Top 10 Must Visit Sights and Landmarks in the Peak District
Adults only holiday park, Longnor Wood is ideally located between the thermal spa town of Buxton and Bakewell, famous for its puddings, making it an ideal choice for short breaks in the heart of the Peak District. The Peak District National Park is in the heart of England making it convenient for a short or weekend break from lots of UK cities. The National Park spans 6 different counties, including Derbyshire and Staffordshire. There are picturesque villages, limestone caverns, caves, traffic free walks and cycle routes. So where are some of our favourite Longnor Wood Peak District landmarks, all accessible for a day trip from our campsite Peak District?
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1. Visit Chatsworth House and Chatsworth Estate
Known as the “jewel in the Peak District’s crown”, and a top Peak District visitor attraction, the stately home of Chatsworth, home of the Devonshire family for 16 generations, is a must-see Peak District landmark for Longnor Wood guests. Chatsworth is renowned for its art and its surrounding landscape. The house and estate grounds have been used on many a film location set including Pride and Prejudice, The Duchess and The Wolfman (2009). Longnor Wood is an adults-only campsite near Chatsworth House and guests can buy discounted entrance tickets for the house and gardens at Chatsworth at the Site Reception.
There are 25 rooms to explore in Chatsworth House, enjoy the 105-scre Chatsworth garden, including Victorian rock garden, walk in the park and enjoy the outdoor sculpture exhibition, enjoy some shopping in the Orangery or Stables shops or stop for a bite to eat in the farm shop, Cavendish restaurant or Carriage House Café. Alternatively, why not treat yourselves to a Chatsworth afternoon tea in the Flying Childers?
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2. Heights of Abraham
Heights of Abraham boasts a cable car, impressive illuminated caverns and a hill-top country park. The Heights of Abraham cable car soars over the Derwent Valley to the top of Masson Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). around 1,100 feet above sea level and is a favourite Peak District attraction. The Heights of Abraham cable car flight is around 1/3 of a mile and takes around 10 minutes. The Heights of Abraham cable car was the first alpine-style cable car in Britain and was installed in 1984. Enjoy the magnificent views from the Tinkers Shaft viewing platform. A guided tour to the chambers of the show caverns is included with your ticket, with more calcite crystals being revealed in 2021. There are two caverns – Great Masson Cavern and Rutland Cavern. With the Long View interactive exhibition also available, guests should plan on spending a full day at the Heights of Abraham. There are also plenty of heritage estate walks.
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3. Mam Tor
In terms of a most recognisable Peak District where to visit, Mam Tor is one of the most visible. Mam Tor is a 517m hill near Castleton. Its name means "mother hill", because frequent landslips on its eastern face have resulted in a multitude of "mini-hills" beneath it. These frequent landslips mean that Mam Tor is known locally as the “Shivering Mountain”. Mam Tor Peak District is managed by the National Trust and there is a lovely 3-mile circular walk up a stone footpath to one of the most dramatic views in the Peak District. There is also a great 7-mile walk from Castleton with wonderful ridge views towards the Hope Valley and Edale.
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4. Thor’s Cave
Thor’s Cave is a natural cavern in the Manifold valley, in the White Peak area of the Peak District. The White Peak is a gentler landscape to the rugged hilltops of the Dark Peak in the north. The White Peak includes the High Peak Trail, Tissington Trail and Monsal Trail. The name Thors’s Cave may link it with the Norse Thunder God Thor, although a more likely suggestion is that the original name was Tor cave (a Tor being a rocky outcrop) which would fit with the appearance of the cave. The Cave is set 350 ft up the side of a steep limestone valley and the traffic-free Thor’s Cave walk or cycle ride along the Manifold Valley is spectacular. The 60 ft entrance to the cave is visible from the valley below. Evidence has been found of human occupation of Thor’s Cave during the latter Stone Age. There is a 5-mile circular walk from Wetton Mill.
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5. Pooles Cavern
The Peak District is famous for its limestone caverns and underground caves and there are plenty to visit in the local area. One of the finest is Pooles Cavern in the spa town of Buxton which boasts amazing crystal formations and shows evidence of pre-historic life. Guided tours inside the cavern are available. Guests can combine beautiful woodland trails with a walk to a panoramic Peak District Soloman’s Temple viewpoint Grin Low Hill at Pooles Cavern and Buxton Country Park. There is also a visitor centre and café.
