The immediate approach to Castleton by the road across the mountains is by a deep descent, called the Winnets, or Wind-gates, "from the stream of air (says Mr. Warner) that always sweeps through the chasm. This road is a mile in length, and carried on in a winding direction, in order to render the natural declivity of the ground passable by carriages. Happy was the imagination that first suggested its name, The gates or portals of the winds; since, wild as these sons of the tempests are, the massive rocks which Nature here presents seem to promise a barrier sufficiently strong to controul their maddest fury. Precipices 108 feet in height, dark, rugged, and perpendicular, heave their unwieldy forms on each side the road, which makes several inflections in its descent, and frequently presenting themselves in front threaten opposition to all further progress. At one of these sudden turns, to the left, a most beautiful view of Castleton Vale is unexpectedly thrown upon the eye, refreshing it with a rich picture of beauty, fertility, and variety, after the tedious uniformity of rude and hideous scenery to which it has so long been confined."

Castleton takes its name from an ancient castle, situated on a steep rock, to which there is but one ascent, and that so winding, that it is nearly two miles to the top. The Castle-yard, a large area, extending almost over the whole summit of the eminence, was enclosed by a stone wall, which towards the town is still 20 feet high in some places, but the ground within is mostly level with the top of it: at the point of a rock, jutting over the mouth of the Great Cavern stands the Keep, the walls of which on the south and west sides are pretty entire, and at the north-west corner are upwards of 50 feet in height; but the north and east sides are much shattered. "It consisted (says Mr. Bray) of two rooms only, one on the ground floor, and one above, over which the roof was raised, not flat, but with gable ends to the north and south, the outer walls rising above it. The ground floor was about 14 feet high, as well as can be discovered from the rubbish now fallen on the bottom ; the other room was 16 feet high. There was no entrance to the lower room from the outside (what is now used as an entrance being only a hole broke through the wall at the corner where the staircase is), but a flight of steps led to a door in the south side of the upper room, the door being seven feet high, and about four and a half wide. It is said that steps are remembered to have been there, but are now quite destroyed. The places where the hinges of the door were placed, now remain, and on one side is a hole in the wall, in which the bar to fasten the door was put.—This castle was used for the keeping the records of the miners’ courts, till they were removed to Tutbury Castle, in the time of Queen Elizabeth. An entrenchment, which begins at the lower end of the valley, called the Cave, enclosed the town, ending at the Great Cavern, and forming a semicircle ; this is now called the Town Ditch, but the whole of it cannot easily be traced, having been destroyed in many parts by buildings and the plough.

It is most probable that this was a Norman structure built by William Peverel, a natural son of the Conqueror; to whom likewise the traditions of the neighbourhood ascribe its erection. It is, however, certain, that, at the time of the Doomsday survey, it was in the possession of Peverel, by the name of the Castle of the Peke, together with the honour and forest, and 13 other lordships in this county.

