GhostFamous
Allan and Clara
Two horses, saddled and riderless, on the moor.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- A steep green limestone gorge with a road
- Legend from
- Local tradition; recorded 1788
- Tone
- Chilling
Two young lovers rode into this gorge in 1758. Their horses came out alone.
Winnats Pass, a steep limestone gorge above Castleton, is said to be haunted by a young couple, Allan and Clara, who were eloping to be married at Peak Forest chapel in 1758. Local miners robbed and murdered them in the pass. The Castleton Historical Society quotes the Derby News of 1788 saying their bones were found in 1768 by miners sinking an engine pit. Their horses were found days later, and a red leather saddle in the Speedwell Cavern museum is said to be Clara's. William Wood retold the story in 1862, with the murderers coming to grim ends.