pkverel's castle in the peak. 137 



from sudden attack by an earthwork, which formed a semi-circle 

 stretching from the rocks near the entrance tO' the Peak Cavern 

 round the village to the opening into Cave Dale. Bray, in his 

 Itinerary (eighteenth century), describes it as " an intrenchment 

 which began at the lower end of the valley called the Cave, 

 enclosed the town, ending at the great Cavern, and forming a 

 semi-circle. This is now called the Town Ditch, but the whole 

 of it cannot be easily traced, having been destroyed in many 

 places by buildings and the plough." 



That mixture of fact and myth which passes for County 

 History asserts that the barons who' extorted Magna Charta 

 from King John met at the Peak Castle. In fact, their meeting- 

 place was at Stamford, from whence they marched to London, 

 through Northampton and Bedford. One also reads that 

 King Henry IH. slept at the Peak Castle the night before 

 the battle of Evesham ; a physical impossibility, as Castleton 

 and Evesham are about a hundred miles apart. But there 

 is no doubt that Henry HI. visited the Peak Castle on several 

 occasions. He was there in 1235-6, as it appears by an entry 

 in the Forest Rolls that Robert de Ashbourne, bailiff of the 

 Forest, provided him with four wild boars and forty-two geese, 

 charging for them 16^. 2>\d. in his accounts. The King was 

 also at the Castle in April, 1264, some time before the battle 

 of Lewes. Its possession at that period was, no doubt, of 

 some importance, as it was specially mentioned as one of the 

 castles which Simon de Montfort demanded from the King 

 after the rout at Lewes. The tournament said to have been 

 held beneath the Castle walls, when the gallant Guarine 

 de Metz won the hand of the fair Mellet Peverel, may be classed 

 with the legends of King Arthur and his table round. 



The Peak Castle attained its full extent and importance 

 under the first Edward. There is reason tO' suppose that its 

 neglect and decay began soon afterwards. Under the first 

 three Edwards a new form of fortification which superseded 

 the rectangular Norman donjon was introduced into England. 

 The keep Avas dispensed with, its place being taken by an 



