Shining Cliff Woods are on the west bank of the River Derwent near to

Ambergate Ambergate is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated where the River Amber joins the River Derwent, and where the A610 road from Ripley and Nottingham joins the A6 that runs along the Derwent valley between Derby to the south and Matloc ...

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 medieval times "Schymynde-cliffe" was one of the seven

royal parks The Royal Parks of London are lands that were originally used for the recreation, mostly hunting, of the royal family. They are part of the hereditary possessions of The Crown, now managed by The Royal Parks Limited, a charity which manages ...

within

Duffield Frith Duffield Frith was, in medieval times, an area of Derbyshire in England, part of that bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers (or Ferrars) by King William, controlled from his seat at Duffield Castle. From 1266 it became part of the Duchy of Lancaster ...

and, as such, belonged to Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster. It was an estate within the manor of

Alderwasley Alderwasley ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 469. Alderwasley Hall is the home to one of the sites of Alderwasley Hall School which ...

and in 1284 was given to William Foun who was given the job of maintaining the boundaries between the Pendleton and Peatpits Brooks. They passed to Thomas Lowe by marriage in 1471 and in 1514 he was granted by Henry VIII the right to "empark and empale" his estate and enjoy "free warren" within it. The woods include an SSSI. Some of the woodland is owned and managed by Grith Fyrd Pioneers, but the Eastern part is (like

Alport Height Alport Height is a hill near Wirksworth in Derbyshire. It is a popular picnic site, since it has extensive views to the South, and is the first hill over within easy reach of the Derby area. Like Shining Cliff Woods, 2 km to the east, it i ...

some 2 km to the west), in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, and part of their South Peak Estate. This woodland is managed by

Forestry England Forestry England is a division of the Forestry Commission, responsible for managing and promoting publicly owned forests in England. It was formed as Forest Enterprise in 1996, before devolving to Forest Enterprise England on 31 March 2003 and ...

. The woods contain a popular residential centre, once managed by the Youth Hostels Association but managed independently since 2009. The hostel stands in the lee of the Shining Cliff itself, a low gritstone rockface (). To the east of Shining Cliff Wood stands Oakhurst House, a 19th-century Jacobean-Arts & Crafts country home which has fallen into partial ruin. It was built by Francis Hurt, landowner and resident of local Alderwasley Hall. The house is in private ownership and not accessible to the public.

References

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Derbyshire Forests and woodlands of Derbyshire {{derbyshire-geo-stub