HATHERSAGE, a parish in the hundred of HIGH-PEAK,
county of DERBY, 5 miles (N.by E.) from Stoney-
Middleton, comprising the chapelries of Darwent and
Stoney-Middleton, and the hamlets of Bamford, Hathersage,
and Outseats, and containing 1856 inhabitants.
The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
of Derby, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, rated
in the king's books at £7. 0. 5., endowed with £200
private benefaction, £400 royal bounty, and £2000 parliamentary
grant, and in the patronage of the Duke of
Devonshire. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is
an ancient embattled structure in the later style of English
architecture, consisting of a nave, side aisles, and
chancel, with a lofty'spire; in the chancel are several
monuments of the family of Eyre, ancestors of the
earls of Newburg; on an altar-tomb, represented, on
brass plates, are effigies of Robert Eyre, who fought in
the battle of Agincourt, and of his wife and fourteen
children. On the south side of the church-yard is a
spot shewn as the place- of interment of Little John,
the favourite companion of Robin Hood: the body of
a Mr. B. Ashton, who was buried here in 1725, .was
discovered, in 1781, quite perfect and petrified, retaining
the flesh colour as when entombed. There is a place
of worship for Wesleyan Methodists, and a chapel for
Roman Catholics. This parish is in the honour of
Tutbury, duchy of Lancaster, and within the jurisdiction
of a court of pleas held at Chapel en le Frith every
third Tuesday, for the recovery of debts under 40s. In
1718 a school was erected by subscription, on a piece
of land given by B. Ashton, Esq., -who endowed it with
£5 per annum for the schoolmaster; the premises havin
become dilapidated, the school has been discontinued,
and the arrears of annuity amount to about £100.
There are several bequests for the use of the poor.
Here are manufactories for needles, buttons, and calico.
The river Derwent flows through the parish. Eastward
from the church is Camp Green, a circular enclosure
encompassed by a single mound and moat, evidently of
Danish origin. In the vicinity are some irregular rocks,
called rocking stones, or rock basins.