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Introduction
Alport Castles is probably one of the most spectacular landscape features in the Peak District. Reputed to be the largest natural landslip in the UK, it shows the powerful forces of nature at work here in this dramatic location.
To find out how this geological monument was created we have to look back 300 million years. Imagine yourself standing at Alport Castles 300 million years ago, the scene would be very different. You would be in the middle of a massive river delta which flowed into a shallow tropical sea which then covered the Peak District. The mud and sand particles carried in the river were deposited in layers in the delta. Over millions of years these deposits were slowly compressed as layer upon layer gradually creating the smooth, soft shale and coarse, hard gritstone rocks we see today.
The combination of conditions that can lead to land 'slippage' are: alternating layers of soft shale with heavier gritstone strata. The extra 'ingredient' is water that creates the lubrication for the layers to collapse and slide over one another under the force of gravity with possibly a little freeze-thaw action to help loosen the bonds. Water seeps in between the different layers of rock causing whole hillsides to slide and shift. During cold weather, water in the layers of rock freezes, shattering the soft shale's weakening exposed rock, causing large boulders to fall from the rock face.
A major landslip at the end of the last Ice Age, possibly 12,000 years ago, created Alport Castles but if you look around elsewhere there is plenty of evidence that the rocks are still on the move in many landslips!
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What to see and do
Visitors can admire the dramatic scenery and do bird watching. Things to look out for include ravens and peregrine falcons, they occasionally nest on the crags.
WARNING: The rock faces are very unstable and are not suitable for climbing or scrambling. Loose boulders frequently fall from the crags.
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How to get there
There is car parking at Fairholmes, a bus service at weekends to West End, and public footpath to the Alport Valley.
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