Carl Wark

The hill known as Carl Wark lies close to Higgar Tor between Stanage and Burbage Edges. It rises high above Burbage Brook and is a fine natural defensive position, so it was used as a fort long ago.

It is very likely that the hill was fortified in the Iron Age (or earlier) at the same time as Mam Tor, which you can see from Higgar Tor, only a few hundred metres away, and a plaque alongside the hill records this. However, archaeologists now tend towards the view that the massive fortifications which can still be seen at the western entrance were probably constructed in the Romano-British period at the start of the Dark Ages, maybe about 500 AD, so the fort has a long and probably complex history of occupation.

Along with nearby Higgar Tor, the hill is a fine viewpoint and makes a nice walk from the Fox House Inn on the Hathersage to Sheffield road.