The area around Hartington has some of the most spectacular scenery in England.
Dovedale, with its narrow limestone gorge and spectacular spires of rock, is only a few miles away
and can easily be reached on foot from Hartington. The route from Hartington to Dovedale goes via
Beresford Dale and Wolfscote Dale,
which are also impressive gorges, though less spectacular than Dovedale.
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 Dovedale - Reynards Cave
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 Thors Cave in the Manifold Valley |
The Manifold Valley is another spectacular limestone valley close to Hartington. Less narrow than Dovedale,
it has a cycleway along the bottom of the valley, following the track of an old light railway.
The most impressive sight in the Manifold Valley is Thor's Cave. This large cave was home to primitive man
during the Mesolithic period and archeaologists have found numerous tools and atrefacts dating from up to 10,000 years ago.
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Only a few miles from Hartington is Arbor Low, an impressive 'henge' monument constructed by Neolithic farmers
approximately 5,000 years ago. It has a circle of stones lying within an earth ditch and bank, but the stones are lying
flat upon the ground, not upright as at most stone circles.
It is not clear whether the stones were always flat or
whether they were once upright, and archaeologists disagree on this point!
In Neolithic times this upland area of limestone plateau was fertile farming land and this
henge was clearly a focal point for the people who farmed it. There are also numerous Stone Age and Bronze Age
'barrows' and other tombs in the area.
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 Arbor Low
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