Manifold | |
---|---|
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | South of Buxton near Axe Edge |
Mouth | |
• location | Confluence with the Dove |
• coordinates | 53°3′0″N1°47′5″W / 53.05000°N 1.78472°W Coordinates: 53°3′0″N1°47′5″W / 53.05000°N 1.78472°W |
Length | 12 miles (19 km) |
Basin size | 9,111 hectares (22,510 acres) [1] |
Basin features | |
Progression | Dove—Trent—Humber—North Sea |
Tributaries | |
• right | Oakenclough Brook, Warslow Brook, Hoo Brook, River Hamps |
The River Manifold is a river in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Dove (which also flows through the Peak District, forming the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire).
The Manifold rises at Flash Head [2] just south of Buxton near Axe Edge, [3] at the northern edge of the White Peak, known for its limestone beds. It continues for 12 miles (19 km) [4] before it joins the Dove. For part of its course, it runs underground (except when in spate), from Wetton Mill to Ilam. [2] During this section it is joined by its major tributary, the River Hamps.
Villages on the river include Longnor, Hulme End and Ilam.
Its name may come from Anglo-Saxon manig-fald = "many folds", referring to its meanders.
The Manifold Way is an 8-mile (13 km) long-distance footpath from Hulme End to Waterhouses, along the former route of the narrow-gauge (2' 6") Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway which operated between 1904 and 1934. [5] Opened in July 1937 after the LMS handed over the trackbed to Staffordshire County Council, it is tarmacked throughout.
The Manifold Valley Visitor Centre is housed in Hulme End Station, which also has a model of the railway. [6]
[ citations needed ]The limestone cliffs that fringe the valley contain several rock-climbing areas, and named rock features, including Thor's Cave (grid reference SK098549 ) and Beeston Tor (grid reference SK105540 ), which overlooks the confluence with the River Hamps.
The Manifold valley was famous for the mining of copper and lead, and the mines at Ecton were some of the richest in the country. The discovery of Stone Age implements in some of the caves imply that minerals were mined around the Manifold valley thousands of years ago. Nowadays there is little trace of the industry that made many people (mainly the Duke of Devonshire who at one time owned the Ecton mines) very rich. [3] The main areas of interest are around Ecton where the old spoil banks and the old engine house still remain.
The river has been noted as being important for European bullhead and lamprey. In the underground section of the river where it resurfaces at Ilam, the bullhead have no pigmentation. It was previously a stronghold for white-clawed crayfish, but most of the river's population were wiped out by crayfish plague in 2008. [7] Crayfish have been noted in the tributaries of the Manifold and it is hoped that re-colonisation can be achieved by the surviving upstream crayfish.
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorland is found and the geology gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west sides; the White Peak covers central and southern tracts. The historic Peak District extends beyond the National Park, which excludes major towns, quarries and industrial areas. It became the first of the national parks of England and Wales in 1951. Nearby Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and Sheffield send millions of visitors – some 20 million live within an hour's ride. Inhabited from the Mesolithic era, it shows evidence of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Settled by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons, it remained largely agricultural; mining arose in the Middle Ages. Richard Arkwright built cotton mills in the Industrial Revolution. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.
Hartington is a village in the centre of the White Peak area of the Derbyshire Peak District, England, lying on the River Dove which is the Staffordshire border. According to the 2001 census, the parish of Hartington Town Quarter, which also includes Pilsbury, had a population of 345 reducing to 332 at the 2011 Census. Formerly known for cheese-making and the mining of ironstone, limestone and lead, the village is now popular with tourists.
Ilam is a village in the Staffordshire Peak District of England, lying on the River Manifold. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 402.
The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, England that operated between 1904 and 1934. The line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge system. It also provided passenger services to the small villages and beauty spots along its route. The line was built to a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge and to the light rail standards provided by the Light Railways Act 1896 to reduce construction costs.
