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Derbyshire -
Place of Interest
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Eyam Museum
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Hawkhill Road, Eyam, Derbyshire, S32 5QP
Tel: 01433 631371
Website: www.eyam.org
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Bubonic plague has been described as the `most dangerous disease known to mankind' and
has killed more souls than all the wars ever
fought between all the nations of the world. Known
as the Black Death, the Great Plague entered
London in the 17th Century and came to Eyam by the most unfortunate of mishaps - carried by
fleas festering in a box of cloth brought from the capital for the village tailor. When the box
was opened plague fleas were released. Between September 1665 and October 1666 260 people
- perhaps a third of the population - met an awful, pained death. Only the intervention of
two clergymen ensured that the village survived through the next terrible months.
William Mompesson was newly appointed rector of Eyam - and he and his predecessor Thomas
Stanley, persuaded the village to enter voluntary quarantine, to bury their own dead and even change
their pattern of worship. Some had sent their children away, but most folk stayed in Eyam.
People in the surrounding area, especially the Earl of Devonshire, sent provisions to
the people of Eyam so they would not starve, though careful precautions were taken to
avoid infection. When the plague finally loosed its terrible grip
on the village, it left a population of more than 400 people
who, needing to make a living, returned to their traditional task
of mining lead in the hills above the village. Smallholdings
were tended again, a few sheep and cows helping provide some
of the necessities of life. Cottages in the village, emptied by
the plague, were filled again, often by growm-up sons
and daughters who had once moved away. In this way
Eyam prospered again. Visit Eyam Museum to experience the
full story.
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 This
entry is in the Hidden Places of the Peak District
and Derbyshire. For further
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