Mysterious Mam Tor and Rushup Edge

Approaching from the Edale side, discover the ancient secrets of the great 'Shivering Mountain'.

Distance 6 miles (9.7km)

Minimum time 3hrs 30min

Ascent/gradient 984ft (300m)

Level of difficulty Medium

Paths Mainly good but can be boggy in wet weather

Landscape Woodland, hills and meadows

Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer OL1 Dark Peak

Start/finish SK 124853

Dog friendliness Suitable for dogs, but keep on lead near livestock

Parking Good public car park at Edale

Public toilets At car park

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Directions
Background
Information

1 Exit the car park at Edale and turn right on to the road. Look out for a public footpath sign on the left and turn on to a farm road. Just before this road turns sharply left take the public footpath that forks off to the right and goes uphill through a wood.

2 At the end of the wooded area cross a stile and continue uphill. Cross another stile, follow the path across open hillside, then cross yet another stile and turn left on to the road. Just before the road bends sharply left, cross the road, go over a stile and follow this path towards a hill.

3 Near the foot of the hill cross stile to the left and turn right on to the road. Continue to find the steps on the left leading through the ramparts of an Iron-Age fort to the summit of Mam Tor. From here trace your steps back to the road.

4 Cross the road, go over a stile and continue on the footpath uphill and on to Rushup Edge. Follow this well-defined path along the ridge crossing five stiles. When the path is intersected by another, go right. This is Chapel Gate track, badly eroded by off-road motorbikes. Go through a kissing gate then head downhill.

5 Near the bottom of the hill go through a gap stile on the left. Go across another stile, go through a gate, then cross another stile on the left. This leads to some tumbledown buildings. Cross over a stile by the corner of one building then veer right and cross another stile on to a farm road.

6 Cross the road, go over a stile and follow the path until it joins a road. Turn right then left at the junction and continue towards Barber Booth. Take the second road on the left then, near the outskirts of the village, go left on a road signposted for Edale Station.

7 Follow the path across a series of meadows, going through several gates and three stiles to join the road to Edale Station next to Champion House. Turn right on to the road then, near the junction, turn left into the car park.

With its spectacular views and close proximity to the road it's hardly surprising that Mam Tor is the most popular of the Peak District hill forts. Unfortunately this popularity has resulted in the National Trust having to pave the footpath and a large area around the summit to prevent serious erosion.

Called the Shivering Mountain because of the instability of its shale layers, Mam Tor is the largest of the Peak's hill forts and has the distinction of being the only one to be excavated. In the mid-1960s Manchester University selected Mam Tor as a training site for its archaeology students and this produced a wealth of fresh information about the fort.

What can be seen today are the ramparts of a heavily fortified Iron-Age settlement. The single rampart with an outer ditch and another bank can still be traced round the hillside. There were two entrances, one leading to the path from Hollins Cross and the other to the path to Mam Nick. Mam Tor was probably a partially defended site with a timber palisade that was later replaced with stone.

The excavations revealed that there had been a settlement here long before the Iron Age. Two Early Bronze-Age barrows were discovered on the summit, one of which the National Trust has capped in stone to make sure it is preserved. An earlier settlement on the ground enclosed by the ramparts was excavated. Here several circular houses or huts had been built on terraced platforms on the upper slopes of the hill. The pottery and other artefacts uncovered are of a style often found in house platforms of this type and date from the Late Bronze Age. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal found in the huts put them somewhere between 1700 and 1000 bc.

Archaeologists, G D B Jones and F H Thomson, writing about the discoveries at Mam Tor, suggested that the fort might have been built as a shelter for pastoralists using the hills for summer grazing, but decided in the end that it was more likely to have had a strategic military purpose. Depending on when it was actually built, it could have seen action during inter-tribal struggles of the native Brigantes. It may well at a later period have been used as a strategic defence against the advancing Romans. Like most settlements from this far back in time Mam Tor will probably never reveal all its secrets, but standing on the summit and looking away down the valleys on either side, back along the path to Hollins Cross or forward to Rushup Edge it's enough just to try and imagine the effort that went into building such an enormous fortification with nothing but the most primitive of tools.

While you're there

The ruins of Peveril Castle at nearby Castleton are well enough preserved to give some indication of what it looked like when it was intact. Its cliff-top location also gives grand views in all directions. It was built by William Peveril in 1080 after he was granted the title of Bailiff of the Royal Manors of the Peak by William I for his part in the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Where to eat and drink

Head for the Hikers Bar at the Old Nags Head in Edale. Built in 1577 it has been the official start of the Pennine Way since 1965. There's an excellent selection of good hot food, a list of specials and several well-kept ales as well as tea and coffee. As the name suggests muddy boots are not a problem here.

What to look for

Look out over Edale from Rushup Edge to Kinder Scout, scene of a mass trespass by ramblers in 1932. They were exercising what they saw to be their right to roam the hills and moors. Several were jailed and the severity of their sentences made them martyrs and heroes. Many people today believe that this act is what led ultimately to the creation of national parks.