We booked the Sitwell Arms Hotel in Renishaw in Derbyshire for Saturday 14th February 2026. So before we booked in we wanted a walk in the area, nothing of any interest nearby so we see Eyam and its interesting history was ideal and wouldn’t be full of mud walk as it hasn’t stopped raining for ages.
It is a dark and gloomy story, but one of such interest and astoundment of the villages sacrifice.
Up until the events of 1655, Eyam (pronounced ‘eem’) was a relatively unknown rural village. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors more than 4000 years ago, but Anglo-Saxons were the village’s first residents.
The name Eyam means ‘village by the water’ and was named ‘Aiune’ by the Anlgo-Saxons. You can spot lots of stone water troughs throughout the village, dating all the way back to their 1588 water system. Apart from the plague, the village is also known for its old mines that have been there since Roman times and the silk and cotton mills from the 18th and 19th centuries. The village’s oldest building, Laburnum Cottage, dates all the way back to 1550!
The story of the plague begun when a plague-infested box of cloth from London introduced the disease, killing 260+ residents over 14 months—roughly a third of the population—before the outbreak ended in November 1666.
After parking on Church Street for free, We walk down the hill and into the village.
We first walk up to the house that was formerly the Foresters Arms. It was built on the site of a family Graveyard dating from the plague period. Sadly the gravestones were destroyed when it was built.
Almost next door is the Village Green Café, where there is a plaque describing this as John Torres House. He died here on 29th July 1666. His son Godfrey aged 8 months died 3rd August 166 and his wife Joan survived.
Outside the Café is a Bullring attached to a stone. This was originally located on the centre of the village green before being moved in 1986 during improvements. To this ring a bull or bear was tethered and set upon by dogs for entertainment during Wakes Week. It was outlawed in 1835.
We walk across the road to the Eyam Tea Rooms. On the side of this was a plaque stating it was formerly the Bold Rodney Inn.
Here the Rowland family lived in 1665.
Thomas died on this day on 14th February 1666.
His daughter Hannah dies aged 15 on 5th November 1665.
His daughter Mary died aged 13 on 1st December 1665.
His Son Abel aged 10 died on the 15th January 1666.
Abel's gravestone can be seen in the churchyard.
Alice and her son Francis survived. This house was built in addition to the Bold Rodney Inn.
We head inside the tearoom to have a Cream Tea and connect to their WiFi as I have no signal in the village.
We leave the tearoom to go and find the boundary stone to the village and I will tell the story about this is a bit.
We walk up Lydgate which was the main road in and out of the village during the middle ages.
Here on Lydgate the male occupants that lived here took it in turns to stand “Watch and Ward” from 9pm to 6am at a gate to question any strangers wishing to enter the village. This was confirmed by The Watch and Ward Act of November 28th 1833.
Walking up a bit further we pass the Lydgate Graves. Here are the graves of George Darby who died on the 14th July 1666 and his daughter Mary aged 20 who died on 4th September 1666. Georges wife survived and died in 1674.
We walk on down Lydgate and onto a footpath leading us through beautiful Peak District Countryside.
We eventually reach the Eyam boundary stone, sitting beside the path.
As the plague took hold and decimated the villagers it was the selfless decision to quarantine themselves that prevented the spread of the disease, and it is here that their closest neighbour, Stoney Middleton, just a short stroll across an open field joins the story. To minimize cross infection, food and other supplies were left at the Boundary Stone which was situated midway between the villages. The stone had 6 holes drilled into its surface where money left as payment for food and medicine which was left in vinegar soaked holes, believed to kill the infection.
Vinegar or not I suspect the villagers from Stoney Middleton must have still been pretty scared to collect the money!
A story of heartbreak concerning Emmott Sydall and Rowland Torre, separated from one another when the village of Eyam quarantined itself during an outbreak of the Plague, meeting daily at a distance they would shout to each other until one day when all fell silent.
