Eyam, Derbyshire -Plague Village

Pronunciations  are Eyam … Eee -am 

Derbyshire  … darbi...shur

The Plague incurred  so much fear in London that when it struck, many evacuated the city, including King Charles 11 and his family. Those who could not, stayed behind and faced the disease. 

The Bubonic Plague gave sufferers huge blisters called buboes which were full of infected pus and when popped spread the disease everywhere around . It was so infectious that death came quite quickly once it started. The children's rhyme "ring a ring of roses" is believed to have been based on the plague. 

Ring a ring o' roses. 

A pocket full of posies

Atish oo Atish oo 

We all fall down. 

The ring of roses is supposedly the rash which starts the disease symptoms. The pocketful of posies are the posies that people carried as they supposedly warded off disease and infection. Atishoo was the sneezing which accompanied the disease and we all fall down refers to ...death. 

Plague Doctors or Beak doctors patrolled the city and wore these costumes below to prevent themselves getting the disease. The beak was filled with herbs as it was believed that these would prevent the disease spreading. 

The Plague arrived in Eyam by cart. The local tailor had sent to London for cloth and old clothes that he could adapt. In this cart were rats and fleas and so the plague moved from London to Eyam by cart, 160 miles. That simple! The tailor was dead one week after receiving the parcel. By the end of September, 5 more villagers had died. 23 died by October.

The plague spread quickly in Eyam and when it was realised what was happening the local clergy decided that the people should die in the village by blocking the village off so the disease did not spread out of Eyam. No one came and no one left. They set themselves to die without help so as not to spread the disease. 

People in local villages left food for them at a boundary stone between Eyam and the nearby village Stoney Middleton. The stone had holes made in it to put pennies in so as to pay for food.  Therefore, Eyam villagers did not starve and surrounding villagers did not come into contact with Eyam villagers. 

The local clergy Rev Mompesson and Rev Stanley administered to the villagers as well as they could.  Rev Mompesson's wife, Catherine, also died. Church services were held in the open air so as not to spread any germs. This stone was where local villagers left food for the Eyam residents. 

The Boundary stone (below) in Eyam museum is a replica of the one used during the Plague time in 1665.

This row of cottages in Eyam, was the first place where people died of the plague. Whole families perished very quickly. 

In the old Eyam Church, there is a Plague Window. Look closely. The clergy are in the centre helping the people, there are people dying in bed and in the bottom right corner you will see two people separated by a river. 

A heart breaking story is that of Emmott Sydall and Rowland Torre, an engaged couple. Emmott lived in Eyam and Rowland lived in nearby village Stoney Middleton. 

When the village was quarantined off, the couple could no longer meet and so they used to "meet" at a valley ledge called Cucklett Delf so they could see each other at a distance but not actually meet. Emmott lived in a cottage near where the Plague started. Her father John Sydall and four of her siblings were among the first victims.

Emmott stopped coming to the appointed place across the valley from each other but as of April 1666, Rowland continued to go to their meeting place, every day to see if she came. She never came.  Rowland was one of the first people to go to the village in 1667 when the village reopened. Emmott had died months before hand.  

Their story is depicted in the window.

Not specifically connected to the Plague in Eyam but equally interesting... This is the Celtic cross although probably Saxon that stands in the churchyard. Look at the carvings and how old this is...about 1000 years. 

Interestingly, it has been stated that descendants of Plague village Eyam survivors have very well developed immune systems and cannot catch AIDS. I wonder how true this is. 

This is a tale of self-sacrifice. Rev Mompesson persuaded the villagers not to evacuate Eyam as he feared that they would spread the plague into the north of England. By cutting themselves off from the outside world they knew it would mean death for most of them. 

This is a beautiful village to visit and has much to offer.