Hay Dale is a short dry valley near

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.

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 ...

, in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

of England. It is part of a longer valley that runs for approximately north–south from

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 Da ...

(on the A623 road) to the

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...

Millers Dale Millers Dale (Ordnance Survey: Miller's Dale) is a valley on the River Wye in Derbyshire, England, where there is also a hamlet of the same name. It is a popular beauty spot in the Peak District of England, much of the area being preserved a ...

. This valley has several names along its length: from the northern end running downhill these are Dam Dale, Hay Dale, Peter Dale and

Monk's Dale Monk's Dale is a short steep-sided dry gorge near Buxton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. The dale is cut into a plateau of farmland and lies to the east of the village of Wormhill. The head of the valley leads into Peter Dale to ...

. There is a farmland plateau on either side. Hay Dale is part of the

Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve The Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve is a series of unconnected limestone dales in the Peak District National Park. It is managed by Natural England and has a permanent staff of wardens who carry out conservation works and ensure the dales ...

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

manages the reserve which covers five separate dales of the

White Peak The White Peak, also known as the Low Peak, is a Carboniferous limestone, limestone plateau that forms the central and southern part of the Peak District in England. It is mostly between and above sea-level and is enclosed by the higher altitu ...

(

Lathkill Dale Lathkill Dale is the valley of the River Lathkill near Bakewell, Derbyshire in the Peak District of England. The river emerges into the dale from springs below Lathkill Head Cave (or, in wet conditions, from the cave itself). Towards the head ...

Cressbrook Dale Cressbrook Dale (also called Ravensdale) is a dry Carboniferous Limestone, carboniferous limestone gorge near Bakewell, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. The dale is cut into a plateau of farmland and lies to the south east of the v ...

, Hay Dale, Long Dale and

). The

Carboniferous limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian Epoch of the Carboniferous Period. These rocks formed between 363 and ...

rocks of the reserve were formed 350 million years ago from the shells and sediments of a tropical sea. The landscape was then sculpted by the ice sheets from the last

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

20,000 years ago. The reserve contains ash woodland, limestone grassland and many wildflowers including

early purple orchid ''Orchis mascula'', the early-purple orchid, early spring orchis, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Description ''Orchis mascula'' is a perennial herbaceous plant with stems up to high, green at the base and ...

, cowslip, common rock rose and

thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenou ...

. Butterflies are abundant and include the brown argus. Early Purple Orchid in Hay Dale

The

Limestone Way The Limestone Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in Derbyshire, England. It runs for through the White Peak of the Peak District National Park, from Castleton south to Rocester over the county boundary into Staffordshire. The trail ...

and the

Peak District Boundary Walk The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District (a ...

long-distance footpaths run along the length of the gentle valley floor. The

Pennine Bridleway The Pennine Bridleway is a National Trail in Northern England. It runs roughly parallel with the Pennine Way but provides access for horse riders and cyclists as well as walkers. The trail is around long, extending from Derbyshire to Cumbria. ...

crosses the northern end of the dale, dividing it from Dam Dale. Where the Limestone Way crosses the A623 road about north of Hay Dale, the route of the old

Batham Gate Batham Gate is the medieval name for a Roman road in Derbyshire, England, which ran south-west from Templebrough on the River Don, South Yorkshire, River Don in South Yorkshire to Brough-on-Noe (Latin ''Navio Roman Fort, Navio'') and the spa tow ...

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

runs east–west. Access into Hay Dale from the north is via a footpath from Peak Forest through Dam Dale. From the south, the dale can be reached from the village of

Wormhill Wormhill is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, situated east by north of Buxton. The population of the civil parish including Peak Dale was 1,020 at the 2011 Census. Wormhill was mentioned in the Domes ...

along the Pennine Bridleway and through Peter Dale. A minor road running west from

Wheston Wheston is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District. Notable features include Wheston Hall and the Wheston Cross. The cross, which survives intact, is more than high. It probably dates from the 14th century and marked the way f ...

marks the southern end of Hay Dale and the start of Peter Dale.

References

{{reflist Valleys of the Peak District Valleys of Derbyshire Peak District Derbyshire Dales