HOTELS. CASTLETON. Castle (maximum charges)-Bed 1s. 6d., breakfast 2s., lunch 1s., dinner 2s. 6d., tea 1s. 9d., supper 1s. 6d. Nag's Head-(charges moderate but not fixed). Bull's Head-Bed 1s., living according to order. [Mr. Dakin the proprietor has a neat furnished cottage, where board and lodging may be had at the following weekly rate :— Gentlemen 24s., Ladies 20s.] From Buxton 12 m.; from Chatsworth by Hathersage 14 m.; from Stoney Middleton 10 m.; from Chesterfield 21 m.; from Matlock 24 m. The walk or drive from Buxton to Castleton possesses many attractions. The road passes by the village of Fairfield, which, from its elevated position, commands one of the finest and most extensive views in the neighbourhood. From Fairfield it continues along the old Roman road, the Batham Gate, past the Marvel Stones, an extensive group of limestone rocks cropping out from the surface. Immediately beyond the Marvel Stones is the hamlet of Peak Forest, with its quaint old chapel, which until late years enjoyed the same privileges as Gretna Green, and was used to no small extent for the solemnization of runaway matches. The hamlet is a very picturesque one, and there are many curious traditions connected with it. Near the road is the famous ebbing and flowing well, one of the most remarkable of any of the intermitting springs in this district. At this well, after much rain, the flow is frequently about every ten minutes, and the quantity of water poured out is very considerable. It is considered one of the wonders of Derbyshire, and is well worthy a visit. It is defended by a stone wall, under which are openings, nine in number, through which the water flows. "It continues to flow for about five minutes; and in this space of time it is supposed to throw out 120 hogsheads of water." Those acquainted with the action of the syphon will have no difficulty in accounting for the ebbing and flowing well. It is only necessary to suppose a cavity in the rock, in which to collect the rain water as it falls; and a syphon-shaped fissure to conduct it to the well. When the internal cavity becomes filled with water beyond the level of the upper bend of the fissure, the water immediately *Gem of the Peak, p. 329. commences to flow, and will continue until the cavity becomes empty, when of course there will be an ebb until the rain has again filled it. THE VILLAGE OF CASTLETON lies in a dale immediately at the foot of Mam Tor, one of the highest mountains in the Peak, having an altitude of above 2000 feet above the level of the sea. It is crowned on its southern side by a steep and commanding eminence, on the summit of which stands the fine old Norman castle of "Peveril of the Peak," from which it takes its name. The church has three interesting monuments, the first to the memory of the mineralogist Mawe, the second to the Rev. Edward Bagshaw, a clergyman much and deservedly esteemed in the Peak, and the third to an attorney named Micha Hall. On the latter is an inscription in Latin, said to have been written by himself. It is characteristic of anything but a liberal mind. The following is the translation: "What I was you know not-What I am you know not-Whither I am gone you know not-Go about your business." There is an excellent library attached to the church. There are three museums in the village for the sale of Derbyshire productions. THE CASTLE is said to have been built by the Saxons, who worked the Odin lead mine in the neigh * Sir Walter Scott, in the first chapter of "Peveril of the Peak," writes the following: 'William, the Conqueror of England, was, or supposed himself to be, the father of a certain William Peveril, who attended him to the battle of Hastings, and there distinguished himself. The liberal-minded monarch, who assumed in his charters the veritable title of Gulielmus Bastardus, was not likely to let his son's illegitimacy be any bar to the course of his royal favour, when the laws of England were issued from the mouth of the Norman victor, and the lands of the Saxons were at his unlimited disposal. William Peveril obtained a liberal grant of property and lordships in Derbyshire, and became the erector of that Gothic fortress, which, hanging over the mouth of the Devil's Cavern, so well known to tourists, gives the name of Castleton to the adjacent village. From this feudal baron, who chose his nest upon the principles on which an eagle selects her eyry, and built it in such a fashion as if he had intended it, as an Irishman said of the Martello towers, for the sole purpose of puzzling posterity, there was, or conceived themselves to be, descended (for their pedigree was rather hypothetical), an opulent family of knightly rank, in the same county of Derby. The great fief of Castleton, with its adjacent wastes and forests, and all the wonders which they contain, had been forfeited, in King John's stormy days, by one William Peveril, and had been granted anew to the Lord Ferrers of that day. Yet this William's descendants, though no longer possessed of what bourhood, so celebrated for its elastic bitumen. Pilkington gives an account of a grand tournament which took place here. A half-brother of William, named "Pain Peveril, Lord of Whittington, in the county of Salop, had two daughters; one of whom, named Mellet, was no less distinguished by a martial spirit than her father. This appeared from the declaration she made regarding the choice of a husband. She firmly resolved to marry none but a knight of great prowess; and her father, to confirm her purpose, and to procure and encourage a number of visitors, invited all noble young men who were inclined to enter the lists, to meet at Peveril's Palace in the Peke, and there decide their pretensions by the use of arms; declaring at the same time, that whoever vanquished his competitors should receive his daughter, with his castle at Whittington, as a reward for his skill and valour. Guarine de Metz, a branch of the house of Lorraine, and an ancestor of the Lords Fitz-Warrine, hearing this report, repaired to the place above mentioned, and there engaged with a son of