The key characterisitics of Dark Peak are:

Dark Peak

The key characterisitics of Dark Peak are:

• Dramatic character created by sharply defined, elevated and vast plateaux with 'gritstone ridges' and edges and long uninterrupted views.

• Wild and remote semi-natural character created by blanket bog, dwarf shrub heath and heather moorland with rough grazing and a lack of habitation.

• Contrasting valley heads created by combination of sheltered, deeply-incised cloughs with fast-flowing streams around margins of plateaux and greater diversity of vegetation including semi-natural broadleaved woodland.

• Cultivated character of margins created by in-bye with dispersed farmsteads, gritstone wall boundaries and hedgerows in valley bottoms and small scale of enclosure.

• Major valleys some of which are dominated by coniferous woodland and reservoirs.

• Durable and stocky architectural style to dispersed buildings and settlements constructed from local gritstone with typical blackened appearance.

For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.