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Eyam

Derbyshire DalesEyamPopulated places established in the 1st millenniumTowns and villages of the Peak DistrictUse British English from May 2016
Villages in Derbyshire
Eyam Church geograph.org.uk 21749
Eyam Church geograph.org.uk 21749

Eyam ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales that lies within the Peak District National Park. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors and lead was mined in the area by the Romans. A settlement was founded on the present site by Anglo-Saxons, when mining was continued and other industries later developed. However, Eyam’s main claim to fame is the story of how the village chose to go into isolation so as to prevent infection spreading after bubonic plague was discovered there in 1665.In the later 20th century, the village's sources of livelihood largely disappeared. The local economy now relies on the tourist trade, with Eyam being promoted as "the plague village". Although the story has been kept alive by a growing number of literary works since the early 19th century, its truth has been questioned.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Eyam (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Eyam
The Square, Derbyshire Dales

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Wikipedia: EyamContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.284 ° E -1.671 °
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Address

The Square

The Square
S32 5RB Derbyshire Dales
England, United Kingdom
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Eyam Church geograph.org.uk 21749
Eyam Church geograph.org.uk 21749
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Nearby Places

Coombs Dale
Coombs Dale

Coombs Dale is a steep-sided, dry carboniferous limestone valley in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The village of Calver lies about 1 km to the east and the village of Stoney Middleton lies less than 1 km to the north. The dale is cut into the hills on the east side of Longstone Moor. The upper end of the dale is known as Rough Side. Several springs flow down the dale during winter and after heavy rains.The fossil-rich limestone was formed from deposits in a warm shallow sea in the Brigantian stage of the Carboniferous period (around 330 million years ago). Coombs Dale is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Ash trees and hazel grow on the scree slopes of the dale sides. Varied shrubs and wild flowers include dogwood, blackthorn, common rock-rose, wild thyme, bloody cranesbill, lily-of-the-valley, mountain melick, woolly thistle, maiden pink, leadwort, cowslip, rare dark-red helleborine and orchids. The local limestone fern Gymnocarpium robertianum thrives on the scree and the rare fingered sedge Carex digitata can be found in places. Grazed native grasses are mainly meadow oat-grass and glaucous sedge. The dale is also habitat for dark green fritillary and brown argus butterflies.Longstone Edge, above the south side of the dale, has been mined for minerals for many centuries. Lead mining heaps and beehive mine shafts are spread across the terrain. Nearby Cavendish Mill has been a processing centre for fluorspar since 1965. Sallet Hole Mine is a 19th-century fluorspar mine in the centre of Coombs Dale, which closed in 1998. There is a disused quarry at the foot of Coombs Dale.Black Harry Gate is at the head of the dale, leading onto Black Harry Lane (an old packhorse route across the moorland). In the early 18th century, a notorious highwayman called Black Harry ambushed and robbed travellers crossing the local moors. He was finally caught by the Castleton constabulary and was hanged, drawn and quartered on the Gallows Tree at nearby Wardlow Mires. There also used to be a Black Harry Farm but it was demolished in the 1970s when the Blakedon Hollow lagoon was built to treat the waste from the fluorspar industry.Coombs Dale is designated as 'Open Access' land for the public, following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. There is an easy-going footpath along the length of the valley floor. There is access into the dale from both ends, as well as footpaths from Stoney Middleton and Calver into the central section of the valley.Coombs Dale was featured on the TV programme Walks Around Britain in 2016 (season 2 episode 6).

Eyam Moor
Eyam Moor

Eyam Moor is a plateau-topped hill between the villages of Eyam and Hathersage in Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. The summit of Sir William Hill is 429 metres (1,407 ft) above sea level.It is unclear whom Sir William Hill is named after. Candidates include the four Dukes of Devonshire called Sir William Cavendish, Sir William Saville (Lord of the Manor of Eyam) and Sir William Bagshaw (High Sheriff for Derbyshire in 1805). The radio mast on top of Sir William Hill is a prominent local landmark. Sir William Hill Road is an ancient packhorse route across the moor and was part of the Sheffield to Buxton Turnpike of 1758. The Barrel Inn on Sir William Hill Road at Bretton is the highest pub in Derbyshire. There are three stone circles on Eyam Moor. Wet Withens (known as Eyam Moor 1) is a Bronze Age stone circle at the centre of Eyam Moor with an earthen bank over 30m wide. The prehistoric henge of 10 upright stones (orthostats) is a protected Scheduled Monument. The other embanked stone circle (Eyam Moor 2) on the eastern edge of the moor is also Bronze Age and is about 13m across. Nearby is Eyam Moor 3, a third Bronze Age small circle of 13m diameter with six remaining free-standing stones, without an embankment. Both of these smaller henges are also Scheduled Monuments, as well as numerous prehistoric cairns spread across the moor. Ladywash Mine on the southern edge of Eyam Moor was an old lead mine and was also used to produce fluorspar for the steel industry between 1936 and 1979.Following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, this gritstone moorland plateau became "Open Access" land for the public. There are footpaths across the moor, leading from roadside car parking on Sir William Hill Road between Eyam and Grindleford.