676 



DERBYSHIRE. 



Derby. 

 shire. 



r.il scenery. After penetrating about thirty yards into 

 the caVe, the roof becomes lower, and a gentle descent 



**~y^ m ' conducts, by a detached rock, to the interior entrance 

 of this tremendous hollow. Here the light of clay, 

 which o-radually softens, wholly disappears ; and candles 

 are put into the hands of the inspector, to illuminate 

 his farther progress through the stygian darkness of the 

 cavern. During his progress, the visitor is conducted 

 throa gh narrow passages, spacious, and almost roofless 

 openino-s and hollows, and over a lake of water in a 

 boat. 'The imagination of the man versed in classic 

 lore, might fancy himself crossing the Styx in the 

 fabled bark of Charon, so deep is the gloom, and so tre- 

 mendous are the scenes around him. 



The entire length of this wonderful cavern, from its 

 entrance to its termination, is above 2250 feet ; and its 

 depth, from the surface of the mountain f)2 1 feet. A 

 stream of clear water runs through its whole length. 

 From different parts of the cavern, communications open 

 with other fissures ; but none of them equal it, either 

 in extent or grandeur. In extremely wet weather, the 

 interior cannot be visited, as the water fills up a great 

 portion of it, and rises to a considerable height even 

 near the entrance ; at other times, the access is not dif- 

 ficult, and quite safe, 



2'den lio!e. Elden Hole is situated at no great distance from Cas- 

 tleton, on the side of a gentle hill, to the north-west 

 of the village of Peak Forest. It is a deep chasm in 

 the ground, its mouth opening longitudinally in a di- 

 rection from north to south. Its shape is nearly that of an 

 irregular ellipsis, about thirty yards in length, and, in 

 the widest part, nine broad. The northern end is 

 fringed with small trees, and moss and underwood 

 grow out of the crevices on each side, to the depth of 

 forty or fifty feet. As the fissure recedes from the sur- 

 face, it gradually contracts ■ and at the depth of 20 or 

 25 yards, inclines to the west, so that the eye can no 

 longer trace its course. Many exaggerated accounts 

 ' and marvellous reports have been propagated concern- 

 ing this fissure. It has, at one time, been represented 

 as perfectly unfathomable ; at others, as teeming at a 

 certain depth with impure air, so that no animal could 

 respire it without immediate destruction. But these 

 descriptions are erroneous, as many persons have, at 

 different times, descended into it, and found that the 

 first landing below the surface was not above seven- 

 ty yards. The interior of the chasm at the bottom 

 consists of two parts, one like an oven, the other like 

 the dome of a glass-house, communicating with each 

 other by a small arched passage. On the south side 

 of the second cavern was a smaller opening about four 

 yards long, and two high, lined throughout with a^spark- 

 ling stalactite of a fine deep yellow colour. Facing 

 the entrance, was a column above 90 feet high, of the 

 same stalactite incrustation. On proceeding to the 

 north, there is a large stone covered with the same 

 substance, from which there is a rocky ascent of sixty 

 feet ; there is a descent on the other side into another 

 cavern. The side of this, as well as another small ca- 

 vern, were lined with incrustations of three kinds ; the 

 first was a deep yellow stalactite; the second was a 

 thin coating, resembling a light stone-coloured varnish, 

 and reflected the light of a candle with great splen- 

 dour ; and the third a rough efflorescence, the shoot of 

 which was like a rose flower. These facts were com- 

 municated to the Royal Society, by Mr Lloyd, 

 the only scientific person who ever descended into it, 

 and are contained in the 6 1st volume of their Transac- 

 tions. 



Derbyshire has been long celebrated for the beauty Derby- 

 of its scenery ; and its dales constitute no small portion 'hire. 

 of its pleasing appearance. The first in the rank of T-~* 

 beauty, as well as in size, is the far-famed and romantic I'icturesque 

 Dove Dale, a name it has received from the river Dove scener y« 

 pouring its waters through it. On entering this en- 

 chanting spot, it is impossible not to be struck with 

 the almost instantaneous change of scenery, so different 

 from the surrounding country. Here, instead of the 

 brown heath, or the rich cultivated meadow, rocks ab- 

 rupt and vast, their grey sides harmonised by mosses, 

 lichens, and yew trees, their tops sprinkled with moun- 

 tain-ash, rise on each side. The mountains that en- 

 close this narrow dell, rise very precipitous, and bear on 

 their sides fragments of rock, that, at a distance, look 

 like the remains of some ruined castle. After proceed- 

 ing a little way, a deep and narrow valley presents it- 

 self, into whose recesses the eye is prevented from 

 penetrating, by the winding course it pursues, and the 

 shutting in of its precipices, which fold into each other, 

 and preclude all distant view. On proceeding, the 

 scenery of Dove Dale gradually increases in majesty 

 and rudeness. Now those objects, which at a distance 

 seemed to have been ruins, are found to be rude pyra- 

 mids of rock, and grand isolated masses, ornamented 

 with ivy, rising in the middle of the vale. The rocks 

 which enclose the dale, forcing their scattered and un- 

 covered heads into the clouds, overhang the narrow 

 path that winds through the dark recesses of tfye dale ; 

 and frowning with craggy grandeur, and shaggy with 

 the dark foliage that grow out of the chinks and cling 

 to the asperities of the rock, form a scene in romantic 

 beauty unrivalled. On proceeding about a mile in the 

 vale, fantastic forms and uncouth combinations, de- 

 tached in vast mural masses, are met. Its sides are 

 perforated by many natural small caverns, which are 

 difficult of access. The length of Dove Dale is nearly 

 three miles ; but the views are more limited, from the 

 sinuosity of its course, and its projecting precipices. 

 Through the whole of this majestic feature of country, 

 the river Dove rolls its transparent stream. On the 

 right, or Derbyshire side of the Dale, the rocks are 

 more bare of vegetation, than on the left, or Stafford- 

 shire side, where they are thickly covered with a fine 

 hanging wood of various trees and odoriferous shrubs 

 and plants. The character of the scenery is greatly di- 

 versified, by the varying form of the rocks, and the 

 changing current of the Dove, the motion and appear- 

 ance of which is perpetually altering. It is intersper- 

 sed with small islands and little waterfalls. Dove Dale 

 is no where more than a quarter of a mile wide, but in 

 several places it almost closes, and hardly leaves a pas- 

 sage for its narrow river. The rugged, dissimilar, and 

 frequently grotesque and fanciful appearance of the 

 rocks, distinguish the scenery of Dove Dale from 

 every other in the kingdom. On the whole, it is one 

 of the most pleasing pieces of scenery of the kind that 

 can any where be met with. It has something peculi- 

 arly characteristic. Its detached, perpendicular rocks, 

 stamp it with an image entirely its own ; and, for that 

 reason, it affords the greater pleasure. This dale was a 

 favourite resort of J. J. Rousseau, when he resided in its 

 neighbourhood in the year 1767. 



The other dales of Derbyshire, are Monsall, Middle- 

 ton, Darley, Matlock, Lover's Leap near Buxton, Cas- 

 tleton, and that of the Via Gellia ; all possessing great 

 picturesque beauty, but bearing so strong a resemblance 

 to Dove Dale, though on a smaller scale, that we shall 

 not insert a separate account of each. 



