Hathersage
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Hathersage is a large village within the Peak District not far form the Sheffield outskirts and 12 miles from Buxton. It's historical associations are with the Robin Hood Legend and the Eyre family. The old centre of the village was just above the classical church, St Michael’s, which now stands above and to the north of the modern village centre. Camp Green, an ancient earthwork which is probably Danish in origin stands to the north of it. The village is a popular centre for walkers and rock-climbers, as at the east of the village there is an expanse of moorland and a great line of gritstone edges including the largest, Stanage Edge. You will also find spectacular tors, not far away, such as Higgar Tor. The hillfort at Carl Wark, is close by and this has so far defied archaeologists' attempts to date it. Several of the edges - Froggatt and Curbar edge included, were once quarried and the area was a major source of the millstones used for grinding corn and metals. The modern village has a full range of pubs, hotels and shopping facilities, including banks, gift shops and outdoor equipment suppliers one with a cafe above. Behind the main street there is a public car park and the surprising luxury of an outdoor swimming pool, which is open throughout the summer months . The railway station, on the Manchester-Sheffield line, lies on the southern edge of the village, while at the western end of the village there is a Youth Hostel. Hathersage is now primarily a tourist village where once it was a hive of local industry. The village housed five mills working flat out at one stage. Until the late 18th century it was a small agricultural village with small cottage industries making brass buttons and wire, however in 1750 Henry Cocker started the Atlas Works, a mill for making wire on a massive scale. By the 19th century there were several mills in operation and industrial expansion and diversification allowed for the eventual manufacture of needles and pins - giving reknown to the village. Eventually a paper mill grew up at North Lees, towards Sheffield. This made wrapping paper used in production and distribution of the pins and needles. Initially water power, from the Derwent, was used to power the mills but this was later superseded by steam in the mid 19th century, the result was that the village was quite often enveloped in a pall of smoke making working conditions very poor. To allow for the needles to be given points they had to grind them using a rotating gritstone wheel, a process which gave off great fragments of dust and steel. Occasionally millstones would shatter while grinding, injuring the grinder. Also the lungs of the grinders gradually filled up with dust and their average life expectancy was 30 years. This prompted the interest of a Royal Commission in 1867 which led to one of the first Factory Acts, laying down working hours, requiring machinery to be protected and making it illegal for children to be employed on some types of work. Wire and needle making eventually moved to Sheffield at the end of the 19th century and the last Hathersage mill here closed in 1902, but several of them are still standing - Dale Mill lies along the road to Ringinglow, Darvell's mill is at the top of the main street, and down near the stream at the bottom of the village are Atlas Works and Barnfield Works. Hathersage was visited by Charlotte Bronte in 1845 and was used as the 'Norton' of the story 'Jane Eyre' - she also took the heroine's surname from the local family. She also used North Lees Hall, an Elizabethan manor house, which is central to North Lees Estate as the house where Mrs Rochester jumped from the roof to her death. North Lees is one of seven halls built by Robert Eyre of Highlow built for his seven sons. It is also recognised as one of the finest Elizabethan buildings in the region - a tall square tower with a long wing adjoining. The village has made much of its connection to the legendary Robin Hood’s right hand man, Little John. He is said to be buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Saints. With a pub named after him, many visitors to the village make the pilgrimage to where his final resting place is supposed to be. You can still see his grave, now maintained by the Ancient Order of Foresters, between two clipped yews just outside the church door in the village churchyard.
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