Eckington

This large, sprawling village built of local Derbyshire stone lies close to the Yorkshire county border. The name Eckington is of Saxon origin, meaning the township of Ecca. Eckington was once an agricultural settlement but, as a result of coal beneath and around it, it was transformed into a village dependent on the collieries. Since the decline of coal mining in the late 20th century, several light industries have become established and much farmland has been lost.

The village has a fascinating church, the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, which dates from 1100 and still retains the original Norman doorway. In a field at the back of the church, near the river, stands the Priest’s Well where the parish priest used to draw water, as did the travelling people who used the field as a camp until the 1930s.

D.H. Lawrence is said to have used the village of Eckington and Renishaw Hall as inspiration for his most famous novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

The area to the west of Eckington, once known for its sickle and scythe industry, is today a sanctuary for wildlife. A two-mile circular walk, ‘Old Eckington Explored’, highlights the history of this delightful Derbyshire town. Other circular walks of varying length take in all aspects of the Moss Valley.