Youlgreave was mentioned in the
Domesday Book as belonging to
Henry de Ferrers and being worth sixteen shillings.
All Saints' Church, Youlgreave, has a 12th-century
font. The main round bowl is carved with decorative motifs, and it has a second small bowl, supported by a salamander corbel. The font was moved to Youlgreave in the 19th century, from the church at
Elton. The building is
grade I listed. There are also a number of historic buildings in the village, such as Old Hall Farm (1630), Thimble Hall and The Old Hall (c.1650). Most of the village's households get their water from
Youlgreave Waterworks Limited, one of very few private water companies in Britain. It came about when Youlgreave Friendly Society for Women helped to set up a fund to pipe water from Mawstone springs into the village, terminating at the
Grade II listed "Conduit Head" of 1829, in Fountain Square. In the 1930s, as new houses were built and older ones were modernised with bathrooms and toilets, water often became short. In 1932 the main underground pipe cracked after an explosion in Mawstone lead mine. Springs at
Harthill were connected to the system in 1949 and other major improvements followed. Most homes in the village could be supplied with local water until there were just too many new houses to cope with. Extra supplies are purchased from larger water companies nowadays. In 1932 five of six miners working on a ventilation fan at Mawstone Mine were killed after an explosion filled the gallery with
carbon monoxide. The sixth miner was able to reach the surface and raise the alarm. A rescue party of two workers and the mine manager descended into the mine, but were themselves killed by the fumes. Although Mawstone Mine was eventually closed, a water supply for the village is still obtained from this site. ==Tourism==