Peak District
Higger Tor
435M
1427FT
About Higger Tor
This distinctive gritstone summit dominates the skyline above Hathersage, offering a wilder alternative to the busier Stanage Edge nearby. Its plateau is littered with wind-eroded boulders, providing excellent views across the Burbage Valley to the Iron Age embankments of Carl Wark and the distant profile of Mam Tor.
Key Statistics
Rank
133rd Highest in Peak District
Parent Range
Peak District
Prominence
?
22m
Nearest Town
Sheffield
Geology
The ground beneath you is tough Chatsworth Grit sandstone, which rests on a base of finer mudstone and siltstone known as the Marsden Formation.
Classifications
Find It
OS Grid Reference
SK257819
Latitude
53.3334°N
Longitude
1.6155°W
Did You Know?
- •The name is likely a corruption of 'High Tor', derived from the Old English 'heah', though local folklore occasionally links it to the dialect word 'higgering', referring to the pedlars who once frequented the ancient packhorse routes nearby.
- •Immediately to the southeast lies Carl Wark, a rocky promontory featuring a significant Iron Age hillfort. The massive gritstone wall guarding its western approach is one of the best-preserved prehistoric structures in the Peak District.
- •Film enthusiasts may recognise the surrounding landscape from the 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride; the distinctive gritstone stacks of the tor are visible in the background during scenes filmed around the Burbage Valley.
- •The summit is a premier destination for gritstone bouldering, famous for the 'Leaning Block' and various technical problems that utilise the natural weather-sculpted pockets and cracks in the ancient rock.
- •Given its proximity to the car park at Fiddler’s Elbow, the summit offers perhaps the highest ratio of impressive mountaineering photographs to actual calories burned in the entire National Park.