Set out for a stroll around Shottle and be amazed at the diversity of wildlife around you. Shottle is situated at the southern end of The Peak District and sits on a gritstone plateau above the limestone shales of the Ecclesbourne valley. It is this Derbyshire gritstone combined with an altitude of seven hundred and fifty feet above sea level that shapes the character of Shottle, from mellow stone walls and picturesque barns to acid soils and heathland type vegetation such as gorse and bilberry.
The numerous large soltary oak trees that dot the landscape are remnants of a medievel royal hunting forest, Duffield Frith, that stretched from Duffield in the south, Hulland in the west, Belper in the east and Alderwasley in the North, with Shottle just about in the middle. 
There are many springs upwelling around the farm and this makes it a perfect habitat for breeding birds including lapwing, curlew, snipe, partridge, skylark, yellow hammer and meadow pitpit. Birds of prey are also in abundance including buzzard, kestrel, tawny owl, little owl and barn owl. In the early morning you may catch a glimps of fox cubs or a hare. At night you will often come across a badger ambling up the lane.
The lack of light polution makes for some stunning stargazing on clear nights, and our long views towards Nottinghamshire provide us with some spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
A walk round the pretty lanes will reveal an abundance of wild flowers, hedge banks filled with cowparsley, campion and vetches, the meadows studded with buttercups and clover, scarlet poppies vivid along the margins of the crops and the woods filled with fragrant blubells.
Country House
Around and About
Luxurious accommodation in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales, on the southern fringes of the Peak District.