Town defences 270m north and 350m north east of Peveril Castle

Henry II drew a sharp line around Castleton in 1196, forcing a scattered village into a rigid grid beneath Peveril Castle. The resulting bank and ditch measured twelve metres across, creating a sudden boundary where open moorland had previously flowed without limit. That geometric imposition transformed local life, concentrating trade and worship inside a circle the king could watch. The earth still holds the shape of that decision, preserving the exact moment human ambition bent the landscape to its will.