Come as strangers, leave as friends

At heart, I’m a lover of good food and drink, and just as importantly, a great atmosphere.

The Old Eyre Arms is a trip down memory lane for me, as some of my earliest memories are of good times spent with my grandparents at their local pub. The food was excellent and Bill, the landlord, was everyone’s friend. It was a fantastic place and I remember his laughter to this day.

Those memories have shaped what I want The Old Eyre Arms to be: a proper pub.

Great food is a hugely important part of what we do, served in our authentic dining areas, but it’s equally important that you can simply call in for a drink, enjoy a game of dominoes or cards, and spend time in good company. That’s why we’ve maintained the traditional tap room — a great place to enjoy a relaxing drink.

The Old Eyre Arms is our sanctuary in the Peak District — where you can enjoy first class food, great drinks and really feel at home.

Alistair Myers
Proprietor

The Eyre Tradition

According to an old Eyre family pedigree, once preserved at Hassop, the family’s story can be traced back to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Family tradition tells of an ancestor named Truelove who came to the aid of William the Conqueror after he was unhorsed and struggling to breathe beneath his damaged helmet.

Truelove removed the helmet and helped William back onto his horse, prompting him to declare that he should thereafter be known as “Air” or “Eyre”, because he had given him air to breathe.

Truelove himself was badly wounded during the battle, losing a leg in the fighting. The story continues that, after his recovery, William, then King William I, rewarded him with lands in Derbyshire — and that the armoured leg subsequently became a distinctive element of the family crest.

Whether history or legend, the tale has been associated with the Eyre family for generations and provides a fascinating explanation for the unusual crest that remains part of The Old Eyre Arms’ identity today.

The Eyres of Hassop

The Hassop estate originally belonged to the Foljambe family before passing by marriage to the Plumptons. In 1498, it was sold to Catherine, widow of Stephen Eyre of Hassop, beginning an association between the Eyre family and Hassop that would endure for more than 350 years.

The family became deeply entwined with some of the defining events of British history. During the English Civil War, Colonel Thomas Eyre raised troops for the Royalist cause and Hassop Hall was garrisoned for Charles I. Eyre was later captured near Derby and died in Derby Gaol in 1645.

Through marriage, the Eyres of Hassop also became connected with the Earldom of Newburgh. Francis Eyre assumed the title of sixth Earl in 1814 through his mother, Lady Mary Radclyffe, beginning a complicated period of disputed succession, inheritance and legal claims of both the title and the Hassop estate.

The family’s long ownership of Hassop came to an end following the death of Dorothy, Countess of Newburgh, in 1853. Yet the Eyre name remains firmly associated with the hamlet and, of course, with The Old Eyre Arms.