Grid ref: SK135827
Introduction
The towering crags of the Winnats keep watch as traffic makes its slow and winding journey up the pass. Winnats means 'wind gates'. It was a gateway into the fortified village of Castleton in medieval times. The road was surfaced during the Second World War as an alternative to Mam Tor. Now it is the only route out of the western end of the Hope Valley, since the Mam Tor road was closed in 1979.
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How Winnats Pass was formed
The Winnats is formed from Carboniferous limestone - fossilised coral reef laid down in a shallow sea some 280-300 million years ago. The area is on the northern boundary of the White Peak massif, before it dips and disappears below the shales and millstone grits of Mam Tor. The limestone of coral reefs is fossil rich containing many creatures found in the warm water reef, including crinoids, ammonites, and brachiopods.
The Winnats is a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest for these geological formations and fossils. Please do not remove any rocks without first seeking permission.
There are several theories as to how the pass was formed. It may, for example, have been a giant cave system that has collapsed. However, most scientists now believe that the present-day Pass was probably a natural undersea ravine between two adjacent coral reefs. As this coral transformed into limestone rock, over millions of years, the gap between the two reefs filled with later weaker deposits. The whole mass of rock was raised above sea-level by earth movements and the valley / ravine has been revealed by erosion of the weaker deposits - especially during periods of overflowing water when meltwater from thawing ice sheets gushed down the Pass.
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Special features
Other special features of the limestone include the cave systems, which are also of national importance. There are some 16km of caves underneath the Castleton district. Caves on National Trust property include Old Tor Mine (this is partially a natural cave previously mined for blue john), Winnats Head Cave, Suicide Hole (near the bottom of Winnats), Odins cave and Windy Knoll cave, which has produced a large number of prehistoric animal bones. These were presumably washed in when the cave was a swallow hole. They consisted of wolf, bison, grisly bear, mountain hare and reindeer now held by Manchester and Sheffield Museum.
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Vegitation
The steep sided slopes have a rich and varied vegetation. The south facing side has thin dry soil with wild thyme, birdsfoot trefoil and fairyflax amongst others. On the opposite north facing side which doesn't see much sunshine the soil is much damper and cooler. Here are the tall herb communities of woodland plants which include red campion, dog's mercury and Jacob's ladder - a nationally rare and red data book species. Look out for its blue flowers in June and July on the crags above the road.
The National Trust's aim is to conserve all these plant species, working with our tenant farmer, by setting a sympathetic grazing regime, and monitoring any changes in the vegetation.
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How to get there
There is a private car park at the bottom of Winnats (pay and display). Or park in Castleton village.
At weekends and holidays a shuttle bus connects to the railway stations at Hope and Edale. This stops nearby at either Treakcliff or Blue John Caverns.
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