Under the hill on which this castle stands is the celebrated cavern, called the Peak Cavern, or Devil’s Cave, another wonder of the Peak: the entrance to which is very magnificent, being in a dark and gloomy recess, formed by a chasm in the rocks, which range perpendicularly on each side to a considerable height. On the steep side of the mountain is a large opening, almost in the form of an old Gothic arch, extending in width 120 feet, and in height 42. This arch, which is formed by Nature at the bottom of a rock, whose height is 87 yards, is chequered with a diversity of coloured stones, from which continually drops a sparry water that petrifies. Immediately within this arch is a cavern nearly of the same height and width, and in receding depth about 90 feet; the roof of this place, which is of solid rock, is flat, and looks dreadful over head, having nothing but the side walls to support it.— Within this gulf some twine-makers have established their manufactory and residence, and the combination of their machines and rude dwellings, with the sublime features of the natural scenery, has a very singular effect. Towards the farther end, from the entrance, the roof comes down with a gradual slope to about two feet from the surface of a water 14 yards over, the rock in that place forming a kind of arch, under which the visitant is conveyed in a small boat; beyond this stream is a spacious vacuity, opening in the bosom of the rocks ; and in a passage at the inner extremity of this vast cavern, the stream which flows through the bottom spreads into what is called the second water ; but this can generally be passed on foot, though at other times the assistance of the guide is requisite; at a short distance farther is a third water, where the rock sloping, as it were, almost down to the surface of the water, puts an end to the traveller’s search. Another curious object for inspection in this neighbourhood, is the Speedwell Level or Navigation Mine, which is situated near the foot of the Winnets in the Mountainous range called the Long Cliff. "This level (says a modern writer) was originally driven in search of lead ore, by a company of adventurers from Staffordshire, who commenced their undertaking about 30 years ago, but with such little success, that, after an expenditure of 14,0001. and eleven years ceaseless labour exerted in vain, the works were obliged to be abandoned. The descent is beneath an arched vault, by a flight of 106 steps, which leads to the sough, or level, where a boat is ready for the reception of the visitor, who is impelled along the stream by the motion communicated to the boat by the guide, through pushing against wooden pegs driven into the sides of the rock at six feet distance from each other. The depth of the water is about three feet; the channel through which it proceeds was blasted through the heart of a rock, which was found of such solidity and hardness, that implements of sufficient temper could hardly be procured to penetrate it. As the boat proceeds, several veins of lead ore may be observed in the rock, but of insufficient value to defray the expence of working them.

"At the distance of 650 yards from the entrance, the level bursts into a tremendous gulf, whose roof at bottom is completely invisible ; but across which the navigation has been carried by flinging a stone arch over a part of the fissure where the rocks are least separated. Here leaving the boat, and ascending a stage erected above the level, the attention of the visitor is directed to the dark recesses of the abyss beneath his feet; and firm, indeed, must be his resolution, if he can contemplate its depths unmoved, or hear them described, without an involuntary shudder. To the depth of ninety feet all is vacuity and gloom; but beyond that commences a pool of Stygian waters, not unaptly named the Bottomless Pit; whose prodigious range may in some measure be conceived, from the circumstance of its having swallowed up more than 40,000 tons of rubbish made in blasting the rock, without any apparent diminution either in its depth or extent. The guide indeed informs you that the former has not been ascertained; yet we have reason to believe that this is incorrect, and that its actual depth in standing water is about 320 feet. There cannot, however, be a doubt but that this abyss has communications with others, still more deeply situated in the bowels of the mountain, and into which the precipitated rubbish has found a passage. The superfluous water of the level falls through a water-gate into this profound cauldron, with a noise like a rushing torrent. This fissure is calculated at being nearly 280 yards below the surface of the mountain ; and so great is its reach upwards, that rockets of sufficient strength to ascend 450 feet, have been fired without rendering the roof visible. The effect of a Bengal light discharged in this stupendous cavity is extremely magnificent and interesting. Beyond the fissure the level has been driven to a similar length to that part which precedes it; but in this division of its course little occurs to excite observation."

The hills on the different sides of Castleton produce stone of very different quality. Those on the south, on one of which the castle stands, furnish a stone which burns into lime, and is used for manure ; those on the north yield a grit stone fit for building. The hill on the north when viewed at a distance, appears brown and barren, but is in fact very good pasture ; and the Yorkshire drovers bring their cattle here the beginning of May, and keep them all the summer. On ascending this hill, Castleton dale spreads before you, and on gaining the summit a sequestered valley, called Edale, opens to the view in a beautiful manner. It is wide and fertile, the enclosures running up the sides of the hills, and yearly increasing. Other small dales come into it from between other hills, and their verdure is contrasted by the brown tops of the yet uncultivated ridges.

