Hathersage to Eyam Walk

4.7 miles (7.5 km)

This point to point trail begins in Hathersage and climbs onto Eyam Moor, a broad, gritstone plateau rising to about 429 metres above sea level.
As you leave the village behind, the path follows an ancient packhorse route—once part of the 1758 Sheffield-to-Buxton turnpike—before reaching the summit known as Sir William Hill, where a radio mast marks the skyline and the views open out across the Dark Peak and Hope Valley below.
Across the moorland you’ll pass the remains of three Bronze Age stone circles. The largest, Wet Withens, is an embanked henge over 30 metres in diameter with ten standing orthostats and a central “chair” stone. A little further on lie two smaller circles, each about 13 metres across, plus numerous prehistoric cairns hidden among the heather. These ancient monuments give a real sense of the moor’s long human history as you traverse the open access land.
Descending towards the village of Eyam, the route passes Mompesson’s Well on the northern edge of town. This 17th-century gritstone trough, now grade II listed, commemorates Reverend William Mompesson’s decision during the 1665 plague to fill the well with vinegar and sterilise coins used for food deliveries. It stands as a poignant reminder of the village’s self-imposed quarantine and the 260 inhabitants who lost their lives before the outbreak ended.