Hartington Middle Quarter

Hartington Middle Quarter is a civil parish within the Derbyshire Dales district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Formerly a part of Hartington parish, for which it is named, it has a mix of a number of villages and hamlets amongst a mainly rural and undulating landscape, and is wholly within the Peak District National Park. It had a population of 379 residents in 2011. The parish is 130 miles (210 km) north west of London, 20 miles (32 km) north west of Derby, and 5 miles (8.0 km) south east of the nearest market town of Buxton. Being on the edge of the county border, it shares a boundary with the parishes of Chelmorton, Flagg, Hartington Town Quarter, Hartington Upper Quarter, Middleton and Smerrill, Monyash in Derbyshire, as well as Hollinsclough, Longnor and Sheen in Staffordshire.

Hartington Middle Quarter parish is surrounded by the following local locations:

It is 6.99 square miles (18.1 km²; 1,810 ha) in area, 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) in length and 2 miles (3.2 km) in width, within the north western portion of the Derbyshire Dales district as well as its most westerly parish, and is to the west of the county. The parish is roughly bounded by land features such as Earl Sterndale and Pomeroy settlements to the north, the River Dove to the west, the A515 road to the east, with Crowdecote, High Peak trail and Parsley Hay in the south.

There are a number of villages and hamlets within the parish:

From Earl Sterndale:

Outside of these settlements, the parish is predominantly an agricultural and rural area. There are two key routes through the parish:

It is primarily farming and pasture land throughout the parish outside the populated areas. The region is feature rich with many hills and slopes, notable points of interest including High Edge, Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill (informally known as the Dragon's Back from their rugged appearance), Hitter Hill, High Wheeldon, Dowel and Fox Hole caves, a number of tumulus, and Aldery Cliff by Earl Sterndale, these together culminating in scenic vistas as part of the wider Peak District characterisation.

Being within the Peak District National Park, much of the parish is of the Bee Low Limestones Formation. This is sedimentary bedrock formed approximately 331 to 337 million years ago in the Carboniferous period. Along the banks of the River Dove, comprises the Bowland Shale Formation which are mudstone, siltstone and sandstone deposits, formed approximately 319 to 337 million years ago in the Carboniferous period. Chrome and Parkhouse hills are remnants of apron reefs when water levels were higher.