Inside the church you will find the Vicar’s Board, a wooden panel recording the long line of priests who have served Hathersage. It is easy to walk past it, but it is one of the most fascinating pieces of history in the building. Every name on the board represents a chapter in the life of this church and the community it has served.
The earliest known list of priests begins in 1281. Since then, rectors and vicars have guided the parish through times of peace, times of conflict, great national changes and the daily rhythms of village life.
Some served only a few years. Others spent decades in post, shaping the church, the building and the community around it. Their work included preaching, teaching, caring for the poor, recording births, marriages and deaths, and overseeing the upkeep of this historic church.
As you explore the building, you may notice several names from the board appearing elsewhere:
• Thurstan Eyre, vicar in the fifteenth century, worked closely with the Eyre family to restore and enlarge the church.
• Rev H Cottingham, the vicar who oversaw the major Victorian restoration of 1851.
• Rev JH Brooksbank, responsible for important repairs in the early twentieth century.
• Rev EV Robinson, who redesigned the sanctuary in the 1940s.
• More recent vicars, who guided the church through modern improvements and the 2017 project.
Each name helps anchor the wider story of St Michael and All Angels, linking moments of building, rebuilding, celebration and challenge.
Although the board records past priests, it also reminds us that the work of the church is ongoing. Every generation leaves its mark, and the story continues with the present ministry team and congregation.
When you stand before the Vicar’s Board, you are looking at more than a list of names. You are looking at the history of Hathersage itself. These priests baptised, married and buried the people whose lives shaped the village. They preached from pulpits that once stood here, rang the bells above you, and walked the same paths you are walking today.
The Vicar’s Board is a simple wooden panel, but it quietly reflects something remarkable. For more than seven hundred years, through political change, religious reform, wars, industry, and modern life, the parish has always had someone here to serve it.
It is a reminder of the continuity, care and commitment that have kept this church at the heart of Hathersage for centuries.