The River Dove is the principal river of the southwestern Peak District, in the Midlands of England and is around 45 miles (72 km) in length. It rises on Axe Edge Moor near Buxton and flows generally south to its confluence with the River Trent at Newton Solney. From there, its waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. For almost its entire course it forms the boundary between the counties of Staffordshire and Derbyshire. The river meanders past Longnor and Hartington and cuts through a set of deep limestone gorges, Beresford Dale, Wolfscote Dale, Milldale and Dovedale.
Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust, and annually attracts a million visitors. The valley was cut by the River Dove and runs for just over 3 miles (5 km) between Milldale in the north and a wooded ravine near Thorpe Cloud and Bunster Hill in the south. In the wooded ravine, a set of stepping stones cross the river, and there are two caves known as the Dove Holes.
Thor's Cave is a natural cavern located at SK09865496 in the Manifold Valley of the White Peak in Staffordshire, England. It is classified as a karst cave. Located in a steep limestone crag, the cave entrance, a symmetrical arch 7.5 metres wide and 10 metres high, is prominently visible from the valley bottom, around 80 metres (260 feet) below. Reached by an easy stepped path from the Manifold Way, the cave is a popular tourist spot, with views over the Manifold Valley. The second entrance is known as the "West Window", below which is a second cave, Thor's Fissure Cavern.
Beeston Tor is a limestone cliff in Staffordshire. It overlooks the confluence of the River Hamps with the River Manifold, and is a popular venue for rock climbing.
The River Hamps is a river in Staffordshire, England. It is tributary of the River Manifold, which itself flows into the River Dove near Ilam. For much of its length the river flows through the Peak District National Park.
Waterhouses is a village in the south of the Staffordshire Peak District in England. It is around 8 miles from Leek and Ashbourne, being nearly the halfway point between the two towns on the A523 road, which roughly follows the southern boundary of the Peak District National Park. Waterhouses is also a civil parish, created in 1934 when the parishes of Calton, Cauldon, Waterfall and part of Ilam were merged; previously the village of Waterhouses was on the boundary of Waterfall and Cauldon parishes. The hamlet of Winkhill is also in the parish. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,134.
Axe Edge Moor is the major moorland southwest of Buxton in the Peak District. It is mainly gritstone. Its highest point is at grid reference SK035706. This is slightly lower than Shining Tor.
Ecton is a hamlet in the Staffordshire Peak District. It is on the Manifold Way, an 8-mile (13 km) walk and cycle path that follows the line of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway. Population details as at the 2011 census can be found under Ilam.
The Manifold Way is a footpath and cycle way in Staffordshire, England. Some 8 miles (13 km) in length, it runs from Hulme End (53.1307°N 1.8480°W) in the north to Waterhouses (53.0480°N 1.8654°W) in the south, mostly through the Manifold Valley and the valley of its only tributary, the River Hamps, following the route of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway, a 2 ft 6 in gauge line which closed in 1934 after a short life.
Grindon is a small village in the Staffordshire Peak District of England.
Thorpe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire; it is on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border, on the east bank of the River Dove, about four miles north of Ashbourne. The population of the civil parish as at the 2011 census was 183.
Hulme End is a small hamlet in Staffordshire, England. It is located in the Peak District National Park about 10 miles north of Ashbourne. A natural gateway to the Manifold valley, the settlement is located beside the river Manifold where it crosses the road from Hartington to Warslow.
Wetton is a village in the Peak District National Park, North Staffordshire, at the top of the east side of the Manifold Valley. The population recorded in the 2001 Census was 157. At the time of the 2011 Census the population was recorded under Ilam. This article describes the location, some of the main features of the village, and a number of places of historical or general interest in or near the village. These include Long Low, Wetton, a prehistoric burial site unique to England.
The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular 190-mile (310 km) walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District and was launched on 17 June 2017.
The Derbyshire Dome is a geological formation across mid-Derbyshire in England.
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