Castleton is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District. The village lies at the western end of the Hope Valley, on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe. Castleton village was mentioned as Pechesers in the Domesday book in 1086 where "Arnbiorn and Hundingr held the land of William Peveril's castle in Castleton". This land and Peveril's castle were amongst the manors belonging to William Peverel that also included Bolsover and Glapwell.
The Celts were the first people to settle in the Castleton area. On Mamtor, also known as the shivering mountain, are the remains of a Celtic hill fort on summit, an enclosure of 16 acres at an altitude of 1700ft. The Celts were displaced by the Romans who started mining the rich lead veins, bringing prosperity to the area. Shortly after 1066, William the Conqueror started building castles all over the country and the one at Castleton was given to his son,William Peveril in 1086, and so became Peveril Castle. The keep was added later, in 1176. It never saw battle and was occupied as a dwelling until 1480. The village grew up under the protection of the castle.
Castleton later prospered from lead mining, the Odin Mine one of the oldest lead mines in the country is situated 1.5 km (about a mile) west of the village. 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, Speed
The village is surrounded on three sides by hills. Most prominent is the ridge to the north. This is called the Great Ridge; it runs east from Mam Tor to Back Tor and Lose Hill, via the pass (hause) of Hollins Cross, where paths from many directions can be seen converging to cross over to Edalewell Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern. A limited supply of Blue John is mined locally.
