Peveril Castle

The castle sits high above Castleton on a spur naturally defended by sheer drops into Cave Dale on one side and Peak Cavern Gorge on the other. That setting is the main event. From the top you get wide, open views over the rooftops of Castleton and out along the valley, with the ruined keep standing as a blunt reminder of how much the Normans cared about controlling this ground.

The visitor centre has displays covering that story, and it is worth a look before you start up. Once at the top, look for the medieval garderobe in the keep, a small detail that makes the building feel lived in rather than purely military.

• William Peverell raised a fortress here in the decades after the Conquest, built sometime between 1066 and 1086, and the site appears in the Domesday survey. The castle takes his name.
• It was one of England's first stone castles, unusual for its date.
• Henry II added the keep on the hill summit in 1176, and that tower is still the most complete thing standing.
• The castle served as the administrative focus of the Royal Forest of the Peak, so this was a centre of law and control over a large area, not just a lookout.
• It fell into disuse after Tudor times, with the keep later used as a courthouse before the site gradually became ruined.

The only way in is on foot, up a steep path from the town, with some stairs along the way. Visitors consistently describe the ascent as challenging, and that is fair: it is sustained, and it will get your breath going. There are benches along the path, so you can stop and use the excuse to look back over the valley as it opens up beneath you. The steep, stepped approach means anyone who needs wheelchair or step-free access should assess the route carefully before committing to it.

• Wear sturdy shoes with grip. The approach is steep and stepped, and decent footwear makes a real difference in both directions.
• Carry water as ordinary preparation for an uphill walk.
• There is no parking at the castle itself. Park in Castleton and walk in; the entrance is reached from the Market Place area, so treat it as a town-and-walk visit and check local signage for whichever car park you use.

What survives is limited. Beyond the keep and the footings of ruined buildings and curtain walls, there is not a great deal of standing masonry, so if you arrive expecting corridors and furnished rooms you will be disappointed. Read the interpretation, take the view, and understand the site as a defensive position rather than a palace, and it makes far more sense. The climb also rules it out for some visitors, and there is no way around that; the geography that made the place defensible is exactly what makes it hard to reach.

Castleton is a good base for history and walking, and the castle overlooks the village from above. Peak Cavern lies in the gorge below and Cave Dale runs up alongside the castle crag, but both are separate outings with their own entrances and their own approaches. Do not assume you can drop from the castle into either. Plan them as distinct stops, and think of the crag itself as the link between them: the same rock that gives you the view from the top is what walls the castle off from the ground below.