Cucklett Delf is a picturesque dale between the village of Eyam and Stoney Middleton and represents a story of heartbreak concerning Emmott Sydall and Rowland Torre. Emmott was a young girl of about twenty two who was betrothed to Rowland Torre from Stoney Middleton. Emmott lived in a cottage across from Mary Cooper’s house where the Plague started. Her father John Syddall and four of her siblings were among the first victims of the disease.
At first Rowland would visit Emmott in the village, but when they realised this was too dangerous, the lovers would arrange to meet secretly but at a distance minimalizing any risk of Rowland catching the disease. It is suggested that the two would only have looked at each other from a distance, and in silence, lest their plan should be discovered. When Emmott stopped appearing towards the end of April 1666, Rowland continued to go to their meeting place, with hope that against all odds, she might still show up. He was one of the first people to re-enter the village when it was pronounced safe towards the end of 1666, but was soon told the worst; Emmott Syddall had died in the April.
We have more great views over the Cucklett Delf and down into Stoney Middleton.
We start the walk back the way we came.
Over to over to our left is the cliff of an quarry where there’s another story to be told.
The Lovers Leap acquired its name after an incident in 1762, when a young woman by the name of Hannah Baddeley, daughter of William Baddeley and his wife Joan née Townsend. She was baptised 22 Feb 1738/9 and at the age of 24/5 attempted to commit suicide by throwing herself over the cliff top. Her lover, William Barnsley, had jilted her, and she had decided to end it all. Miraculously her billowing petticoats acted like a parachute on the way down, until they were caught in brambles protruding from a ledge. This saved her life and all she suffered were a few cuts and bruises. However, this story does not have a happy ending: Hannah died two years later of natural causes, still unmarried. She was buried 12 Dec 1764. Her father William died in 1758, and mother Joan in 1766, and they were survived by just one grandchild. The details of this event are recorded on an information board outside the Curry Cottage Restaurant that marks the location of the leap.
We back down Lydgate and back into the village.
We pass the Miners Arms in Eyam.
The Miners Arms in Eyam is a historic 17th-century pub and restaurant located in the heart of the "plague village" in the Peak District. Originally known as The King's Head, it was renamed in 1764. The pub historically served as a meeting place for the Barmote Court and the Prosecution of Felons committee since 1812.
The pub operated as The King's Head until it was renamed The Miners Arms in 1764.
It was used for meetings of the Barmote Court, where mine owners and officials determined lead mining land rights.
The pub is reputedly haunted by two young girls who died in a fire on the site before the pub was built and are said to make their presence known to visitors. A ex-landlady who was murdered here by her husband also makes an appearance in a old fashioned dress and makes a loud rustling sound as she roams the corridors at night. You can stay at the pub from a £100 a night.
We walk on back up Church Street, pass the car and to the St Lawrence Church.
The churchyard contains a very well preserved Saxon cross, beautifully carved with intricate interlace patterns on the shaft, with scrollwork and foliage, and figures depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels are carved on panels on the shaft and crosshead.
The church contains 16th-century murals, a 1775 sundial, and a notable plague exhibition.
Plague victims gravestones beside the church wall.
There has been a place of worship on this site from the the 13th century.
The church's stained glass windows are mainly Victorian; the most recent window is more modern and depicts the story of the plague for which the village is famous. The window includes a 'ring of roses', a reminder that the nursery rhyme had a deadly origin. The ring of roses is symbolic of a rosy skin rash which turned purple, a plague symptom. The posies were herbs and flowers carried as a protection and to ward off the smell of the disease. Sneezing or coughing was a final fatal symptom, and 'all fall down' was death.
In 1665 the Plague was raging in London. A tailor from Eyam by the name of George Viccars ordered some cloth from the capital. It arrived damp and had to be laid out to dry, releasing plague carrying fleas. Within days Viccars and some of his neighbours fell ill and died, some families began to panic and fled the area. William Mompesson, the Rector, feared that this would spread the disease over a wider area and asked villagers to quarantine themselves.
