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Peak District
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Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in central-northern 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 (2,087 ft (636 m)). Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.
A 2021 report states that "the Park's own population numbers around 40,000 and supports an estimated 18,000 jobs, predominantly through farming, manufacturing and, inevitably, tourism".
The area has been inhabited since the Mesolithic era; it was largely used for agricultural purposes until mining arose in the Middle Ages. During the Industrial Revolution, several cotton mills were constructed in the area's valleys by Richard Arkwright. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.
The upland area of the Peak District, centred around Derbyshire, has historically been known as Peakland and The Peak. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 924 AD recorded the region's name as Peaclond (meaning hill country in Old English), home of the Pecsaetan tribe. From the Renaissance, prominent authors (such as Thomas Hobbes, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Pepys and Charles Cotton) referred to the area as just The Peak.
The Peak District forms the southern extremity of the Pennines. Much of it is upland above 1,000 feet (300 m), its highest point being Kinder Scout at 2,087 ft (636 m). Despite its name, the landscape has fewer sharp peaks than rounded hills, plateaus, valleys, limestone gorges and gritstone escarpments (the "edges"). The mostly rural area is surrounded by conurbations and large urban areas, including Manchester, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Derby and Stoke-on-Trent.[citation needed]
The national park has formal boundaries. It covers most of the Dark Peak and White Peak, but the wider Peak District is less well defined. The Dark Peak is largely uninhabited moorland and gritstone escarpments in the northern Peak District and its eastern and western margins. It encloses the central and southern White Peak, which is where most settlements, farmland and limestone gorges are found. Three of Natural England's National Character Areas (NCAs) cover parts of it. The Dark Peak NCA includes the northern and eastern parts of the Dark Peak and the White Peak NCA most of the White Peak. The western margins of the Dark Peak are in the South West Peak NCA, where farmland and pastured valleys are found with gritstone edges and moorland.
Outside the park, the wider Peak District extends from the gritstone moorlands of the South Pennines to the north, separated approximately by the Tame Valley, Standedge and Holme Valley. It continues south and roughly ends at the Weaver Hills near the Churnet Valley. It often includes the area approximately between Disley and Sterndale Moor, encompassing Buxton and the Peak Dale corridor. It may also include some of the outer fringes and foothills, such as the Churnet and lower Derwent Valleys, and the area approximately between The Cloud and Mow Cop. Conversely, while the rural west of the City of Sheffield falls in the park boundaries, the urban area of the city is usually excluded, alongside the other surrounding large urban areas. The rest of the region is surrounded by lowlands, including the Cheshire Plain and Greater Manchester Built-up Area to the west. The Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfields lie to the east while the lowlands of the Midlands are to the south, near the north of the Trent Valley.
The national park covers 555 square miles (1,440 km2), including most of the region in Derbyshire and extends into Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and South and West Yorkshire. Its northern limit is on a track near Deer Hill in Meltham; its southernmost point is on the A52 road near Ashbourne. The boundaries were drawn to exclude built-up and industrial areas; in particular Buxton and the quarries at the end of the Peak Dale corridor are surrounded on three sides by the park. Bakewell and many villages are in the national park, as is much of the rural west of Sheffield. In 2010 it became the fifth largest national park in England and Wales. In the UK, designation as a national park means that planning and other functions are provided by a national park authority, with additional restrictions that enhance protection from inappropriate development. Land within this national park as in others is in a mix of public and private ownership.[citation needed]
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Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in central-northern 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 (2,087 ft (636 m)). Most of the area is within the Peak District National Park, a protected landscape designated in 1951.
A 2021 report states that "the Park's own population numbers around 40,000 and supports an estimated 18,000 jobs, predominantly through farming, manufacturing and, inevitably, tourism".
The area has been inhabited since the Mesolithic era; it was largely used for agricultural purposes until mining arose in the Middle Ages. During the Industrial Revolution, several cotton mills were constructed in the area's valleys by Richard Arkwright. As mining declined, quarrying grew. Tourism came with the railways, spurred by the landscape, spa towns and Castleton's show caves.
The upland area of the Peak District, centred around Derbyshire, has historically been known as Peakland and The Peak. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 924 AD recorded the region's name as Peaclond (meaning hill country in Old English), home of the Pecsaetan tribe. From the Renaissance, prominent authors (such as Thomas Hobbes, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Pepys and Charles Cotton) referred to the area as just The Peak.
The Peak District forms the southern extremity of the Pennines. Much of it is upland above 1,000 feet (300 m), its highest point being Kinder Scout at 2,087 ft (636 m). Despite its name, the landscape has fewer sharp peaks than rounded hills, plateaus, valleys, limestone gorges and gritstone escarpments (the "edges"). The mostly rural area is surrounded by conurbations and large urban areas, including Manchester, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Derby and Stoke-on-Trent.[citation needed]
The national park has formal boundaries. It covers most of the Dark Peak and White Peak, but the wider Peak District is less well defined. The Dark Peak is largely uninhabited moorland and gritstone escarpments in the northern Peak District and its eastern and western margins. It encloses the central and southern White Peak, which is where most settlements, farmland and limestone gorges are found. Three of Natural England's National Character Areas (NCAs) cover parts of it. The Dark Peak NCA includes the northern and eastern parts of the Dark Peak and the White Peak NCA most of the White Peak. The western margins of the Dark Peak are in the South West Peak NCA, where farmland and pastured valleys are found with gritstone edges and moorland.
Outside the park, the wider Peak District extends from the gritstone moorlands of the South Pennines to the north, separated approximately by the Tame Valley, Standedge and Holme Valley. It continues south and roughly ends at the Weaver Hills near the Churnet Valley. It often includes the area approximately between Disley and Sterndale Moor, encompassing Buxton and the Peak Dale corridor. It may also include some of the outer fringes and foothills, such as the Churnet and lower Derwent Valleys, and the area approximately between The Cloud and Mow Cop. Conversely, while the rural west of the City of Sheffield falls in the park boundaries, the urban area of the city is usually excluded, alongside the other surrounding large urban areas. The rest of the region is surrounded by lowlands, including the Cheshire Plain and Greater Manchester Built-up Area to the west. The Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfields lie to the east while the lowlands of the Midlands are to the south, near the north of the Trent Valley.
The national park covers 555 square miles (1,440 km2), including most of the region in Derbyshire and extends into Staffordshire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and South and West Yorkshire. Its northern limit is on a track near Deer Hill in Meltham; its southernmost point is on the A52 road near Ashbourne. The boundaries were drawn to exclude built-up and industrial areas; in particular Buxton and the quarries at the end of the Peak Dale corridor are surrounded on three sides by the park. Bakewell and many villages are in the national park, as is much of the rural west of Sheffield. In 2010 it became the fifth largest national park in England and Wales. In the UK, designation as a national park means that planning and other functions are provided by a national park authority, with additional restrictions that enhance protection from inappropriate development. Land within this national park as in others is in a mix of public and private ownership.[citation needed]
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