EYAM - the Plague Village

 (pronounced E'Em)

We have just gone through almost 2 years of 'lockdown' due to a modern global plague, and when people said that quarantine doesn't work, I pointed them towards the story of Eyam.

The plague, which was a highly infectious and very unpleasant disease, widely known and experienced in Britain and Europe, came to Eyam in the summer of 1665, possibly in a bale of cloth brought up from London. The people in the house where it came to, caught the disease and died in a short space of time. Before long, others had caught the disease and also died, after a short and very painful illness. It spread rapidly.

 

The local rector, The Rev. William Mompesson and his predecessor, led a campaign to prevent the disease spreading outside the village to the surrounding area. This involved the people of the village remaining in the village and being supplied with necessary provisions by people outside. There is still on the outskirts of the village a location called the Boundary stone, where traditionally, money was placed in small holes filled with vinegar for the provisions which those from the local area brought for the villagers. As a result of this action, the disease did not spread but almost a third of the villagers died.

 

Interestingly some of the villagers who were in contact with those who caught the plague, did not catch it. This was because they had a chromosome which gave them protection. This same chromosome has been shown to still exist in those who are direct descendants of those who survived the plague, and who are still living in the village at the present time. The action of the villagers in staying in the village is almost unique and makes the village the place of significance that it is.

Walking down the main road and reading the boards outside every cottage, is very sobering. Combine that with a visit to the graves on the hill outside the village, and you can appreciate what these people went through to try and protect the rest of Derbyshire

Every September, they roast a whole sheep in the centre of the village, to celebrate the survivors of the plague

The village stocks outside the old market hall

In the parish church of St. Lawrence, the terrible effects of the plague at Eyam are quickly brought home by the Plague Register in the south aisle. This was copied from the parish register of the time and gives the names of all the people who died during the fourteen months of the plague in 1665 and 1666. In all, 260 people died out of a population of approximately 350.

The unusual sundial on Eyam church was built by William Shaw and is dated 1775. On a sunny day it not only shows the time quite accurately in half hours, but it also indicates the time in places worldwide.