| Peak Cavern | |
|---|---|
 Peak Cavern entrance | |
| Location | Castleton, Derbyshire |
| Geology | Limestone |
The Peak Cavern, also known as the Devil's Arse, [1] [2] is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England. Peakshole Water flows through and out of the cave, which has the largest cave entrance in Britain.
Unlike the other show caves in the area, Peak Cavern is almost entirely natural; the only artificial part of the cave was blasted to bypass a low tunnel that was only accessible by lying down on a boat. The cave system is the largest in the Peak District, and the main entrance is the largest cave entrance in Britain. Until 1915, the cave was home to some of Britain's last [note 1] troglodytes, who lived in houses built inside the cave mouth and made a living from rope making, while the depths of the cave were known as a haven for bandits.[ citation needed ] In legend, it was where thieves' cant was created by a meeting between Cock Lorel, leader of the rogues, and Giles Hather, the King of the Gypsies. [3]
Several passages lead from the entrance, known as "The Vestibule". The only one open to the public is "Lumbago Walk", named as traversing it requires most adults to stoop. The route continues through two main caverns, "The Great Cave" and "Roger Rain's House", and into a passage, "Pluto's Dining Room" – This is now the furthest point currently open to the public, but before 1990 the show cave extended almost twice its current length; down "The Devil's Staircase" to "Halfway House" along a raised bank path which crossed an underground stream known as "Inner Styx" via a series of four wooden bridges, under "Five Arches" to the junction of Buxton Water Sump. This section often floods in winter, and occasionally summer, which required regular clearing of debris and mending of the safety fences at the start of the tourist season in April (cave tours were not an all-year event until 1997). In the mid-1980s, there was a worldwide scare over the possible dangers of radon, a gas found to be present in this lower part of the cave and a potential issue for tour guides frequently exposed to it. This, along with the maintenance required, led to the Five Arches part of the tour being closed to the public in 1989, the same year that the BBC filmed The Chronicles of Narnia at this location. It can, however, still be accessed by cavers, and a ventilation system here expels cave air to surface at Cave Dale. [4] [5] [6] There have since been efforts to return this area of cave to a more natural state by erasing the history of its show-cave past, removing the wooden bridges which had served generations of paying visitors. [7]
From Five Arches, several routes are open to cavers. The main path, to the right, leads beneath "Victoria Aven", a sizeable natural shaft approximately 100 metres (300 ft) high, and on to "Far Sump", through which lies the Far Sump Extension. This area was first explored in 1980, but difficult access limited discoveries until routes through from Speedwell Cavern and James Hall's Over Engine Mine were opened in 1996. [5] This permitted further exploration, and in 1999 Titan Shaft was discovered, at 141.5 metres (464 ft) the deepest pitch in Britain.
Historically the cave was known as the Devil's Arse, under which name it is described in William Camden's Britannia of 1586:
...there is a cave or hole within the ground called, saving your reverence, The Devils Arse, that gapeth with a wide mouth and hath in it many turnings and retyring roomes, wherein, for sooth, Gervase of Tilbury, whether for want of knowing the truth, or upon a delight hee had in fabling, hath written that a Shepheard saw a verie wide and large Country with riverets and brookes running here and there through it, and huge pooles of dead and standing waters. Notwithstanding, by reason of these and such like fables, this Hole is reckoned for one of the wonders of England... [8]
The cavern was declared to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak by philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his 1636 book De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire, Commonly called The Devil's Arse of Peak. [9]
Daniel Defoe uses the same name in his A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain (1724–26):
...the so famed wonder call'd, saving our good manners, The Devil's A—e in the Peak'. [10]
and also mentions the shepherd story recorded by Gervase of Tilbury. The name of the cave was changed to "Peak Cavern" in 1880 in order not to cause offence to Queen Victoria during a visit for a concert. More recently the cave has been promoted using its older, more vulgar name. [1] The name may have arisen because of the flatulent-sounding noises from inside the cave when flood water is draining away.[ citation needed ]
The cavern has hosted concerts by Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley and The Vaccines. In 2013 the operators began promoting more concerts and events as a way to secure new streams of income. It was transformed into a cinema during Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2013 for a screening of The Summit [11] attended by 500 people. [12] The success of this event led to screenings every night during Doc/Fest 2014, including Happiness and Cave of Forgotten Dreams . [13] [14]
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 is subdivided into the Dark Peak, moorland dominated by gritstone, and the White Peak, a limestone area with valleys and gorges. The Dark Peak forms an arc on the north, east and west of the district, and the White Peak covers central and southern areas. The highest point is Kinder Scout. Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level. It lies close to Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. In 1974, the municipal borough merged with other nearby boroughs, including Glossop, to form the local government district and borough of High Peak.
