Peak District
Mam Tor
517M
1696FT
About Mam Tor
Dominating the skyline above Edale, this iconic Peak District summit is famous for the crumbling eastern face that earned its 'Shivering Mountain' nickname. A paved path leads along the breezy Great Ridge towards Lose Hill, offering exceptional views across the Vale of Edale and the Hope Valley.
Key Statistics
Rank
39th Highest in Peak District
Parent Range
Peak District
Prominence
?
62m
Nearest Town
Edale
Geology
You are walking on layers of mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone. These rocks form the Mam Tor Beds and Bowland Shale that make up this ridge.
Find It
OS Grid Reference
SK127836
Latitude
53.3491°N
Longitude
1.8107°W
Did You Know?
- •The name Mam Tor translates from local dialect and Celtic roots as 'Mother Hill'. This refers to the frequent landslips on its eastern face, which have created a series of smaller 'subsidiary' hills at its base, as if the larger mountain is giving birth to smaller ones.
- •The summit is enclosed by the remains of a significant Iron Age hill fort, one of the highest in England. Excavations have revealed timber roundhouses and Bronze Age burial mounds, suggesting this exposed ridge has been a site of strategic importance for over 3,000 years.
- •Below the eastern face lies a section of the old A625 road, abandoned in 1979 after decades of repair failed to stop the mountain from claiming it. Today, the buckled and cracked tarmac serves as a vivid illustration of the geological instability that gives the hill its 'Shivering Mountain' nickname.
- •Standing at the summit trig pillar provides a classic panorama of the Peak District. To the north lies the vast, peat-covered plateau of Kinder Scout; to the east, the Great Ridge rolls toward Win Hill and the Derwent Moors; and to the south, the landscape shifts into the limestone plateaus of the White Peak.
- •The hill sits on the geological boundary between the gritstone of the Dark Peak and the limestone of the White Peak. This unique positioning is why the base of the hill houses the world's only known deposits of Blue John, a rare and beautiful variety of fluorite found in the nearby show caves.
- •After centuries of trying to pave over the Shivering Mountain, the local council eventually conceded defeat in 1979, proving that even the British road-building industry has its limits when faced with a hill that refuses to sit still.