Winnats Pass

Winnats Pass, Castleton, is a long collapsed limestone cave system. The name Winnats is short for ‘Windygates’ and on a windy day you will see why it came by that name, for the wind seems to swirl around everywhere.

The ‘pass’ part of the name is something of a misnomer – Winnats is a steep-sided limestone valley with cliffs on all sides, which climbs out of the Hope Valley onto the limestone plateau area above. The valley was created by the action of water eating away at the limestone rock – water gradually dissolves the limestone and the streams tend to find their way underground by gradually enlarging the natural cracks and fissures in the rock.

Winnats Pass will be closed during the WATERLICHT installation.  Please see Derbyshire County Council website for more information.