History & Provenance

White Peak Distillery has been lauded for respecting and reflecting the provenance and past of its home

White Peak is the Peak District’s first full-scale craft distillery, set in the heart of Derbyshire on the banks of the River Derwent.

It was only founded in 2016, but can already consider itself award winning, having scooped a few gongs for its Distillery visitor experiences and its Shining Cliff Gin.

It was opened by husband-and-wife team Max & Claire Vaughan – both originally from Derbyshire – who decided to create a distillery in the former Johnson & Nephew Wire Works in Derbyshire’s Derwent Valley. And in doing so, they’ve made great efforts to retain a sense of history in the location.

The whisky takes its name from the original Wire Works, which were founded by industrialists in the 19th Century, metal has been a long-standing feature of the past in the Peak District.  Lead mining, dates back to at least Roman times, and in more recent history metals have been smelted here, notably copper and zinc. The mines are long-gone, but you can still see the remains in parts of the White Peak.

The Distillery site is a stunning place. It was originally used as an iron forge owned by the Hurt family in the early 1800s, but were transformed by the Johnson Family into a wire works in 1876. Johnson & Nephew was a pioneer in wire and cable products, including supplying cable for the first, sub-sea cross channel telegraph service and numerous early suspension bridges.

The Wire Works operated for 120 years until its closure in the mid-1990s and was at the heart of the community and today the buildings still stand proud alongside the River Derwent and back into the Shining Cliff Woods, an ancient woodland and SSSI – Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Today then, the distillery is part of a location that it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, so every aspect of the Distillery and its spirits links back to this heritage-rich setting. But with it there’s a nod to the surrounding big country. White Peak started producing spirits in 2018 – launching their product range with the inaugural gins referencing the ancient woodland behind the Distillery and the whisky celebrating provenance, flavour and craftsmanship.All the whisky is mashed, fermented, distilled and matured on-site to create a full lifecycle at the Wire Works, with whiskies produced over a slow four-day fermentation using fresh, live yeast from a local Derbyshire brewery help to create White Peak’s unique flavour profile, whilst giving a respectful nod to Derbyshire’s celebrated brewing heritage.

As well as producing award-winning small batch spirits, White Peak also offers a range of visitor experiences for those looking to make the pilgrimage to the Distillery, which includes a recently launched bespoke outdoor events space (Yellow Wood) beside the Distillery, offering guests the chance of a unique woodland, riverside experience.“We’re delighted to have established the Distillery as a recognised, innovative business within Derbyshire where we grew up,” says co-founder owner Max Vaughan. “Over the past five years, our aim has been to put the Distillery on the map both for its spirits and as a destination, a business that the local community are part of and of which they can be proud.

“Our team is passionate about the business we’re building, our extraordinary location, the regeneration of some unique heritage and the spirits we are creating, which are a true taste of our Derbyshire homeland.”