Hathersage is a village in the Hope Valley in Derbyshire, inside the Peak District National Park, roughly ten miles west of Sheffield. Stanage Edge runs along the moor above it and the River Derwent runs below. It has its own station on the Hope Valley line, a heated outdoor swimming pool, and Little John's grave in St Michael's churchyard.
For a village of its size Hathersage does an unreasonable amount. It is one of the best bases for climbing and walking anywhere in England, it has a railway station with direct trains from two cities, and it manages to be a working village rather than a museum of one.
It also has more history than it lets on: a needle and pin industry that ran for centuries, a churchyard with an outlaw in it, and a hall just outside the village that most likely became Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre.
Within reach
What is where
Rough distances from the front door, so you can plan a day without a map open.
Up the hill
Stanage Edge
About two miles. The longest gritstone edge in the Peak, and walkable from the pub.
Up the lane
Little John's grave
A few minutes on foot, in St Michael's churchyard.
West
Castleton
About six miles, for the caverns, Mam Tor and Winnats Pass.
South
Chatsworth
About nine miles through the Derwent Valley.
Walks from the door
Stanage Edge, Higger Tor, Padley Gorge and the river. Routes that start and finish at the pub, which is the only sensible way to plan a walk.
Where to walk
Little John's grave
Robin Hood's lieutenant is buried up the hill in St Michael's churchyard. The pub is named after him, and so is half the village's folklore.
The story
Somewhere to stay
Eight en-suite rooms above the pub and two self-catering cottages, in the middle of the village rather than down a lane outside it.
Rooms & cottagesIn the village
Beyond the walking
Hathersage has a heated outdoor swimming pool, which is a genuinely strange and wonderful thing to find in a Peak District village and is busy from the first warm day of the year.
There is a bookshop, a handful of independent shops, and Vintners on the Brook next door to us, who supply our wine list. David Mellor's cutlery factory and design museum sit on the edge of the village in a round building worth seeing on its own.
The village's older trade was needles and pins, made here for centuries before the mills closed. It is why the surrounding hills have more industrial archaeology in them than they first appear to.
Asked often
Hathersage and around
Where is Hathersage?
Hathersage is a village in the Hope Valley in Derbyshire, inside the Peak District National Park. It sits below Stanage Edge and above the River Derwent, roughly ten miles west of Sheffield.
How do I get to Hathersage by train?
Hathersage has its own station on the Hope Valley line, with direct trains from Sheffield and Manchester. The Little John is a two minute walk from the platform, so a weekend here works perfectly well without a car.
What is there to do in Hathersage?
Walking is the main draw, with Stanage Edge, Higger Tor and Padley Gorge all close by. The village also has a heated outdoor swimming pool, a bookshop, independent shops, and Little John's grave in St Michael's churchyard.
How far is Castleton from Hathersage?
Castleton is about six miles west of Hathersage along the Hope Valley, which makes it an easy drive or a good day out by bus for the caverns and Mam Tor.
How far is Chatsworth from Hathersage?
Chatsworth House is roughly nine miles south of Hathersage, about twenty five minutes by car through the Derwent Valley.
Is Hathersage connected to Jane Eyre?
It is. Charlotte Brontë stayed in Hathersage in 1845, and North Lees Hall just outside the village is widely believed to have been her model for Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre.
