Highlights
Book now to secure your place at the Eyam Museum. We are taking bookings at 15 minute intervals in order to facilitate you moving through the museum in a socially distanced manner. Please do try to arrive at the start-time stated on your booking confirmation. If you are delayed we will do our best to accommodate you, but cannot guarantee this due to social distancing requirements.
Bookings can be made up to 2 weeks in advance. If you are having trouble making a booking, it may be that there are no spaces available for the number of people you wish to visit. Please choose a different time.
Eyam Museum has been created by people from the village, and is run by local people. It is typical of Eyam which has a history of community action - villagers coming together to improve life in the village.
Our Museum has charity status and relies entirely on a team of volunteers to keep the museum open. Many of our volunteers live in the village or surrounding villages or have a family connection with Eyam. They have grown up with the plague story and share our view that the example it sets of self sacrifice for the benefit of others is one which deserves to be told to visitors to the village. Keeping the story alive by retelling it, honours the sacrifice of those villagers of 350 years ago.
The foundation of Eyam Museum was inspired by Clarence Daniel, a lifelong resident of Eyam who collected local fossils, minerals, archaeological material, plus documents and papers related to the village and its history. He ran a small private museum in his house, but was always thwarted in attempts to set up a public museum. His collection was passed to the Village Society on his death in 1987, and it was decided that this should form the basis of a museum.
A small group of enthusiasts formed Eyam Museum Limited and a larger group of volunteers catalogued the collection over a period of months. The hunt for a suitable location led eventually to the Methodist Chapel on Hawkhill Road. After a period of frantic activity Eyam Museum opened on 23rd April 1994 as a small charitable enterprise. It has subsequently developed and prospered thanks to the extraordinary efforts of all those staff and volunteers who have been involved over the years.
The Museum is a small building and space is limited. We welcome people who have restricted mobility and have ramp access from the street. However, our displays are on 2 floors.
Due to limited space upstairs, we ask families with small children to leave pushchairs and prams downstairs. We regret that we are not able to admit dogs, other than registered assistance dogs.
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