I think we would all have enjoyed it even more. Dating from 1090 – only 24 years after the ‘dread fight on Senlac Hill’, the Battle of Hastings, it was built in the local style of stone and clay-tile. Senlac Hill, and Battle Abbey, are only 8 miles away, so this area was amongst the very first to feel the grip of the Normans.
Burwash had a world-famous inhabitant in Rudyard Kipling, who lived at nearby ‘Bateman’s’ a former iron-master’s house. The war memorial outside St Bartholomew’s bears an inscription to 2nd Lt John Kipling, Irish Guards – the author’s only son, who was reported wounded and missing on his first day in action, 27th September, 1915, during the Battle of Loos. Rudyard and Carrie Kipling searched for years for him, hoping that he was only incapacitated or a prisoner of war; it wasn’t until 1919 that they accepted his death. Kipling’s poem ‘My Boy Jack’, written in 1915, is extremely poignant.
Peveril Castle, Derbyshire December 11, 2008
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, Derbyshire.Tags: Derbyshire, Castles, Peak District National Park, England, Castleton, Normans, Codnor, William the Conqueror, English Heritage
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The Normans built a whole string of fortresses in the 11th and 12th centuries to enable them to hold sway over their newly conquered lands. William Peverel (note the spelling change), who was possibly the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror, had already started the Castle at Codnor close to the royal deer park (Codnor Park), and was now given the governance of the royal forest in the Peak. Another ’square keep and curtain wall’ castle was begun on a crag overlooking Cave Dale. A small town grew up, virtually in the shadow of the castle
Peveril Castle, Castleton, Derbyshire
and was called, naturally, Castleton. This area is the ONLY source of a semi-precious gemstone called ‘Blue John’, which, along with the caverns in these hills, forms the heart of the local tourist trade.
Alright, I know it’s not a castle, but… December 7, 2008
Posted by shortfinals in Castles, England.Tags: Castles, Normans, Romans, Eboracum, Jorvik, York, Vikings, River Fosse, River Ouse, oillet
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Base of tower, York