Mam Tor is a 517 m (1,696 ft) hill near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England. Its name means "mother hill", so called because frequent landslips on its eastern face have resulted in a multitude of "mini-hills" beneath it. These landslips, which are caused by unstable lower layers of shale, also give the hill its alternative name of Shivering Mountain.
Castleton is a village in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, at the western end of the Hope Valley on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe, between the Dark Peak to the north and the White Peak to the south. The population was 642 at the 2011 Census.
The Blue John Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England. The others are Peak Cavern, Treak Cliff Cavern and Speedwell Cavern.
Speedwell Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England.
The Cave Diving Group (CDG) is a United Kingdom-based diver training organisation specialising in cave diving.
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.
Sheffield DocFest, is an international documentary festival and Industry Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England.
Cave Dale is a dry limestone valley in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It is located at grid reference SK149824. The northern end of the dale starts at the village of Castleton where the valley sides are almost perpendicular and over 50 metres (160 ft) in height. The dale rises gently after leaving Castleton for approximately 200 metres (220 yd) before becoming steeper culminating in a fine viewpoint down the dale taking in Peveril Castle with Lose Hill behind. After the viewpoint the dale swings west and levels out with gentle gradients, becoming just a shallow depression as it peters out onto the open pastureland between Castleton and Chapel-en-le-Frith.
Winnats Pass is a hill pass and limestone gorge in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. The name is a corruption of 'wind gates' due to the swirling winds through the pass. It lies west of the village of Castleton, in the National Trust's High Peak Estate and the High Peak borough of Derbyshire. The road winds through a cleft, surrounded by high limestone ridges. At the foot of the pass is the entrance to Speedwell Cavern, a karst cave accessed through a flooded lead mine, and which is a popular tourist attraction.
Trevor David Ford was an English geologist and author, best known for publishing the first report on the Precambrian fossil Charnia masoni in 1958. In addition to paleontology, his wide-ranging research encompassed geomorphology, speleology, studies of minerals and mineralisation, and mining history, and mainly focused on the Peak District. His academic career was at the Department of Geology of the University of Leicester, where he rose to be a senior lecturer (1980–87) and associate dean for combined studies in science. He was the founding editor of the journal now entitled Cave and Karst Science (1973–93), and published many books, both academic texts and books aimed at a broader audience, including cave guides, and guides to geology and minerals.
Poole's Cavern or Poole's Hole is a two-million-year-old natural limestone cave on the edge of Buxton in the Peak District, in the county of Derbyshire, England.
Titan is a natural cavern near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District, and is the deepest shaft of any known cave in Britain, at 141.5 metres (464 ft). The existence of Titan was revealed in November 2006, following its discovery on 1 January 1999 after cavers discovered connections from the James Hall Over Engine Mine to both Speedwell Cavern and Peak Cavern. Previously, the deepest known underground shaft in Britain had been Gaping Gill on the slopes of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales.
Giant's Hole is a well-known cave near Castleton in Derbyshire, consisting mostly of large passages. It is a stream-way cave, and part of the Karst topography of the area.
The Derbyshire Dome is a geological formation across mid-Derbyshire in England.
The Seven Wonders of the Peak were described in the 17th century by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his book De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire, Commonly called The Devil's Arse of Peak. The wonders refer to places to visit in the Peak District of Derbyshire in England.
Grin Low is a hill overlooking Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The summit is 434 metres (1,424 ft) above sea level.
St Ann's Well is an ancient natural warm spring in Buxton, Derbyshire in England. The drinking well is located at the foot of The Slopes and opposite the Crescent hotel and the Old Hall Hotel.
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