The plague

In 1665, a tailor in the village of Eyam received a bundle of cloth from London. It was unpacked by his employee who hung it up to dry as it was damp. The employee, George Viccars, became the first victim of the plague in Eyam. The cloth is believed to have been carrying infected fleas from rats in London where the plague had already been killing people.

In June 1666, the local vicar called a public meeting in a bold attempt to stop the spread of the disease. Under his leadership, the villagers decided three things: 

1. No organised funerals or burials in the church yard. Bodies had to be buried immediately in common land or the family's back yard, if they had one.

About 100 people are buried in this field near the edge of the village, which will never be developed, as a sign of respect.

 Two of the remaining visible backyard graves.

The only plague victim to be buried in the church graveyard is the vicar's wife. The villagers insisted she be buried there as she had stayed to help her husband care for the sick even though he wanted her to leave with their two sons, who had been sent to Sheffield.

2. No services in the church. Services were held outdoors in a nearby natural limestone hollow. Families stood together but kept at least 12 feet from other family groups.

The hollow, called Cucklet Delf, lies just behind the trees that now line the old market place.

3. Noone could leave or enter the village. It was a self-imposed quarantine.

People would leave food and clothes and other things at two designated boundary stones for the people of Eyam.

About a third of the villagers died, but their selfless actions prevented the spread of the plague. 260 people died over 14 months. In a number of families  it was only the mother who survived. Elizabeth Hancock buried her husband and six of their children over a period of just eight days.

Some of the houses where people died are still lived in and have plaques outside. Read the plaques, and try to imagine how you would cope.

The villagers rebuilt after the plague stopped. Eyam is now a very pretty village.

 Pretty tea room for our morning tea.

Eyam Hall was built after the plague, in 1671, as a wedding present for John Wright and still belongs to the family.

 An entire room  with walls covered by medieval tapestries, cut to fit.

Lovely garden with huge old espailliered apple trees.