Eyam

A Library was established here in 1821.

Eyam is served by the Mobile Library on route N, which makes two stops in the village (Car Park and The Square) every fourth Wednesday in the mid morning.

Eyam also has its own Museum that is worth a visit. Stephen McKAY has a photograph of the Museum building on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2018.

• Unknown, A Potted History of the Eyam Association for the Prosecution of Felons, 1812 - 2014, published by the Association in November 2014. No ISBN.
   
• CLIFFORD, John, Eyam Plague, 1665-1666, first published 1989. Revised 1993 and 1995. Printed by The Print Centre, Sheffield. Available for sale at Eyam Post Office.
   
• DANIEL, Clarence, The Story of Eyam Plague with a Guide to the Village, 1977, 1983 & 1985. Published by the author (now sadly deceased) at 'Le Roc', Eyam, Sheffield; still available locally in Eyam.
   
• PAUL, David, Eyam: Plague Village, 2012. Amberley Publishing; UK, paperback, 160 pgs, ISBN-13: 978-1445603964.
   
• WOOD, William - The History & Antiquities of Eyam, 1865. Reprinted as facsimile by Country Books, 2006. ISBN 1-901214-34-6. Added 11 Sep 2006.

Rosemary LOCKIE has some tombstone photographs and transcriptions on Eyam Memorial Inscriptions on her website.

We have a pop-up window of Parish Register burials extracted (partial) into a text file for your review. Your additions are welcomed.

• The Census returns for Eyam are split into two. 'East of the Church' includes part of the modern village of Stoney Middleton. The village of Stoney Middleton on the Lover's Leap side of the brook belonged to Eyam parish until 1934.
   
• The parish was in the Matlock sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

Rosemary LOCKIE has various census transcription for Eyam at her Wishful Thinking Website.

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Lawrence, but 19th century directories list it as dedicated to Saint Helen. The church had a chapel to St. Helen and that has caused some confusion in the old directories.
   
• The church stands in the centre of the village.
   
• Graham HOGG has a photograph of the 8th century Saxon Cross in the churchyard on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2022.
   
• The chancel and the tower were rebuilt around 1615.
   
• The church was restored again in 1868.
   
• The church seats 400.
   
• There was a small mission chapel built at Foolow in 1889.

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1636.
   
• The Derbyshire Record Office has Eyam parish register 1630-1768. New: July, 2017
   
• The first surviving Eyam Parish Register (12 September 1630 - 21 January 1768) has been transcribed by John & Francine Clifford, and the first section, 1630-1700, has been printed and is available for purchase as one of Derbyshire Record Society Publications.
   
• The second General Register covers baptisms and burials for the period 1768-1812. There are three baptism registers; 1813-1845, 1846-1890 and 1891-1913; two marriage registers prior to 1837; 1754-1790, and 1791-1837, and an unbroken series of marriage registers from 1837 onwards until (I think) the 1950s. There is one burial register covering the period 1813-66.
  
  The registers are all in excellent condition, and are available for searching at the Derbyshire Record Office; however, the first register may be consulted only on microfilm. The Clifford's transcription is however excellent, and a result of a combined transcription of the PR and BTs, so you don't really need to!
  
  All the more recent registers, including burials from 1867 to the present day, are still in the possession of the Incumbent. However, the burials register, when I consulted it in 1987 at the church was almost full, so if anyone knows differently, and it too has been lodged in the Record Office, please let me know.
   
• Bishops Transcripts also exist covering the period 1660-1868. The originals are held at the Lichfield Joint Record Office, but have been microfilmed, so the film should be available on loan via your local Family History Center. There are two films - #0428912 (1660-1810), and #0498081 (1810-1866).
  
  Parish Register - Unusual Entry: "3rd March 1773 - On this day 3 corpse and other human bones found in a cavern in Eyam Dale by a person who was trying for a lead mine".
   
• The church was in the rural deanery of Eyam.
   
• Michael GARLICK has a photograph of the Register of those who died in the plague of 1665-1666 on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2016.
   
• The Reformed Wesleyans built a chapel here in 1812.
   
• A Reformed Wesleyan chapel also existed in Foolow in 1890 as well as one in Eyam Woodland.

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   
• The parish was in the Tideswell sub-district of the Bakewell Registration District.

