The author of this text, the Rev J.M.J. (James Michael John) Fletcher (1852-1940), was a Canon of Salisbury, a historian and author; and between 1900 and 1906, he was Vicar of Tideswell, where this book about the nearby village of Eyam was published. He also wrote a similar booklet about Tideswell, entitled A Guide to Tideswell and its Church.

The following portions were transcribed by Rosemary Lockie in March 2013 from a personal copy of the second edition of Fletcher's book on Eyam, published in 1916.