A farm has existed here for over 2000 years, a settlement since medieval times, and a hall of some description from about 1410. The present hall and its tower (Grade II listed) can be dated to 1591-1594; and the tower house has an ornate plasterwork ceiling on the ground floor dated 1594.
The two wings of the hall are of different dates, with the main one of 3 floors with the 4 storey tower to the north-west, and the adjoining section of 2 floors which is architecturally different, was added to the tower in the mid-17th century; it was used as a domestic wing but from 1830 became a farmhouse. In 1959 the hall was ruinous and was restored between 1962 – 1964.
When the authoress Charlotte Bronte lived in Hathersage the building belonged to the Eyre family, and was probably the source of her heroine’s name in the novel “Jane Eyre”, and the model for “Thornfield Hall” owned by Mr. Rochester. In 2006 a television adaptation of “Jane Eyre” was filmed here, building on the associations between the author, the novel and this landscape.
Walk down past the hall and look over the dry-stone wall to the right.
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