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6. Robin Hoods Cave and Stanage Edge
The secret Robin Hoods cave is hidden at Stanage Edge, just north of Hathersage in the Hope Valley Peak District, hidden away carved out of the cliff face. Stanage Edge is popular with boulders and rock climbers. High Neb is the highest point of Stanage Edge, around 1,500 feet above sea level. Whilst access to the cave includes some scrambling, there are incredible views of the surrounding Peak District countryside. The scramble should only be undertaken by the confident and sure-footed. It’s about a 30-minute walk from the Hooks Carr car park up Stanage Edge. There are no signposts to the cave from Stanage Edge. Walk up the steep trail ridge onto the moor and the summit of Stanage Edge. The views are worth the walk even if you don’t find the cave. To locate the cave path, look for the distinctive capstone, chamber like rock and the path to the cave is just beyond there. Access into the cave will involve some climbing/scrambling. It is believed that Robin Hood took refuge in Robin Hoods Cave himself.
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Lumsdale Valley is a steep-sided wooded gorge in the Peak District near Matlock. There are beautiful walks and a stunning waterfall. Lumsdale Valley used to be the location of a series of water-powered mills from Bentley Brook and there are fascinating walks around the mill ruins. Some mills were used for cotton spinning and bleaching, and some for grinding corn, bone and minerals. Designated a scheduled ancient monument because of its historic importance as a water-powered industrial archaeological site, Lumsdale Valley was once a bustling centre of industry. The brook rises on Matlock Moor and has never been known to dry up.
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Thought to be pronounced “eem” rather than “e-am”, Eyam is known as The Plague Village. The “plague cottages” bear plaques commemorating victims of the former household. Between 1665-1666, 260 of the tiny Derbyshire village’s inhabitants died from the Black Death. It was first introduced to the village in a flea-infested bundle of cloth and, once it became clear that the plague had arrived in Eyam, the villagers took the selfless action of quarantining themselves from the surrounding villages to try and stop the spread. There is a stone that food was laid on to avoid all contact. You can hear this unique story at Eyam Museum which also charts how the village recovered from the plague. Visitors to Eyam can also visit Eyam Hall, sculpture garden and craft centre. The Hope Pilgrimage is a 30-mile long-distance walk from Edale to Eyam, passing 9 churches along the way.
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9. Castleton Peak Caverns
Castleton is a great village from which to explore the Peak District caverns. There are four show caverns in Castleton. The Peak Cavern is also known as the Devil’s Arse due to the flatulence-like sounds that emanate from within. The name was changed in 1880 to “Peak Cavern” in order to avoid causing the visiting Queen Victoria any offence. Visitors can, weather permitting, walk through the cave and events are held in its amazing natural amphitheatre, including Christmas carol concerts. Peak Cavern has the largest natural cave entrance in Britain.
The nearby Speedwell Cavern is an old lead mine and visitors to Speedwell Cavern can take an incredible underground boat trip to view the workings of this 200 year old lead mine and magnificent cathedral-like cavern containing the awesome Bottomless Pit, a huge subterranean lake. Please note there are 105 steps down to the boat.
The Blue John Cavern is a series of linked majestic caverns, showing 8 of the 14 famous Blue John stones, multiple minerals, amazing colours, crystal formations, stalactites and stalagmites. Each cavern has a wonderful name including Bull Beef, Grand Crystallised Cavern, Waterfall Cavern, Stalactite Cavern, Lord Mulgrave's Dining Room and Variegated Cavern. There are 245 steps down into the Blue John Cavern.
Treak Cliff Cavern has unique and large deposits of Blue John stone and houses some of the most beautiful cave formations found in the UK. Blue John Stone is a rare, semiprecious mineral found at only one location in the world – in the caves of Castleton, Derbyshire in the Peak District National Park. It is believed that the origin of the name ‘Blue John’ comes from the French ‘bleu et jaune’, meaning ‘blue and yellow’. Self-guided tours of the Treak Cliff Cavern are available and visitors are invited to prospect for their own piece of Blue John stone. There is also a visitor centre and museum.
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10. Millers Dale
Millers Dale is a valley on the River Wye and has a pretty village bearing the same name. It is a popular beauty spot in the Peak District, as well as being a Site of Special Scientific Interest as one of the most important areas of carboniferous limestone in Britain. The disused Millers Dale Quarry is now cared for by the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
The 6-mile Tideswell and Millers Dale walk is lovely and runs along the track of the once Old Midland Railway, through a series of viaducts in the Tideswell Dale, along the Monsal Trail and passing the notorious Litton Mill which became associated with poor working conditions for children during the Industrial Revolution. The large and magnificent 14th century church of St John the Baptists at Tideswell is known as the Cathedral of the Peak as it can’t be called a cathedral as Tideswell is not a city. There are shops and eating places in Tideswell.
We hope you enjoyed our guide on Peak District where to visit. Longnor Wood is a 5-star adults only camping and touring site with one and two-bedroom luxury lodges with hot tubs, static caravans with hot tubs and glamping pods. We offer dog-friendly camping peak district.