Parkhouse Hill is a small but distinctive hill in 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)-di ...

of the

Hartington Middle Quarter Hartington Middle Quarter is a civil parish within the Derbyshire Dales district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Formerly a part of Hartington parish, for which it is named, it has a mix of a number of villages and hamlets among ...

civil parish, in the English county 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 ...

. It lies on the north side of the River Dove, close to the border with

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. Geologically, the hill is the remains of an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

(a '

reef knoll A reef knoll is a land-based landform that comprises an immense pile of calcareous material that accumulated on a previously existing ancient sea floor. At the time of its accumulation it may have had enough structure from organisms such as sponges ...

') which is believed to have existed during the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

period when what is now the Peak District was covered by a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

sea. Together with its higher but less distinctive neighbour,

Chrome Hill Chrome Hill is a limestone reef knoll in Derbyshire, England, in the upper Dove valley beside the border with Staffordshire, within the civil parish of Hartington Middle Quarter. It is adjacent to Parkhouse Hill, another reef knoll. The walk ...

, it forms the Chrome and Parkhouse Hills

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

, cited for their geology and limestone flora. The walk over Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill is known as the Dragon's Back ridge. For many years access to Parkhouse Hill was difficult, as there was no right of way to the summit. Access is now possible under the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act imp ...

, as the hill is a designated access area. A

double sunset A double sunset is a rare astro-geographical phenomenon, in which the sun appears to set twice in the same evening from a specific viewing-point. A double sunrise may also occur in a similar situation. Such phenomena may have been regarded as si ...

can sometimes be seen against Parkhouse Hill from nearby Glutton Grange; the phenomenon was first captured on film by the photographer Chris Doherty. The occurrence is visible in good weather in late March, early April and September, when the sun sets just to the south of the summit of the hill, begins to re-emerge almost immediately afterwards from its steep northern slope before fully reappearing and later sets for a second and final time at the foot of the hill.

External links

Geology of Parkhouse Hill
- From the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS h ...

Photographs of Parkhouse Hill by Robin Weaver

References

{{Peaks of the Peak District Mountains and hills of the Peak District Mountains and hills of Derbyshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Derbyshire