Peveril Castle — Attraction in High Peak

Free for English Heritge members, or 2 years Cadw member, otherwise £6.80, Peveril Castle (also Castleton Castle or Peak Castle) is a ruined 11th-century castle overlooking the village of Castleton. It was the main settlement of the feudal barony of William Peverel, known as the Honour of Peverel, and was founded some time between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and its first recorded mention in the Domesday Survey of 1086, by Peverel, who held lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire as a tenant-in-chief of the king. The town became the economic centre of the barony. The castle has views across the Hope Valley and Cave Dale. Not much left of it really, an easy enough tarmac path to the castle, only about a 10 minute walk from the visitor centre, up hill zig zagging, with some benches along the way, best enjoyed on a clear day, ours wasn't the best on the day, but no regrets, we quite enjoyed it, a nice little castle set in a lovely location, don't think we'd go if we weren't members though, as the only really good thing was the views. Parking is available at castleton village, pay and display, there is free parking on the road through the week, but pay and display on weekends and bank holidays. Theres also a small museum in the information centre...

The surroundings of Peveril Castle are dramatic, picturesque and offer great views across the Hope Valley. We visited on a Friday afternoon with only a handful of other visitors there. Whilst there we met a fantastic volunteer called Brian, who was able to tell us, in detail about the fascinating history of the castle. As a Peverall myself, the history of the castle and William Peverel, who established it, was even more poignant. I have only recently learnt of the history of the Peverels and the significance of the royal favour William recieved from William (the conquerer) 1st after the Norman conquest. My travelling partner, and old friend of 35 years accompanied me on the visit. Unlike me, he has a proven family lineage stretching all the way back to the Normans. They are the de Greys and they actually settled in Derbyshire being granted land, by the crown, that had previously been confiscated from William Peverel the younger. Having grown up together from an early age, we have only just learnt this connection, which feels remarkable. Brian certainly thought so too. Regardless of my own reasons for visiting, Peveril Castle is an excellent place to visit, in all respects. Throughly...

This was a good English Heritage site. The visitor centre has a lot of interesting information. There is then a relatively challenging walk up the steep hill to the castle on top. The castle contains multiple interesting information boards. You can enter the keep, the only surviving building, and look at both floors. During my visit, there was a very knowledgeable volunteer guide, Brian, who was able to answer all of my questions and delivered a very interesting talk on the history of the castle for about 15 minutes at 11:30. The only downsides are that most of the castle's buildings no longer exist so there isn't actually that much to explore and look at. Considering the price, my group got through it all quite quickly. Note that buying tickets online is cheaper, but, if you do buy them on the door, you can get leaflets from the Castleton Tourist Information Centre that give you a 25% discount (which is slightly more expensive than buying online, at least when I visited, as the prices change based on if the day is considered on-peak, normal...