Dove Holes is a village in the High Peak district of
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, England. It has a population of about 1,200 (2001), shown in the 2011 Census as being included in the population of
Chapel-en-le-Frith
Chapel-en-le-Frith () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England.
It has been dubbed the "Capital of the Peak", in reference to the Peak District, historically the upperland areas between the Saxon lands (belo ...
. It straddles the
A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6.
* A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile
* ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to :
** A6 (Sydney), a road connec ...
approximately three miles north of
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Dove Holes railway station into
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
Residents of the village live either in the village or on outlying farms. There are around six farms in the village and many more within the boundaries of the parish. There are also large limestone quarries that, over the years, have made an important contribution to the development and economy of the village. Additionally, there are several businesses. There are two
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
s, one of which offers accommodation. There is a daily milk delivery service and a mobile library every fortnight. There is a church, Methodist chapel and a community centre. The village lies on the fringe of the
Peak District National Park Peak or The Peak may refer to:
Basic meanings Geology
* Mountain peak
** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics
* Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion
* Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...
.
Evidence of human occupation at Dove Holes can be traced back to the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
Period (late Stone Age) because of the existence of a
henge
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...
tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...
. In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, the area was used as the royal hunting
Forest of High Peak
The Forest of High Peak was, in medieval times, a moorland forest covering most of the north west of Derbyshire, England, extending as far south as Tideswell and Buxton. From the time of the Norman Conquest it was established as a royal hunting ...
(now known as
Peak Forest
Peak Forest is a small village and civil parish on the main road the ( A623) from Chapel-en-le-Frith to Chesterfield in Derbyshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 335.
The village grew from the earlier settlement of ...
), an area set aside as a royal hunting forest. The village's name is believed to derive from the Celtic word ''dwfr'' (dŵr in
modern Welsh
The history of the Welsh language (Welsh: ''Hanes yr iaith Gymraeg'') spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh.
Origins
Welsh evolved from British, the C ...
), which means water, hence Water Holes or Dove Holes. The same word is the origin of the name ' Dover' for the famous Channel ferryport.
In 1650, a General Survey of the Manor of High Peak was made to assess the property of the late King Charles. This recorded that people were burning limestone around the village and that there were 14 kilns thereabouts, the burnt lime (quicklime) being slaked and used by farmers to condition the soil in their fields. At that time, lime kilns could be built and demolished without authority.
With the coming of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, and the opening of the
Peak Forest Tramway
The Peak Forest Tramway was an early horse- and gravity-powered industrial railway (or tramway (industrial), tramway) system in Derbyshire, England. Opened for trade on 31 August 1796, it remained in operation until the 1920s. Much of the rout ...
in 1796, the limestone quarries were commercialised. The first of these was at nearby Loads Knowl and others quickly followed along Dove Holes Dale. Undoubtedly, the opening of the Peak Forest Tramway and the consequent expansion of commercial limestone quarries contributed greatly to the expansion of the village. For the first time, there was an outlet for limestone in Manchester via the Peak Forest Tramway,
Bugsworth Basin
Bugsworth Basin is a canal basin at the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal at Buxworth (formerly Bugsworth) in the valley of the Black Brook, close to Whaley Bridge. It was once a busy interchange with the Peak Forest Tramway, for the transpor ...
, the
Peak Forest Canal
The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow ( gauge) locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.
Route and features
General description
The canal consists of two level ...
and the
Ashton Canal
The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne.
Route
The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing thro ...
.
Buxton Mountain Rescue Team
The Buxton Mountain Rescue Team is a UK registered charity operating search and rescue missions from its base at Dove Holes near Buxton in Derbyshire. The team covers an area of about 400 square miles across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshir ...
has been based in Dove Holes since the 1970s. Their present base in the village was opened in 1990 by HRH
Diana Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
.
There is a High Peak bus company garage on the east side of the A6, replacing the one which used to be in Buxton.
In 2001, the village was voted the ugliest village in Britain in a
Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcas ...
poll. However Dove Holes railway station was chosen in 2019 to feature in the music video for the chart-topping single "Someone You Loved" by singer
Lewis Capaldi
Lewis Marc Capaldi ( ; born 7 October 1996) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. He was nominated for the Critics' Choice Award at the 2019 Brit Awards. In March 2019, his single " Someone You Loved" topped the UK Singles Chart wher ...
.
Cemex
CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than 50 countries ...