DOVEDALE :: Hill Forts :: Mam Tor

there are a number of hill forts in the White Peak District, the most famous being that at Mam Tor.

Mam Tor is located very close to the Peak District village of Castleton and is a famous viewpoint and landmark. It is Known as the 'shivering mountain' and is comprised of shale. The east face is a dramatic and loose expanse of crumbling rock.

The area below the face is unstable and moves continually, and each period of heavy rain undermines the loose shale and causes it to slip further down the valley. The former main road from Stockport to Sheffield once went down here but was swept away by a landslide in 1974 and has not been rebuilt.

On the top of the Tor was a large Iron Age fort, and the fortifications can still be seen. However, the site was almost certainly occupied long before this. The trig point on the summit of the hill is placed on top of a tumulus which probably dates from the Bronze Age, and a bronze axe head has also been found here. Unfortunately the tumulus is now hard to make out because erosion has forced the National Trust, who own the hill and the nearby Winnats Pass, to pave the summit area.

The forts ramparts can be followed most of the way around the hilltop, and there are distinct remains of two gateways on the paths leading from Mam Nick and from Hollins Cross. Excavations have shown that the original ramparts had a timber palisade on top, but later the timber was replaced by stone.

There are also the foundations of many hut circles within the defences and pottery has also been found, which indicates that this was a fully-fledged village rather than just a defensive site.