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Hathersage

This is the fictional home of Little John, loyal friend of Robin Hood. According to legend Little John, after he had buried his comrade Robin Hood at Kirklees Priory, made his way sadly back to Hathersage where he spent his last remaining days. Whether or not the legend is to be believed, it is worth mentioning that when the grave in the churchyard was opened in the 1780s, a 32-inch thighbone was discovered. This would certainly indicate that the owner was well over seven feet tall. The whole area surrounding Hathersage has features with such names as Robin Hood’s Cave, Hood Valley, Hood Brook and Robin Hood’s Moss.

As well as its historical association to Robin Hood it also has interesting literary connections. Charlotte Brontė stayed at Hathersage vicarage in 1845, and the village itself appears as ‘Norton’ in her novel Jane Eyre. The name Eyre was probably gleaned from the monuments to the prominent local landowners with this surname, which can be seen in the village churchyard.

The Eyre family has been associated with this area for over 800 years. Legend has it that the family was given their name by William the Conqueror. During the Battle of Hastings, so it is said, William was knocked from his horse and, wearing his now battered helmet, found it difficult to breathe. A Norman, Truelove, saw the King’s distress and helped him take the helmet off and get back on his horse. In gratitude the King said that from thenceforth Truelove would be known as ‘Air’ for helping the King to breathe.

Later the King learned that Air had lost most of a leg in the battle, and made arrangements for Air and his family to be cared for and granted land in this part of Derbyshire. The name became corrupted to Eyre over the years, and the family’s coat of arms shows a shield on top of which is a single armoured leg. The 15th century head of the family, Robert Eyre, lived at Highlow Hall. Within sight of this Hall he built seven houses, one for each of his seven sons. North Lees was one, which Charlotte Brontė took as a model for Rochester’s house, Thornfield Hall. It is one of the finest Elizabethan buildings in the region - a tall square tower with a long wing adjoining and the grounds are open to the public. Another was Moorseats, where Charlotte Brontė stayed on holiday and used as the inspiration for Moor House in Jane Eyre.

St Michael’s Parish Church is said to date from 1381, though it has been much altered and extended over the years. There are brasses of the Eyre family, and an Eyre family chapel once stood on the north side of the chancel, on the other side of the tomb to Robert Eyre, dating from 1459.

Highlow Hall is a fine, battlemented manor built in the 1500s by the Eyre family. It is said to be haunted by a ghost known as The White Lady, thought to be the older sister of the wife of Nicholas Eyre, founder of the Eyre family. Nicholas had promised to marry her, but instead jilted her in favour of her younger sister. She was so humiliated she killed herself.

Until the late 18th century Hathersage was a small agricultural village with cottage industries making brass buttons and wire, until in 1750 a Henry Cocker started the Atlas Works, a mill for making wire. By the early 19th century it had become a centre for the manufacture of needles and pins. Though water power was used initially for the mills, by the mid-19th century smoke from the industrial steam engines enveloped the village. The fragments of dust and steel dispersed in the process of sharpening the needles destroyed the lungs of the workers, reducing their life expectancy to 30 years. There was also a paper mill, with the paper being used to wrap the needles and pins. The last mill here closed in 1902, as needle making moved to Sheffield, but several of the mills still stand, including the Atlas Works.