About This Walk
Beginning from the small village of Beeley in the Chatsworth Estate, this Beeley Moor walk heads up to Beeley Hilltop and climbs to a small bronze-age stone circle, before returning through the Hell Bank & Beeley Plantations beside Beeley Brook, back to the village
Distance & Elevation
Distance: 3.8 Miles (6.1km)
Total Ascent: 673ft / 205m
Time: 2hr
Travelling by Car:
Considerate roadside parking in the village of Beeley – postcode for guide DE4 2NR. Limited space in this small village, please avoid blocking resident spaces and obstructing access.
Travelling by Public Transport:
The village of Beeley is served by service 217 between Chatsworth & Matlock, the stop is on the B6012 just beside the road into the village. From the bus stop walk into the village, keeping left to walk up Chapel Hill to the road junction with a triangular island, with a commemorative bench beneath a tree.
Ordnance Survey Map & App
Map: Ordnance Survey OL24 (White Peak)
Get this route on the OS maps website & app
Komoot
The time is loosely based on Naismith’s Rule and will vary depending on the walker.
Beeley to Beeley Hilltop
The walk begins from the road junction on Chapel Hill in Heeley, with a triangular central island, and a bench commemorating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II under a tree in the centre. From your parking spot in the village, walk up to this location to begin.
From the bench, walk up School Lane, passing the car park for the church and local residents on your left. Continue past two cottages on the left, then turn right before Pig Lane, through a squeeze stile onto the public footpath. Walk along the field to another squeeze stile at the far end.
Pass through the squeeze stile and bear slightly left up the next field, to the top left corner. At the top corner, go through a squeeze stile on your left, then climb diagonally up the next field to a stile at the top end of the hedgerow.
Climb the stile and head diagonally right up the field, turning to your right when you come to a dip on the ground, walking up alongside the dip, up to a stile without a step, before a gate.
Climb the stile and pass through the gate, walking on the rough track beside a stone wall, down to Beeley Hilltop Farm. Head through the gate, along the concrete farm drive into the farmyard. Keep straight ahead through a gate, following footpath signs which then bear left briefly then right to a squeeze stile opposite two silos. Pass through the squeeze stile and turn left to squeeze through another stile and onto a track.
Beeley Hilltop to Beeley Moor
.Turn right along the wide track, ascending steadily.
The track climbs through a short wooded section. The views to the right over Beeley and Chatsworth open up once more for a while before the track reaches the top of Hell’s Bank Plantation with tall trees to your right.
The track bears slightly left, over an uneven section, and then climbs to a sharp right-hand bend.
At the bend, turn left, climbing a tall stone step stile beside a gate onto Beeley Moor & access land.
On Beeley Moor Walk to the Park Gate Stone Circle
Walk up the clear gravel track, passing a signpost to Hob Hurst’s House on your right and continue along the track.
Just before a right-hand bend, look for a fainter, but still clear, track on the right, with ruts made by vehicle tyres. Turn right along this track.
You will soon see the stone circle on your left, with one small boulder and a small standing stone the most obvious of the stones.
Beeley Moor Stone Circle to Hell’s Bank Plantation
After visiting the stone circle, continue along the track, heading roughly northeast. Bunkers Hill Wood lies ahead of you, with Harland Edge along the skyline ahead-right.
As you get a little closer to Bunkers Hill Wood, reach a clear track junction. Turn right and follow the narrower track which is lined by marker posts, back towards Hell’s Bank Plantation.
The track emerges beside the Hob Hurst’s House signpost you passed earlier. Turn left to climb back over the stone step stile and then take the public footpath which heads into the plantation just ahead to your right, through a gap beside a wooden gate.
Hell’s Bank Plantation and Beeley Brook
Follow the footpath with a fence o your right as it runs along the top of the plantation. At a fork in the path, bear right, then shortly, turn sharply right at a footpath marker post.
Descend on this path through the trees of the plantation. The path steepens and narrows as it drops to Beeley Brook just below a waterfall. Descend with care and cross the wooden footbridge as the path turns left.
Continue following the path descending through woods, soon passing through a dense (and a little spooky) section. Emerge beside a mossy stone wall. Do not cross the wall, continue downhill, roughly alongside the brook. Cross a boggy section via 2 wooden planks, then descend 7 steps beside a marker post.
Continue down the now wide track which descends steadily with Beeley Brook to your left and a stone wall to your right.
Where the track forks, the main clear track heading slightly left downhill, bear right, climbing briefly and following the line of the stone wall. Climb over a ladder stile beside a gate and continue downhill, now with the stone wall to your left.
Pass through a hand gate beside a larger gate and continue downhill beside a wall. The path becomes a rough track as it descends to reach another gate. Keep straight ahead through the gate onto a roughly surfaced track.
Follow the surfaced track which eventually joins onto a tarmac road. Keep straight ahead down the road into Beeley, passing a T-junction. Pass Pynot Cottage on your left and Dukes Barn Centre, an outdoor activity centre, on your right back to the coronation memorial bench in the village and the start.
Beeley Village
The small village of Beeley features St Anne’s Church, a Norman church dating from around 1150 (significantly restored in 1883). If you are hungry or thirsty after your walk you can also find The Old Smithy in Beeley, a licenced and dog-friendly cafe serving breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.
