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Alderley Edge Escarpment

by Alec and Val Scaresbrook

This area has been exploited since the Bronze Age for copper, and miles of shafts and levels were dug in the 18th and 19th centuries to extract copper and cobalt ores. The small, isolated building that you may have noticed opposite The Wizard is where the miners stored their explosives, well away from other buildings, just in case.

The abandoned mines proved to be a death trap for adventurous youngsters. As a result, all of the entrances were sealed up, and the mines leased to Derbyshire Caving Club, whose members have cut two new shafts into the labyrinth, fixed ladders inside and act as guides to many groups wishing to see the workings. A permanent (free) exhibition of the sights below ground is sited near the car park and is usually open at weekends.

The Wizard legend

A farmer from Mobberley crossed Alderley Edge on his way to market to sell his white horse. An old man appeared and offered to buy the animal, but the farmer refused. However, he couldn't sell the animal, and on his return journey he again met the old man, who took him past certain landmarks until they reached the Iron Gates. This hidden entrance in the rock led to a cavern of sleeping warriors, all but one with a white horse, waiting to be called upon to ride and save England. The farmer agreed to sell his horse, and the Wizard paid him three times its value from the underground store of treasure.

This legend may refer to the rich source of copper ores beneath the Edge and the list of landmarks may refer to the sites of Bronze Age mine pits. But the tale has only been traced back to the mid-17th century. It was probably first printed in around 1805, coinciding with the period when various mining companies exploited the deposits. It's likely that the story was further spread once the railway arrived at the nearby village and the population grew. The Wizard legend formed the basis of a modern children's story by the author Alan Garner, who has claimed (in the March 1991 issue of Cheshire Life) that it was his great great grandfather Robert Garner, a local stonemason, who carved an inscription and the face of a wizard on the rock known as the Wizard's Well. He was also supposed to be responsible for erecting the so-called Druid's circle in the woods, because he had some stones to dispose of. See the map below