It’s hard not to get wrapped up in the stories surrounding Eyam, otherwise known as the plague village. It’s all the more poignant now we’ve come to have first hand knowledge of a pandemic ourselves. Eyam is best known for the sacrifice its residents made in voluntarily quarantining themselves in 1665, when the plague entered their village.
They could no longer attend church services inside, so the vicar took to preaching from Cucklet Delf, now known as Cucklet Church.
Today you can visit the limestone cavern via a short easy walk from the village. Here’s how to find it.
The walk to Cucklet Church (Cucklet Delf)
The stats
Distance: 370m each way
Elevation gain: 10m
Difficulty: Easy
Finding Cucklet Church
There is nowhere to park beside the path to Cucklet Church, but you can walk there easily from anywhere in the village. We parked on Church Street, close to the post office, which was just a two minute walk from the start of the trail at Dunlow Lane.
From the village, you need to walk towards New Close and then take a left along Dunlow Lane. After 70m you’ll see a grassy path on the left, this takes you away from the road and into the countryside.
It’s a flat easy path inbetween fields, and in just 230m you’ll see a path on the left leading to a large wooden gate.
Pass through the gate into the field and you’ll see an old wooden signpost for Cucklet Church.
You’ll head along the grass for another 60m before you arrive at the entrance to Cucklet Church, which is not signposted, but you can’t miss it.
Exploring Cucklet Church
The church is small a limestone cavern which would be a fun little spot to explore anyway, but takes on extra significance when you learn a bit about its history.
Church services were held here for around 14 months between 1665 and 1666, whilst the plague was running rife through the community.
The vicar, William Mompesson, would preach from the cavern while villagers stood on the opposite bank, distanced from each other in order to prevent the spread of the disease.
Perhaps the most poignant story surrounding the church is that of Emmott Syddall and Rowland Torre, who were engaged to be married, but tragically lived in neighbouring villages (with Emmott living within the Eyam quarantine zone).
They would meet in secret by the church (although separated by the river in order to prevent the potential spread) until one day Emmott stopped appearing. Rowland didn’t know what had happened to her until the village was declared safe again months later. She had sadly succumbed to the disease, along with all but one of her family.
In St Lawrence’s Church in the village you can see a stained glass window depicting the two calling to each other across the river. Just one of many tragic stories in Eyam.
In terms of exploring Cucklet Church today, getting into the delf requires walking down a rocky path, which can be very slippery after rain as the rock is quite smooth.
It’s just a few steps, but it’s worth taking it slowly if it’s wet. Once inside, you can see the cavern is larger than it looks from the outside and you can follow the cave to the right, which leads to several openings.
The path through the cavern is short, but steepish and angled. It wasn’t that slippery, but again requires care.
Alternatively, if you don’t like the look of it, you can instead take the grassy path around the back of the cavern (before you went through the main entrance). This easy path will also take you into the lower part of the cave.
Once you’ve had a look around you retrace your steps back to the village the way you came.
If you’re interested in more of Eyam’s plague history, we’d highly recommend visiting St Lawrence's Church.
They have done a brilliant job in bringing the plight of the villagers to life with heartfelt stories. The museum is also well worth a visit, but if you only have time for one I recommend the church.
Getting to Cucklet Church
Cucklet Church is located in Eyam in the Peak District. It’s just under a 20 minute drive from Bakewell, half an hour from Buxton and 45 minutes from Ashbourne.
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