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| The Saxon Font |
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| The Norman Font |
Food and medical supplies were left at various points on the village boundary. Eyam church was closed, there were no funerals and families buried their own dead near their homes. At nearby Riley, a Mrs Hancock buried her husband and 6 children in a space of 8 days.
The plague ended in October 1666 and had claimed 260 lives in a 14 month period. Some of the village cottages now carry a commemorative plaque. An authentic history of those fearful months is vividly told in an exhibition in the church and museum.
Further along Church Street is the family home of the Hawksworth family.
Peter the third victim of the plague dies on 23rd September 1665.
Humphrey his son died aged 15 months on 17th October 1665.
Jane was the sole survivor of the household and lost 25 relatives including in-laws.
Next door is the Plague Cottage where it all began.
The history of the plague in the village of Eyam began in 1665 when a flea-infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for Alexander Hadfield, the local tailor. Within a week, his assistant George Viccars, noticing the damp bundle, had opened it.
Shortly after, he died, and more members of the household began to perish.
As the disease spread, the villagers sought leadership from their rector, Reverend William Mompesson, and the ejected Puritan minister Thomas Stanley.
In May 1666, they implemented several measures to slow the illness's spread.
These precautions included families burying their own dead and relocating church services to the natural amphitheatre of Cucklett Delph, allowing villagers to maintain distance and
reduce infection risk.
Mary Hadfield formerly Cooper lived her with her two sons, Edward and Johnathon, her new husband Alexander Hadfieldand an employed hand George Vicars.
George Vicars the first plague victim died on 7th September 1665.
Edward Cooper aged 4 died on the 22nd September 1665.
Johnathon Cooper aged 12 died on the 2nd October 1665.
Alexander Hadfield died on the 3rd August 1666 and Mary alone survived but lost 13 relatives.
Just a little way on we pass Rose Cottage.
Here nine members of the Thorpe family lived.
Thomas Thorpe died 26th September 1665.
Mary his daughter died 30th September 1665.
Elizabeth his wife died 1st October 1665.
Thomas his son died 20th December 1665.
Alice his daughter died 15th April 1666.
Robert his son 2nd May 1666.
William his son died 2nd May 1666.
William and Mary Thorpe the parent of Thomas senior died 1666.
We pass the revolving roasting jack.
The Eyam Revolving Roasting Jack is a historic,, mechanical, 18th-century style, roasting apparatus, located in the Peak District village of Eyam, Derbyshire, England. This specialized, device is historically used for roasting whole sheep on Church Street during annual village events.
As we continue along the road we pass The Brick House.
This is unique in Eyam where all the other buildings are made of local stone. This was once the Stags Parlour Inn but converted to a private residence in 1828.
Across the road is Eyam Hall.
Eyam Hall is a historic 17th-century Jacobean manor house located in the village of Eyam, Derbyshire. Built in 1672, shortly after the village's famous plague outbreak, it has been the home of the Wright family for 11 generations. While it was leased by the National Trust for five years ending in 2018, it is now back under the private management of the Wright family and serves as both a family home and a wedding venue.
On the green are the stocks. Probably used by the Barmcote court which ruled the lead mining industry for the punishment of miners committing minor crimes.
We pass the Market Hall where farmers wife’s used to sell eggs, butter, cheese and poultry.
We enter the grounds of Eyam Hall where there are shops, a tearoom and toilets.
We have a coffee here before we walk back to the car.
We pass the Bulls Head Inn which was formerly called The Talbot Inn run for generations by the Talbot Family, the last whom died in 1813. It is now flats since 2000.
Back at the car we have a 40 minute drive to our hotel in Renishaw.First I had to park outside the Tearoom to use their WiFi to get Google Maps to find a route.
We book in for the night and look to visit Sheffield tomorrow before the drive home.
We eat out that night for Valentines night at a nearby Harvester.
