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The Peak District is an upland region of Midland and Northern England which encompasses a large part of Derbyshire plus parts of Staffordshire, Cheshire and Yorkshire. The Peak District is an area of great natural beauty with rugged, peat-covered moorlands and magnificent limestone dales, plus picturesque villages and some interesting towns. It is the location of Britain's first National Park - the Peak District National Park, which is the the world's second most visited National Park.

The Peak District is within 50 miles (80km) of 50% of Britain's population - and is within easy reach of Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and Stoke-on-Trent. This means it attracts numerous day-trippers and weekend visitors as well as longer-term visitors.

The Peak District has numerous interesting and exciting tourist attractions. Probably the chief among these is Chatsworth House - a magnificent house set in a landscaped park which is the home of the Dukes of Devonshire - major landowners in the area. This is followed by Haddon Hall outside Bakewell - the home of the Manners family, who are the Dukes of Rutland. Haddon Hall is notable because it was left untouched for many centuries before being restored in the early 20th century, so it now shows us just what a medieval manor house looked like.

On the western fringe of the Peak District there is Lyme Hall - a National Trust property which was once the home of the Legh family. This was used in the 1990s BBC version of 'Pride and Prejudice' as the home of Mr D'Arcy. To the east, just outside the National Park area, lies Hardwick Hall, another National Trust Property which was built by Bess of Hardwick - one of the most powerful women of the Elizabethan era. See our 'Great Houses' page for information about more sights like these.

If you are interested in history then the Peak District has many places of interest. These range from the Stone Circles at Arbor Low and Stanton Moor, through the hill fort at Mam Tor and the Norman Castle (Peveril Castle) at nearby Castleton through to Richard Arkwright's original cotton mill (the world's first) at Cromford. See our 'Ancient Monuments' page for more about these. In addition, there are numerous fine churches, such as Tideswell Church, known locally as 'The Cathedral of the Peak. See our 'Local Churches' page for a fuller list.

The Peak District is a fine place for outdoor activities such as walking and cycling, and each week and especially at weekends, many thousands of people come here to enjoy these activities. This website has full information about this, plus a number of routes to follow, as well as outline information about minority sports such as rock-climbing, caving and hang-gliding.

There are numerous interesting towns to explore. Buxton is the one with the longest history, having been founded by the Romans, who exploited the warm spring water to build thermal baths, for which the town became very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result it has some magnificent buildings, notably the Georgian Crescent and the Opera House. It now has a thriving music and arts festival each summer.

Bakewell was founded in Saxon Times and is the home of the Peak District National Park Authority and is a busy market town notable for its livestock market. To the south lies Ashbourne, another market town founded by the Saxons, now the southern gateway to the Peak District.

In the north, Glossop is a former mill town which is the gateway to the nothern part of the Peak, controlling the routes across the Pennines. More mill towns lie around the western and south-western fringes of the Peak - Macclesfield and Leek, which were both once centres for the manufacture of silk.

Matlock's development is surprisingly recent as access to it from the south was difficult until the 19th century, but after this it developed rapidly as a spa, and it is now the county town of Derbyshire. Matlock Bath has numerous tourist sites and is a popular destination for day-trippers.

Not far from Matlock, Wirksworth is another ancient Saxon market town which was once the centre of the local lead mining industry, which has left it with narrow winding streets and rows of quaint miners' cottages.

All material © Cressbrook Multimedia, 53 Hall View, Cressbrook, Buxton, SK17 8SX, England, UK • Telephone: +44 (0)1298 872409 • email: support@cressbrook.co.uk

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