Curbar was originally part of the Duke of Rutland’s Estate until 1921. It is located about 5 miles north of Bakewell and situated on the eastern side of the river Derwent, spreading from beside the river up the steep hillside beneath the dramatic gritstone escarpment of Curbar Edge.
Curbar has many quaint little cottages and select houses which are positioned around the old Roman Road that climbs up through the rocks at a point known as Curbar Gap. Here there is a pay and display car park which provides access to the paths along the top of Curbar Edge, Froggatt Edge and Baslow Edge from where there are fabulous far reaching views over the Derwent Valley below and northwards toward The Dark Peak, with a glimpse of Kinder on a clear day.
The dramatic chain of Edges which flank the eastern boundary of the Peak District National Park were formed by glacial action in the last Ice Age some 20,000 years ago.
The old Roman Road through Curbar Gap later became an important packhorse route and provided a safe and accessible pathway through the Edges to Chesterfield. In 1759 the road was turnpiked and there is an old guide stoop by the side of the car park which dates from that time, although the lettering is now badly eroded having been exposed to the harsh winds and weather conditions which have whipped across the moors in the last 250 years.