CASTLETON is a parish and village, in the hundred of High Peak. 164 miles from London, 27 S.E. from Manchester, 10 N.E. from Buxton, and 7 E. from Chapel-en-le-Frith. It is situate at the bottom of the steep eminence, at whose feet the 'Peak Cavern' discloses itself, and the summit of which is occupied by an ancient castle that gives name to the place, This castle was erected by William Peveril, natural son of the Conqueror, and from its situation was called 'the Castle of the Peak', or 'Peak Castle.'

The extent of the ruins evinces the former magnitude of the building; the walls of the castle yard in some places are twenty feet high, and nine feet thick. The keep consists of two stories almost entire, and standing at the south-western point of a precipitous rock, towering above the mouth of the great cavern, to the height of fifty feet; the ruins are only to be approached with difficulty from the north. The entrance of the cave called the 'Peak Cavern', or 'Devil's Cave', is 120 feet in width, 42 in height, and above 90 in receding depth; from hence a gentle descent conducts to the interior of this tremendous hollow, which must be explored by torch-light; the entire length of the excavation is 750 yard and its depth from the surface of the mountain 207.

The buildings of the village are chiefly of stone; and the support of the inhabitants is derived from the mining business, and from the remarkable places in the neighbourhood, - as also from the sale of various ornamental articles formed from spar, which is here-about obtained in great variety and beauty: the mine of flour spar, or 'Blue John', is the only one of its kind in England; and its produce is worked into chimney and other ornaments, slabs, table tops, &c. Among the number of lead mines in this district, the most valuable and ancient is the 'Odin', which he supposed to have been opened in the time of the Danes. The King is lord of the manor; the Duke of Devonshire is grantee, by letters patent from the Crown, and holds a court-baron and court-leet at Easter of Michaelmas, and a court for the recovery of debts under £5.

The places of worship are the parish church, and a chapel for the methodists: the former is dedicated to St. Edmund, and the living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Bishop of Chester, who is also the impropriate rector; the present incumbent is the Rev. Charles Cecil Bates. Here is a free grammar school, endowed with lands producing £26. per annum, for the education of twenty-three children. Two annual fairs are held, one on the 21st of April, the other on the first Wednesday in October, for the sale of cattle, horses, cloth, cheese, and agricultural produce.

The parish of Castleton, including the chapelry of EDALE, contained, in 1821, 1,428 inhabitants, & in 1831, 1,329.

HOPE is a township and village (once a market-town), in the parish of its name, in the same hundred as Castleton, about 1 mile from that town, and about 5½ N. from Tideswell. The moors in this parish have afforded, in many instances, extraordinary properties in the preservation of human bodies buried in them; some having been discovered, after thirty years' interment, perfect and free from decomposition.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Peter, is an embattled structure, with a tower surmounted by a spire: the living is a vicarage, in the gift, of the dean and chapter of Lichfield; the present incumbent is the Rev. Francis Orton. Here is a small free school, for teaching reading and writing, to a limited number of children, established about a century ago. A market was anciently held here, and renewed by grant in 1735, but has fallen into disuse for several years. The fairs take place on the 28th of March, for cattle; the 13th of May (called 'the great fair'), for cattle, cloth, ironmongery, and pedlery: and another on the 2nd Tuesday in September, for cattle.

Hope parish contained, in 1821, 4,102 inhabitants, and in 1831, 3,927, of which last number 426 were returned for the township.

HATHERSAGE, a village and parish, is 5½ miles E. by S. from Castleton, in the same hundred as Hope, and 4 miles front that village. The branch of wire drawing, and the manufacture of needles, are carried on here extensively; and upon the Derwent, which flows through the parish, are corn mills, and one for the making of paper.

The places of worship are the parish Church, and a chapel each for Wesleyan methodists and Roman catholics. The church, which is dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient embattled structure: the interior contains some interesting monuments of the ancestors of the Earls of Newburg. On the south side of the church-yard, a spot marked by two stones, is pointed out as the place of interment of Little John, the favourite companion of Robin Hood. The living of Hathersage is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Duke of Devonshire, who is likewise lord of the manor, and holds a court-leet annually at Michaelmas. A fair is held here on the first Friday after Michaelmas-day, for cattle, sheep, and articles of pedlery.

The parish contained, in 1321, 1,856 inhabitants, and in 1831, 1,794, of which last number 722 were returned for the township.

BRADWELL is a populous hamlet, in the parish of Hope, about 2 miles S.E. from Castleton. The importance of this hamlet is chiefly derived from the mining operations carried on within it, and the lead smelting Works, belonging to Messrs. Furness & Co.; hats are also manufactured here by several individuals. In 1821 the number of inhabitants in the hamlet was 1,130, and in 1831, 1,153.

BROUGH and STRATTON [Ed: should be SHATTON] is a small hamlet, in Hope parish, 1 mile from that village, and 2½ miles E. of Castleton. This is said to have been the birth-place of ‘Peveril of the Peak’, the supposed founder of the original castles at Castleton and Bolsover, and the hero in Sir Walter Scott's novel of that name. Here is an extensive lace thread manufactory, the only branch of trade of consequence in the hamlet. The population of this place is on the decline - in 1821 it contained 93 inhabitants, and in 1831, 78; at the census taken in 1801 the number was 92.

POST OFFICE:- at the Castle Inn, CASTLETON, Margaret Wragg, Post- Mistress:- Letters from TIDESWELL arrive every Monday, Thursday and Saturday at noon, and are despatched same days to meet the SHEFFIELD and MANCHESTER Mails at TADDINGTON.

Description(s) from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835.
Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie in May 1996.