Cucklet Church
{{Infobox cave
| name = Cucklet Church
| other_name = Cucklet Church Cave
| photo = Cucklet Church, Eyam Delf - geograph.org.uk - 2989198.jpg
| photo_width = 220px
| photo_alt = A through cave in a projecting grassy rock
| map = Derbyshire
| map_width =
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Cucklet Church in Derbyshire
| location = Eyam, Derbyshire
| coords = {{coord|53.2824|-1.6786|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title,inline}}
| elevation = {{convert|800|ft|sigfig=2}}{{cite book |first1=Iain |last1=Barker |first2=John S. |last2=Beck |title=Caves of the Peak District |year=2010 |location=Great Hucklow |publisher=Hucklow Publishing |isbn=9780956347329 |page=263}}
| entrance_count = 5
| difficulty = Grade I
| access = Permissive
}}
Cucklet Church, formerly known as Cucklet Delph, is a cave west of Jumber Brook in Eyam, Derbyshire.{{Cite web |title=A view of Cucklet Church in Eyam Delph (CC80/00324) Archive Item - London Midland and Scottish Railway Collection {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/CC80/00324 |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}
The book Caves of the Peak District describes it as "A series of through arches in a prominent buttress." It lies within the Stoney Middleton Dale Site of Special Scientific Interest.{{cite web |url=https://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271004059%27 |title=Stoney Middleton Dale (SSSI) |via=MAGIC (Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside) |publisher=Natural England |access-date=24 September 2024}}
History
The cave was used as a church during the 1665 plague outbreak by William Mompesson.{{Cite book |last=Croston |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jusGAAAAQAAJ&dq=Cucklet+Church+Eyam&pg=PA88 |title=On foot through the Peak, or, A summer saunter among the hills and dales of Derbyshire |date=1876 |publisher=J. Heywood |language=en}} The cavern itself was used as Mompesson's pulpit, with local family groups standing in the valley.{{Cite book |last=Holland |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_pAmK7MIzMC&q=Cucklet+Church+Eyam |title=The Village of Eyam; a Poem, in Four Parts ... Reprinted, ... with Notes ... by J. Wilson. (Two Additional Poems by the Same Author.). |date=1821 |language=en}} An annual plague commemoration service is held at the cave.
The 19th-century Sheffield author Samuel Roberts published Cucklet Church, a poem that accompanied a description of Eyam and its history.{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Samuel |title=Eyam: its Trials and its Triumphs |date=1834 |location=Sheffield |pages=17–24}}
References
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