Capital of the Peak
Chapel-en-le-Frith
A small market town of Thursday cobbles, old pubs and paths into reservoir and moorland country.
- Best for
- Historic pubs and short walks
- Give it
- A half-day or an unhurried day
- Don't miss
- The stocks, cross and horse trough
The Fox verdict
Come for the pubs; stay for the stories and a leg-stretch
Chapel-en-le-Frith pairs a cobbled Thursday market with old inns, the Black Hole of Derbyshire and short routes into the surrounding hills and reservoir country.
Start with the stocks and market cross, give St Thomas Becket time for its Anglo-Scandinavian cross shaft and Civil War story, then choose between a local pint, Eccles Pike, Combs Reservoir or the old tramway trail.
Where to go
Places in Chapel-en-le-Frith
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesThe New Inn
A traditional Robinsons' local with comfy armchairs, a log burner and real ales.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 1 hour
- Locality
- 1 Manchester Road
Combs Reservoir
Choose the circular reservoir trails, with sailing and watersports also represented by the sailing club.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 1 hour 30 minutes
- Locality
- Combs Reservoir
Peak Forest Tramway Trail
Walk a trail that follows the route of the former horse-drawn Peak Forest Tramway.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 1 hour 30 minutes
- Locality
- Peak Forest Tramway Trail
Food & drink
1 placeThe Old Cell Ale Bar
Tim and Jane's micropub focuses on beer, spirits and gin, including beer brewed by the owners themselves.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Chapel-en-le-Frith
Walks & outdoors
1 placeEccles Pike
A short walk of about 1.5 miles from the town centre reaches a summit with a 360-degree panorama.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 2 hours
- Locality
- Eccles Pike
History & heritage
2 placesMarket Place Stocks and Cross
See the 18th-century stocks, the market cross with its faint possible 1636 date, the Diamond Jubilee horse trough and the cobbles where the Thursday market is held.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 20 minutes
- Locality
- Market Place
Church of St Thomas Becket
Founded in 1225 and largely rebuilt in 1733, the church holds an 11th-century Anglo-Scandinavian cross shaft and the story behind its name, the Black Hole of Derbyshire.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Chapel-en-le-Frith
No places match this filter. Choose All places to reset the list.
Three ways to explore Chapel-en-le-Frith
Signature outings
Find Will Scarlet's square
A square of cobbles beside the stocks marks where Robin Hood's companion is said to have died on 14 December 1283.
Take in the full circle
Eccles Pike is about 1.5 miles from the town centre and gives a 360-degree panorama from its summit.
Meet the Black Hole story
The church remembers the 1,500 Scottish Royalist prisoners held there for sixteen days in 1648, 44 of whom died.
The village story
Cobbles, pints and the Black Hole of Derbyshire
The accepted Travel Fox article moves from the Market Place and its pubs to hill paths, church history, Ferodo and the town's returning carnival traditions.
Stocks, cobbles and the Capital of the Peak
A square of cobbles beside the town stocks in the Market Place marks the spot where Will Scarlet, the companion of Robin Hood, is said to have died on 14 December 1283. The stocks are 18th-century and still standing, ready for the punishment of petty crimes. Next to them is the market cross, which carries a faint date that might read 1636, and a horse trough put up for the Diamond Jubilee. The square is cobbled, and on Thursdays it holds a market, as it has for centuries.
This is a small market town that calls itself the Capital of the Peak, which is a large title for a place of 8,635 people.
A town measured in pubs
The pubs are the reason to stop. The Roebuck Inn at 9 Market Place occupies a building that dates from the 13th century and became a beerhouse in 1720. It does a Sunday roast until half past three, including a doggy Sunday roast for the dog. One reviewer called it "an old traditional pub refurbished to a high standard with a fine selection of real ales and a good menu at modest prices," and 1,373 of them settled on 4.4 out of 5.
The New Inn on Manchester Road is a Robinsons' local with comfy armchairs and a log burner, described by the brewery as somewhere with "great beer at great prices." The Old Cell Ale Bar is a micropub run by Tim and Jane, who brew their own. The Shoulder of Mutton does homemade pork scratchings. The Old Pack Horse is the one for watching sport.
From old inns to open summits
If you don't mind walking to the edge of the parish, the Barrel Inn at Bridgeholm Green dates back to 1597 and cooks mostly local food every day.
For a short leg-stretch, Eccles Pike is about a mile and a half from the centre and gives you a 360-degree view from the top. Combs Reservoir has circular trails and a sailing club. The Peak Forest Tramway Trail follows a former horse-drawn tramway. Mam Tor and the Great Ridge above Castleton are within easy reach, the latter approached through the limestone gorge of Winnats Pass.
The Black Hole and the brake-lining hut
The Church of St Thomas Becket was founded in 1225 and rebuilt in 1733. It holds an Anglo-Scandinavian cross shaft that points to an 11th-century date. It also holds a grimmer distinction. In 1648, after the Battle of Preston, around 1,500 captured Scottish Royalist soldiers were locked inside for sixteen days. When the doors were reopened, 44 had died. It has been the Black Hole of Derbyshire ever since.
The town's other claim is Ferodo, the brake-lining firm founded by Herbert Frood, who started his experiments in a hut in his garden at Combs. Ferodo is an anagram of FROOD. Prince Philip opened the research centre in 1958.
Rails, carnival and Thursday returns
The station is about a mile out, on the Buxton line, with Manchester 40 to 50 minutes away by train. Buxton itself is ten minutes by road along the A6. John Wesley came here four times between 1740 and 1786.
Every June the town holds a carnival, with a procession that winds down to Memorial Park, and in the old Peak tradition it still dresses its wells. The cobbles by the stocks stay where they are, waiting for Thursday.
Stay around Peak District
Make a longer stay of it
Travel Fox holiday homes around Peak District, linked directly to their property pages.
Leek
Lisa's House Leek: 20mins Alton Towers
- Sleeps 6
- 2 bedrooms
Leek
The Rudyard Suite - Large 1 Bed Apartment
- Sleeps 5
- 1 bedroom
Leek
The Roaches Suite - Large 2 Bedroom Apartment
- Sleeps 7
- 2 bedrooms
Leek
The Moorlands Suite - 1 Bed Apartment
- Sleeps 4
- 1 bedroom
Leek
Amy's House: 20mins Alton Towers
- Sleeps 6
- 2 bedrooms
A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Market Place Stocks and Cross — chapelpc.org other published source
- Church of St Thomas Becket — st-thomas-becket.church operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The New Inn — ratings.food.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- The Old Cell Ale Bar — chapelpc.org other published source
- Eccles Pike — chapelpc.org other published source
- Combs Reservoir — her.derbyshire.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Peak Forest Tramway Trail — her.derbyshire.gov.uk statutory register or public authority