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The White Peak

The White Peak is the name given to the limestone outcrop which forms the central core of the Peak National Park. This is the exposed, bare bones of the Peak District, a lofty plateau of limestone formed from the fossilised remains of sea creatures which existed in a warm, tropical sea some 330,000,000 years ago.

The underlying rock gives the area its characteristic scenery - a gently undulating tableland enmeshed in a network of pearly-grey drystone walls and spectacularly split by the deep, gorge-like fissures of the dales. Pretty settlements like Tissington, Foolow, and Monyash cluster protectively round their village ponds or `meres’.

In fact the limestone dales, like Davedale, Monsal Dale, and Lathkill Dale, are among the few Peakland landscapes which have been left relatively untouched by man. And on the steep, rocky faces of their sides are found some of the rarest and most beautiful plants and insects in the National Park. Many are now national nature reserves for this very reason, and because of their narrowness, few are served by roads and so have to be explored on foot.

It is thought that many of the dales (the word comes from the Norse `dair’ meaning valley) were formed by melt-water from Ice Age glaciers cutting down through the permeable limestone. The porous nature of the jointed rock is also the cause for some Peakland rivers, like the Manifold, Hamps, and Lathkill, to suddenly disappear underground to emerge again several miles downstream.

Caves also abound in White Peak country, especially around Castleton, close to the border with the gritstone. But there are other impressive holes in the ground at Thor’s Cave, in the Manifold Valley, and Eldon Hole near Castleton.