CASTLETON is a township, parish and well-built village, 2 miles from Hope station, on the Dore and Chinley section of the Midland Railway, 12 north-west from Bakewell, 16 west from Sheffield, 6 North from Tideswell, and 7 east from Chapel-en-le-Frith, in the High Peak division of the county, hundred of High Peak, Chapel-en-le-Frith union, petty sessional division and county court district, rural deanery of Eyam, archdeaconry of Derby, and diocese of Southwell. A small stream issues from the great cavern of Peak Hole here, and joins the river Derwent. In 1269 the church (then called the church of Peak Castle”) was given by Prince Edward (afterwards Edward I.) to the Abbey of Vale Royal, Cheshire; the present church of St. Edmund is an edifice of stone, in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled tower at the west, and with crocketed pinnacles at the angles, and smaller pinnacles between these, and contains a clock and 8 bells, dating from 1803 to 1812; the pews are of black oak, for the most part curiously carved, and some of them bear the names of their former owners, and there is an ancient octagonal font; a fine Norman arch with enriched mouldings divides the nave from the chancel, in which is a memorial window of three lights, erected by the parishioners to the Rev. Charles Cecil Bates M.A. for 35 yeans vicar here, who died 4 Jan. 1853; there is a marble monument to John Mawe, a native mineralogist of some celebrity, who is buried in St. Mary in the Strand, London; on the opposite side of the church is a tablet to Micah Hall, gent, attorney-at-law, d. 14 May, 1804, with this inscription, said to have been written by himself:-“Quid eram, nescitis; quid sum, nescitis; ubi abii, nescitis; Valete:” the vestry, north of the chancel, contains a library of upwards of 1,000 volumes, embracing works on divinity, history, biography and other subjects, many of them being rare and valuable; this library was first finned by the Rev. Frederick Farran, a former vicar, who died in 1819, and presented most of the books, although additions have been made by other generous donors; among them will be found copies of Archbishop Cranmer’s, or the great Bible, in black letter, dated 1539; and the “Breeches Bible” of 1611; there is also a Genevan translation of the Bible by refugees driven thither from England during the Marian persecution; the exterior was partially restored about 1837; in 1886 the chancel was modified and a portion of the vestry now forms the organ chamber and a stone screen has been added; in 1887 a chiming clock was placed in the tower; there are 250 sittings; in the churchyard is an inscribed gravestone to Elias Hall, a local geologist of considerable eminence, who died 30th December, 1853, aged 89 years. The register dates from the year 1633. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £210, with 47 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Bishop of Southwell, and held since 1892 by the Rev. Robert Jocelyn Charles Orde LL.M. of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. There is a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1898, with 250 sittings, and a Primitive Methodist chapel, built in 1809. There are numerous bequests for the poor and other purposes:-Bagshaw's Gift in 1649 devised a house (used as a school) and garden at Castleton, with lands at Edale, consisting of 65 acres of inclosure, with common rights, to trustees, who were to pay the rents accruing therefrom towards the schooling of poor children in Castleton parish; Bennett’s Charity of 1720 provides that the sum of £2 be distributed amongst the poor each year at Christmas, at the discretion of the vicar and churchwardens; in 1781, Alice Staveley gave the sum of £5 to be placed in the hands of the overseers of the poor who should pay the full interest thereof to such poor people as should have had no weekly pay from the town, on St. Thomas’ day in each year. The castle is still the property of the crown and is held under lease by the Duke of Devonshire K.G. from the Duchy of Lancaster, to which it was granted in the person of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. in the 14th century. The mine from which the Blue Derbyshire spar is obtained, and the lofty hill called “Mam Tor,” or the Shivering Mountain, are situate here, and are visited by large numbers of persons. The natural caverns in the limestone hills here are very interesting and attract large numbers of visitors; of these the most famous is the Peak cavern, situated close to the village and beneath the ruins of William Peveril’s castle; the rocks at the entrance are 261 feet high and a large cave 114 feet wide is used as a rope-walk; within are a series of caves, the largest of which is 270 feet long, 210 wide and 150 high; the stream called “the Noe” flows through this cavern; about half-a-mile from the village is the Speedwell cavern, discovered during a search for lead ore; it is said that £14,000 were expended in 11 years in blasting out the level, which is 750 yards in length, and being now partially filled by a stream of water forms a subterranean canal through which visitors are taken in a boat to inspect the natural cavern, a gigantic fissure 280 yards below the surface of the mountain, and containing an abyss into whose unfathomable depths there plunges a rushing torrent. About a mile from the village are the Blue John mine and caverns, where alone the fluor spar of that name is obtained; there are 14 varieties of this spar which is coloured by oxides of manganese and iron and is worked into many ornamental articles. The mine workings branch off at different points from the natural caverns in the limestone, some of which are of immense dimensions, varying in height from 90 to 250 feet, and contain stalactites, stalagmites, marine shells, carrolloids, madrepores and lily encrinite. Visitors are usually shown to a distance of 500 yards from the entrance, but the ramifications of caves, natural passages and mine workings would amount to 4 miles in length. The well locally known as “Russet Well” is 10 ft deep, and has been excavated in the solid rock; it is estimated to have an average flow of 4,000 gallons a minute. In 1785, Mary Staveley by will gave £5 in trust, interest to be divided amongst those poor who had received no relief from the town; in the parliamentary returns of 1786 it is stated that in 1706, Thomas Dakin gave £5 to the poor, then in the hands of the overseers of the poor, and producing the yearly sum of 5s.; How’s Charity, dated 1818, devises £40 on trust, the interest to be applied in payment of £1 annually amongst the poor of Castleton, on St. Thomas’ day of each year at the discretion of the churchwardens, overseers and principal inhabitants of the town, and £1 yearly to the bell-ringers of Castleton, for ringing a special peal on every 19th of August; there are also Pott’s and Tym’s gifts; Bray’s, Needham’s and Gisborne’s Charities, to be applied to the relief of the poor in the parish.

