Peak Forest Tramway and Cromford and High Peak Railway

A Heritage Audit was undertaken for the Peak Forest Tramway and the Cromford and High Peak Railway by ARCUS, in conjunction with Derbyshire County Council. The Peak Forest Railway was opened in 1796 to link the limestone quarries at Doveholes with Bugworth Canal Basin 6 miles to the northeast. It was one of the earliest mineral railways in Britain to link with an inland waterway system and to use iron rails. The route, engineered by Benjamin Outram, incorporates the Stoddart Tunnel at Chapel en le Frith, which has been identified as the second oldest railway tunnel in the world. The Cromford and High Peak Railway opened in 1830 and was one of the earliest in Britain. It measured 33 miles in length and crossed the White Peak of Derbyshire, rising to a height of over 1200ft by means of a series of inclined planes with fixed steam engines. The level central section was created by the engineer Josias Jessop, with huge embankments and narrow cuttings. Wagons were pulled along this section initially by horses and later by steam engines.