North Lees Through Time

Follow in the footsteps of Bronze Age farmers, Medieval traders and the quarrymen of the Industrial Revolution.

Discover a Romano- British settlement and a Holy Well.

Visit quarries, kilns and mills. See the Elizabethan manor that inspired Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.

This circular walk begins and ends at Hollins Bank car park. Turn right out of the car park and follow the road round. As you approach the trees of Dennis Knoll plantation, look to your left for the stone outcrop across the stream. The trail is written and narrated by Phil Sidebottom. It has been produced by the Hunter Archaeological Society in partnership with inHeritage.co.uk to celebrate the centenary of the Society in 2012.

PDF Leaflet Tour

Click on the arrow to the right of North Lees Trail.pdf, below, to save the trail to your computer. You can then print it to take with you and explore 3,000 years of history on the Peak District's North Lees Estate.

MP3 Audio Tour

You can download an audio tour version of the trail. This is an audio mp3 album which you can save onto your computer and listen to using Windows Media Player or iTunes. You can copy the album on to an mp3 player, iPod or smartphone to follow the trail. Each stop on the trail is an individual mp3 audio track in the album.

Click on the arrow to the right of North Lees Through Time Audio Tour zip file, below, to download the complete audio album to your computer. You will then need to extract the mp3 audio tracks from the zip file to create a North Lees Through Time Audio Tour folder on your computer containing the individual mp3 audio tracks. Modern versions of Windows Explorer and Apple Finder can extract folders from a zip file. Simply right click on the zip file on your computer to bring up the menu which will include the option to uncompress or extract the file.

Click on the arrow to the right of North Lees Through Time Audio Tour Map, below, to download a PDF map you can print and take with you on the trail.

Start: Hollins Bank car park, SK 238 837. Distance: About 21/2 miles/4 km. Time: 2 hours. Access: Over rough and muddy ground with stiles. Outdoor clothing and walking boots are essential.