Hayfield - Location and Geography

Location and Geography

The village is in the valley of the River Sett between the towns of Glossop, New Mills and Chapel-en-le-Frith. Anecdotally it is often described as being "at the foot of Kinder Scout". Thirty of the 33 km² of the parish are within the boundaries of the Peak District National Park, including the hamlet of Little Hayfield. However, the village centre itself is not within the national park. The entire area is within the more loosely defined geographical area referred to as the Peak District.

Today the village is split into roughly two halves, intersected by the A624 relief road (locally referred to as the bypass although it goes through, rather than round, the village). One half contains the traditional village centre, including several shops, businesses, and St. Matthew's Parish Church, while the other half contains mostly dwellings along with a handful of businesses, the bus station and St. John's Methodist Church. The relief road was built to ease heavy traffic that once travelled through the narrow main streets of the village.

Northeast of the village lies Kinder Reservoir, within a short distance of the Kinder plateau. This controls the flow of the River Sett, thereby avoiding the risk of flooding that had previously been a serious problem within Hayfield village, and which necessitated raising the height of the main street (the original road level can still be seen outside the Bulls Head pub and the neighbouring fish and chip shop).

The village has a cricket field where Hayfield Cricket Club (established 1859) play. The ground is next to the Royal Hotel, and was purchased by the club in 1976 after famous ex-resident Arthur Lowe helped raise the necessary £5,000.

There are several natural springs within Hayfield village, some of which once supplied part of the village's water supply. These are no longer in active use, although are 'dressed' yearly in well dressing ceremonies.

Although classed as being in the East Midlands, Hayfield is at the northern extremity of the region and falls more within the influence of Manchester and Stockport in North West England.