Fairs for cattle are held on the 3rd Wednesday in March, the 21st of April, the 1st Wednesday in October and 3rd Wednesday in November.

The Castle of the Peak, the ruins of which still remain, was erected by William Peveril, “a Norman adventurer,” who, by favour of the Conqueror, became one of the greatest landowners in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and held this place at the time of the Domesday survey. The castle stands on a precipitous and almost inaccessible eminence on the south side of the Vale of Hope, close to Mam Tor; the position being one of great natural strength; on the west side is a frightful precipice, at the foot of which is the cavern called “the Devil’s Hole;” the south side, though less steep, is equally insurmountable and the end and side towards the valley are both very toilsome of ascent. The actual site of the castle forms a triangular-shaped area 200 feet in length from east to west and 100 feet and 60 feet wide at the east and west ends respectively; and the whole area is encircled by a curtain wall of masonry, a portion of which exhibits rude herring-bone work, and probably formed part of the Norman fortress built about 1068; the entrance to the court was through a gateway at the south-east corner, part of which yet remains. The keep tower, built in 1176, at a cost of £135, a sum equal at least to £3,000 in the present day, has all the characteristics of a Late Norman rectangular keep, and is about 60 feet high; 21 ft. 3 in. by 19 ft. 2 in. measured internally, and has walls 8 feet thick; at the base is a high plinth of two stages, and the faces of the tower are relieved by broad flat pilaster buttresses at each side, rising into the parapet, and by a third in the middle, but on the north and east sides the whole of the ashlar facing has been removed; the interior had four storeys, and the entrance, was on the south side. William Peveril, the builder of the castle, died about 1114; and in 1155, his son, of the same name, was disinherited by the king for murder, and his estates forfeited to the crown; and in 1157 Henry II. came here, and received in the castle the submission of Malcolm (the Maiden) King of Scotland, and he again visited it in 1158 and 1164. The manor forms part of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Duke of Devonshire K.G. being the lessee. The principal landowners are Samuel Needham esq. of Chapel-en-le-Frith, Robert How Ashton esq. Isaac Hall esq. of Macclesfield, the trustees of the late Joseph Hall esq. and the Champion family, of Edale. The soil is clay and gravel on limestone; the land is mostly in pasture, the chief crop is hay. The area is 2,908 acres; rateable value, £3,970; the population in 1891 was 541.

National School (mixed), erected in 1863, for 110 children; average attendance, 80; the school has a yearly endowment of £28.