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Burbage Edge and Carl Wark

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Walk directions

Leave the car park through a kissing gate opposite the entrance, rising towards birch wood. Walk on, veering right and clambering up rocks to a crossing path. Go left, with the prominent outcrop of Mother Cap soon appearing. Pass to its left and continue towards Over Owler Tor. Just before the outcrop, head down left on a narrower path, crossing the heather to meet a path beside a fence.

Turn right along the path, which later leaves the fence and continues straight ahead to contour the hillside towards distant Higger Tor, eventually reaching a wall on the left. Where that turns away, fork right and then, passing a clump of trees, go right again on a fainter path. Walk on, joining another wall on your right. The path fragments to avoid boggy patches, but keep heading to the left corner of Carl Wark, now ahead.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Generally good paths, although moorland path below Carl Wark may be indistinct and boggy in wet weather, no stiles

Landscape - Millstone tors and quarries, heather moors and woodland

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead near sheep, particularly at lambing time and from March to July

Parking - Surprise View pay car park on A6187 east of Hathersage

Toilets en route - None on route

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About the walk

On the moors beyond Hathersage, history and geology combine to produce a fascinating panorama. The main stone bed from which this area is formed is Chatsworth grit, a coarse sandstone with scattered pebbles, that is extremely resistant to erosion. This was once much valued as a building material... and many Peak District buildings, including Chatsworth House, are constructed from it. Its other major use was to fashion grinding stones for the emerging Sheffield tool and cutlery industry and to provide millstones for grinding corn. Millstone Edge was once a thriving quarrying area. However, the introduction of carborundum (a synthetic abrasive) in the 20th century led to a fall in demand for millstone grit and the consequent demise of the quarrying industry. You can still see piles of half-fashioned millstones lying amidst the debris of quarried stone near the start of this walk. The escarpment that forms Burbage Edge is an impressive backdrop for a series of flat-topped hills rising from the moor. Over Owler Tor, Winyards Nick, Higger Tor and Carl Wark were once part of the same sandstone bed as Burbage Edge but were displaced by faulting. With their concave sides, bare gritstone edges and level surfaces, these uplands were ideal sites for fortification. There are at least nine examples of hill-forts in the Peak District probably dating from the Iron Age, and Carl Wark is certainly one of the most spectacular. It is defended naturally on all but one of its sides by very steep slopes; on the undefended side a stone rampart has been built, about 20ft (6m) wide at the base with boulders bonded to a wall of turf. In the southwest corner, where the defensive wall turns inwards, lies what would once have been the fort’s entrance. The age of the fort has never been confirmed. Some place it in the post-Roman period of the 5th and 6th centuries ad because of the technique used in building the stone and turf wall, and because of similarities with the construction of Dark Age (ad 500–1100) forts in Scotland. Others have argued that the ‘in-turned’ entrance suggests a much earlier Iron Age construction. Gardom’s Edge, near Baslow to the south, which is similar to Carl Wark in that its interior is small and rocky with little space for buildings, is actually a neolithic enclosure; however, nothing has yet been found at Carl Wark to date it to this time. It is likely that Carl Wark was originally an Iron or Bronze Age construction which was refortified by the Romans.

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About the area

The natural features of this central English county range from the modest heights of the Peak District National Park, where Kinder Scout stands at 2,088 ft (636 m), to the depths of its remarkable underground caverns, floodlit to reveal exquisite Blue John stone. Walkers and cyclists will enjoy the High Peak Trail which extends from the Derwent Valley to the limestone plateau near Buxton, and for many, the spectacular scenery is what draws them to the area.

Route details

Difficulty:

Medium

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

5.75 miles (9.2kms)

Ascent:

900ft (274m)

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Burbage Edge and Carl Wark

Recommended by

Walk details

Difficulty:

Medium

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

5.75 miles (9.2kms)

Ascent:

900ft (274m)

Walk directions

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2 of 8

Ignore a crossing path and descend below the northern flank of Carl Wark. The path again splinters, but head towards the right corner of a small pine wood, where a packhorse bridge crosses Burbage Brook. Continue forwards to cross a second stream, rising beyond to reach a broad track.

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Follow the track left to Upper Burbage Bridge, crossing the tributary streams below the road. Head to a kissing gate by the car park, turning left before it along the higher of two paths, which leads to Higger Tor. Climb to the top and continue left along the plateau to descend from the southeast corner, picking through rocks.

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Follow the path across the moor towards Carl Wark. Climb to the massive defensive wall and turn in to explore the summit plateau. Leave through the original defensive gateway at the other end of the wall and descend south across more moss.

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The path becomes clearer, rising over the flank of a lesser hill, then falling beyond to the A6187. Cross this busy road with care and go left over a bridge (no pavement), leaving through a gate on the right into woodland.

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Bear right at a fork, crossing a bubbling stream, then over a footbridge across Burbage Brook. Follow the riverside path downstream.

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At the next bridge, turn sharp right up a sunken path through the heath, which ends at the road opposite the car park. Turn left on the road and cross with care to arrive back at the car park.

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Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Generally good paths, although moorland path below Carl Wark may be indistinct and boggy in wet weather, no stiles

Landscape - Millstone tors and quarries, heather moors and woodland

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead near sheep, particularly at lambing time and from March to July

Parking - Surprise View pay car park on A6187 east of Hathersage

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Derbyshire Dog-friendly walks in Derbyshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

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Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

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Been on this walk?

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Walking in Safety

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Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

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About the area

Derbyshire

Burbage Edge and Carl Wark

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Burbage Edge and Carl Wark

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