the king of Scotland, and also with a baron of Burgoyne, and, vanquishing them both, obtained the prize for which he fought." The castle belonged, at the time of the taking of the Domesday survey, to William Peveril, the manor having been given him by his father, William the Conqueror, and is therein described as Terra Castelli William Peverell in Pecke fers." The Derbyshire estates, however, were not long held by the family, for William, a grandson of the first Peveril, having been concerned in the poisoning of the Earl of Chester, forfeited his estates, which were granted by Henry II. to his son John, Earl of Morteyne, afterwards King John. In the sixth year of John, Hugh de Neville was governor of the castle, and it was afterwards in the hands of the rebellious barons. In 1215 William de Ferrars, Earl of Derby, assaulted it and took it for the king, and was appointed governor. He was succeeded by the Earl of Chester. The castle then continued a royal one under different governors, and was then, by Edward II., granted to John, Earl of Warren, and Edward III. gave it, in his second year, as a part of the portion of Joan, his sister, on her marriage with David, Prince of Scotland, and afterwards it was granted in 46th Edward III. to John of Gaunt, from whom it has descended as part of the Duchy of Lancaster. they alleged to have been their original property, were long distinguished by the proud title of Peverils of the Peak, which served to mark their high descent and lofty pretensions." The castle as it now exists is one of the most interesting and curious Norman fortresses in existence. The keep and a portion of the walls are still standing, and are well worthy of the most careful examination. The masonry is of the most massive character, and the details of pure Norman work, including some herring-bone masonry, and other remains, are amongst the most valuable examples at present extant. The situation of the fortress is commanding in the extreme, and in the height of its glory the Castle of the Peak must have been one of the most powerful strongholds in the kingdom. "Sad are the ruthless ravages of time! The bulwark'd turret frowning once sublime "The rampant nettle now o'erspreads the halls, Wanderings of Memory, by Rev. A. G. Jewitt. The caverns are more interesting to ordinary sight-seers than the castle, though they miss that charm which history or romance throws around a spot. THE PEAK CAVERN is one of the finest specimens of a chambered cave in this country. It extends 2250 feet into the mountain, and is about 600 feet below its summit. This cavern is a quarter of a mile from the village, and is gained by following a pathway, through a chasm, between two tall cliffs, with a clear rivulet by its side. Taking a turn in the road, we front a huge mass of rock, in which is the grand natural archway composing the dark mouth of the cavern, and which archway is 42 feet in height, 120 feet in width, and 300 feet in depth. "Entering beneath it, and proceeding about thirty yards, the first compartment, through which a dubious twilight prevails, is crossed, the roof gradually becoming lower, and the excavation narrower, till a confined passage is reached, at which all trace of the blaze of day is lost. After traversing this aperture about twenty yards, the first great interior cavity is reached, and five other capacious openings follow." * Here the guides light the candles, and the remainder of the journey is accomplished with their assistance. For nearly thirty yards Caves of the Earth. the visitor has to walk in a stooping posture to a chamber called the BELL HOUSE, and thence he gains the margin of a subterranean lake, about fourteen feet across. Here a boat is put into requisition, though a way has been cut in the rock for those who object to lie down in the punt. The rock in one part approaches to within a foot and a half of the water, and when the stream is swollen with a fall of rain in the uplands, even this space is entirely filled by the flood, and thus all communication between the two halls is cut off, occasionally much to the discomfiture of the visitor. M. St. Fond says, "Here we stood some time on the brink; and as the light of our dismal torches, which emitted a black smoke, reflected our pale visages from the bottom of the lake, we almost conceived that we saw a troop of shades starting from an abyss to present themselves before us." The water is not usually more than three feet in depth. A chamber 210 feet broad, 220 long, and about 120 high, is next entered. Then follows an expansion of the stream termed the SECOND WATER, and shortly we reach ROGER RAIN'S HOUSE, so termed from the drops of water continually trickling from the roof. The CHANCEL, a rugged chamber, is next gained, and through a passage the DEVIL'S CELLAR. We now descend a passage 150 feet in length to the HALF-WAY HOUSE, and continuing our walk, enter a cavity termed GREAT TOM OF LINCOLN, from its bell-like shape. The cavern here diminishes in size until all passage is closed up, and the stream loses itself in the earth. Upon retracing his steps, the visitor is usually stayed at a point of rock which commands a view of the entrance, in order to observe the effect of the first return to the light of day. The exterior rocks, as seen from thence through the mouth of the chasm, appear as if highly illuminated; the plants and mosses, faded with the heat, and soiled with the dust of autumn, exhibit a vernal freshness; and the impression produced is that of a brilliant day reigning without, though the atmosphere may be hazy, and the sun veiled with clouds."* 66 THE SPEEDWELL MINE, at the entrance to the Winnats, scarcely a mile from Castleton, will well repay a visit. This is an artificial opening excavated in search of lead by a mining company, who, after expending £14,000, abandoned the attempt. The excavation is from 600 to 700 yards in length, and it then bursts into the most gigantic and extensive natural gulph ever discovered, and which, as yet, it has been impossible to fathom. It is in the first instance * Caves of the Earth. |