nd presented at the court leet for confirmation. Castle
Rising became a parliamentary borough in 1558, but was disfranchised in
1832 and the corporation abolished in 1835, although a mayor was elected
for special purposes until 1883. Having no manufactures, the trade of
the town depended entirely on its fairs and markets; but these have been
long obsolete.

CASTLETON, a village in the High Peak parliamentary division of
Derbyshire, England, 17 m. W.S.W. of Sheffield, and 2 m. from Hope
station on a branch of the Midland railway. Pop. (1901) 547. Lying
itself at an elevation of about 600 ft., it is surrounded on the north,
west and south by hills from 1400 to 1700 ft. in height, rising sharply,
and in parts precipitously. The village is celebrated for its situation
in the midst of the wild Peak country, for the caves and mines in the
neighbourhood, and for the Castle of the Peak, the ruins of which are
strongly placed on a cliff immediately above the village. The Peak
Cavern or Devil's Hole, penetrating this cliff, is the most magnificent
in Derbyshire. For many generations the entrance to this cave has served
as a workshop, held free of rent, to families employed in rope and twine
making. Speedwell Cavern is not far distant, at the entrance to the fine
pass of Winnats, by which Castleton and the Vale of Hope are approached
from the west. The beauties of this cavern, in which occurs the
so-called bottomless pit, are in part readily accessible by boat, but
the approach to the inner or Cliff cavern is so difficult that it has
rarely been explored. Among several other caves is that known as the
Blue John Mine, from the decorative fluorspar called "Blue John" which
is obtained here. The church of St Edmund, Castleton, retains a fine
Norman chancel arch, and the vestry contains a valuable library. At
Brough near Castleton was a Roman fort, established to hold in check the
hillmen of the Peak. It was connected by roads with Buxton, Manchester
and Rotherham. The Castle of the Peak, or Peveril Castle, is famous
through Sir Walter Scott's novel _Peveril of the Peak_. Early
earthworks, which, extending from below the castle in a semicircle,
enclosed the town, can still in great part be traced. Before the
Conquest the site was held by Gernebern and Hundinc, and was granted by
the Conqueror to William Peverell, by whom the castle was built. On the
forfeiture of William Peverell, grandson of the first holder, it was
granted by