Not an "Institution" as such, but Graham HOGG has a photograph of the Village Stocks on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2013. As far as I can determine, no records of who spent time in the stocks exists, but some may be mention in local newspapers.

"EYAM is a township, in the parish of its name, in the same hundred as Stoney Middleton, about one mile N.N.W. from that town, five E. by N. from Tideswell, and twelve W. by N. from Chesterfield. The neighbourhood of this village derived, at one period, a considerable degree of prosperity from the lead mines at Foolow, a small village one mile west of this place; but for some years past these works have declined, and with them the population of the neighbourhood."

[Description from Pigot and Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire, 1835]

Eyam Woodland is a township on the Sheffield Road in this parish. Genuki has a separate parish profile for this place.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Rosemary LOCKIE provides a transcription of the Eyam entry from Glover's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the County of Derby, 1829.
   
• Rosemary LOCKIE also has a transcription of the Eyam entry from Bagshaw's History, Gazetteer & Directory of Derbyshire, 1846.
   
• Rosemary LOCKIE also provides a transcription of the Eyam entry under Stoney Middleton from Pigot & Co's Commercial Directory for Derbyshire (1835).
   
• Ann ANDREWS provides a transcription of the Eyam entry from Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland (1891).

• The transcription of the section for Eyam from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin HINSON.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Eyam to another place.

• There are Druidic stone circles in the nearby moor.
   
• This village was almost depopulated by the plague of 1666. 5/6ths of the population were killed. Many of the dead were buried outside the graveyard in gardens and fields near where they died. Neighboring villages brought food and goods and left them near a line drawn around the village. Eyam residents would leave money or goods in kind to pay for these items.
   
• Andrfew HILL has a photograph of the Plague Cottage in Eyam on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2012.
   
• Rosemary LOCKIE copies of old postcards from Eyam at Old Postcards and Photographs of Eyam provided by Andrew McCann.
   

Anthony PARKER has a photograph of Eyam Hall on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2012.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK235771 (Lat/Lon: 53.290348, -1.648931), Eyam which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

Christine JOHNSTONE has a photograph of the War Memorial in the churchyard at Eyam on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2015.

Perished in World War One (from the Imperial War Museum):

1. Bullard, Leonard
2. Buxton, Harry
3. Dane, Robert A.
4. Daniel, Fred
5. Dronfield, Albert J.
6. Dronfield, Charles
7. Eyre, Francis J.
8. Frith, Tom
9. Froggatt, Frank R.
10. Golding, Sydney J.
11. Harling, James
12. Hawksworth, Henry
13. Hemsworth, Arthur E.
14. Longden, George E.
15. Maltby, John E.
16. Maltby, Thomas
17. Mather, Joseph
18. Maxted, Frank
19. Needham, Samuel
20. Purseglove, Joseph
21. Redfearn, Samuel
22. Twigg, Joseph C.
23. Twigg, Walter
24. Waller, Henry
25. Watkins, Harry
26. West, Frederick
27. West, George
28. White, Abraham
29. Wilson, Joseps

Rosemary LOCKIE has a transcription of the Eyam - Roll of Honour, 1915 at her website. Please use the navigation bar on the left side of the web page to see individual data.

• In the 1086 Domesday Book the name appears as "Aium".
   
• Most readers will know this already, but just in case not, this place-name is pronounced 'Eem' (or "Eeem")!
   

Rosemary LOCKIE has extracts from various newspapers regarding Eyam.

• This place was an ancient parish in Derby county and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• This parish was in the ancient High Peak Hundred (or Wapentake).
   
• You may contact the Eyam Parish Council regarding civic or political matters, but they can NOT assist you with family history searches.
   
• District governance is provided by the Peak District Council.
   

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Bakewell petty session hearings every Friday.
   
• There is an index of only two Eyam Bastardy Papers held at the DRO on the Yesterdays Journey website. Select "Bastardy Papers" on the left side, then "Eyam" from the list of parishes displayed.
   
• As a result of the Poorlaw Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became a member of the Bakewell Poorlaw Union.

A Public Elementary School (mixed and infants) was built here in 1877 and enlarged in 1894 for 250 boys and girls and 60 infants.

Grindleford Bridge School (mixed) was built in 1876 for 100 children.

N. CHADWICK has a photograph of the Eyam Primary School on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2015.

Michael GARLICK has a photograph of the entrance to Eyam Primary School on Geo-graph, taken in April, 2016.