Peak Cavern
or The Devil's Arse
Peak Cavern has a fascinating history, human and geological. It is situated beneath Peveril Castle at the end of an impressive natural Gorge reached by a narrow path. The path follows the stream that issues from the mouth of the cavern, Peakshole Water. It is this stream that gives clues to the caverns formation.
The hills to the south of Castleton are Limestone, laid down some 220 million years ago during the carboniferous period. Limestone is a permeable rock (water passes through its joints and cracks) and as it passes given the presence of air it dissolves tiny quantities of the limestone rock. Given time and sufficient water, these joints and cracks enlarge to form cave passages of varying shapes and sizes. Stalactites and Stalagmites develop as water drips from the ceilings of these passages releasing calcium carbonate in the process.
Peak Cavern is the exit point for much, but not all of the water that falls onto the limestone hills behind Castleton, including the streams that run off Rushup Edge onto the limestone beyond Mam Tor. (As you walk up towards the Cavern from Peakshole Bridge, keep an eye out for a the passage of water on the far side of the stream under the wall into the main river. This is coming from Russet Well. The water from this well flows underneath the main river and is another exit point for water in the area.)
The human history is equally interesting. The cavern entrance is the largest natural cavern entrance in Britain and used to house a rope makers' village, which has been carefully recreated by the current licencees of the cave (The Duchy of Lancaster, the Queen, owns the cave). The ropes were soaked in the stream and stretched down the cliff above the entrance. The ropes were made for the extensive lead mining industry that the Derbyshire limestone area was well known for. Conditions in the 'village were it never rained' were pretty primitive and the rope makers were often made fun of.
The Cavern's popular name, The Devil's Arse, dates from the time when the mysterious holes in the ground were treated with awe and suspicion. Near the village of Peak Forest is a vertical shaft known as Eldon Hole. The story goes that early 'explorers' threw a duck down the hole and it came out of Peak Cavern with it's tail feathers scorched! Current visitors to the Cavern needn't be worried!
Peak Cavern hit the headlines a recently with the discovery of Titan, the largest vertical shaft in the UK (145 m from the highest point to the lowest). The product of many years of searching by local cavers, it has caused great interest in both the caving and non-caving world.