Castleton
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- This article is about the English village. For other uses, see Castleton (disambiguation).
Castleton is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. The village lies at the western end of the Hope Valley, on the Peakshole Water stream.
Castleton originally grew around the Norman Peveril Castle at around 1198, and later prospered from lead mining (see Derbyshire lead mining history). This created and enlarged local caverns, four of which are now open to the public as The Devil's Arse or Peak Cavern, Blue John Cavern, Speedwell Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern. A limited supply of Blue John is now mined locally.
The village is surrounded on three sides by hills. Most prominent are Lose Hill and Hollins Cross to the north, and Mam Tor to the west. The road leading west, to Chapel-en-le-Frith and Manchester, used to be over Mam Tor, until a landslide swept the road away. Now, all westbound traffic from Castleton must travel up the narrow Winnats Pass. Since the road is very narrow and steep most traffic enters and leaves the village from the East. This can lead to severe congestion problems, especially on hot summer sundays.
Castleton attracts large numbers of tourists, some of whom walk the Limestone Way, which runs south from the village. Others gather to watch the ceremony held on Oak Apple Day, when a garland king is paraded around the streets wearing a large garland of flowers.
Facilities in Castleton include a youth hostel, and several hotels and pubs.