Peak District Breaks
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Eyam a village in Derbyshire, was also badly affected by the Great Plague of 1665 even though the disease is most associated with its impact on London. The sacrifices made by the villages of Eyam may well have saved cities in northern England from the worst of the plague.
At the time of the plague, the village had a population of about 350. The most important person in the village was the church leader - William Mompesson.In the summer of 1665, the village tailor received a parcel of material from his supplier in London. This parcel contained the fleas that caused the plague. The tailor was dead from the plague within one week of receiving his parcel. By the end of September, five more villagers had died. Twenty three died in October.
Some of the villagers suggested that they should flee the village for the nearby city of Sheffield. Mompesson persuaded them not to do this as he feared that they would spread the plague into the north of England that had more or less escaped the worst of it. In fact, the village decided to cut itself off from the outside would. They effectively agreed to quarantine themselves even though it would mean death for many of them.
The village was supplied with food by those who lived outside of the village. People brought supplies and left them at the parish stones that marked the start of Eyam. The villages left money in a water trough filled with vinegar to steralise the coins left in them. In this way, Eyam was not left to starve to death. Those who supplied the food did not come into contact with the villagers. Eyam continued to be hit by the plague in 1666. The rector, Mompesson, had to bury his own family in the churchyard of Eyam. His wife died in August 1666. He decided to hold his services outside to reduce the chances of people catching the disease.
Eyam Museum
Visitors are frequently surprised to discover how much the Museum has to offer, often describing it as a ‘tardis’ – seemingly much larger on the inside than on the outside.We have used the space to explain the Eyam Plague story fully, and also to look at plague more widely throughout history. We look at when and where it happened, where it came from, how it spread, and how many people were killed.
We then bring the story up to date, explaining what we understand nowadays about the plague, where it still happens, and how it can be controlled. We also show, by applying today’s understanding to what happened 350 years ago, why some villagers are thought to have survived; and most surprisingly what we can learn from their descendants in the village today about modern day disease.
The story begins with a pictorial description of events in London in 1665. It goes on to describe the nature of the bubonic plague (black rats bearing fleas, which in turn carry the deadly bacilli) and its spread and effect upon human populations from biblical times(eg. Ancient Egypt) to the Middle Ages (The Black Death), and on to the mid-17th century. The story of the Eyam outbreak itself begins with facsimiles from the Parish Register, wills, and other documents of the time. We also illustrate some of the supposed remedies for the Plague, many of which sound strange to us now.The story of the plague continues with the description of the arrangements made by Mompesson and Stanley, the Rector of Eyam at that time, who had persuaded the villagers to voluntarilly quarantine themselves to prevent the infection spreading to the surrounding towns and villages. A chart shows the households known to have suffered plague deaths, and their relationship to each other through kinship.
Later in the exhibition you will see a series of displays devoted to the growth and decline of local industries. We tell how the village recovered after the plague. The geology of the area is particularly interesting, and is also briefly described in this section, which also includes a dramatic model of an old lead mine.Also, on the ground floor, is the recently-opened “Eyam Connections Room”, which is used for temporary displays with local themes, including at present a display on 17th century medicine, and an array of early medical instruments. It also includes a digital presentation, “Eyam then and now” showing how the village has changed over the past 100 years.
Eyam today
The village of Eyam (pronounced Eem) which sits snugly in relative isolation deep in the heart of the Peak District surrounded by a rugged landscape of limestone hills and dales and sheltered from the north by the dominating prominence of Eyam Edge, is perhaps the most well documented and most visited of all Derbyshire's villages.
The most popular time of the year to visit Eyam is in the last week of August during Carnival Week when the annual Sheep-Roast takes place and the village is thronged by thousands of visitors. Several wells are expertly dressed and the entire village is festooned with colourful bunting, with events rounded off by the annual Plague Commemmoration service, held on the last Sunday of August in Cucklet Delf.
But Eyam has far more to commend it than just an historic tale of self-sacrifice, as any walk around its pleasant meandering lanes and ancient buildings - many of them architectural gems - will show. The Domesday Book records it as Aiune - which rather mysteriously means "˜an island' -and though it mentions no church, it is probable that the Saxons had a church here on the site of the present Parish Church of St. Lawrence, which was built originally in 1150. The complete and unbroken 8th century Saxon cross which stands close by the tomb of Katherine Mompesson in the churchyard, is regarded as the finest example of its kind in the county. Unusually the church has both Saxon and Norman fonts, some excellent Jacobean woodcarvings, including Mompesson's chair, and a unique sundial dated 1775 on the wall above the priest's door.
Eyam Hall is open to the public and has eight working craft and gift shops plus a pleasant cafe inside its cobbled courtyard, whilst further west along the main street notable dwellings of similar vintage include Merrill House and the manor house dated 1615 that was the birthplace of local poet Richard Furness (1791-1857).
The splendid Miners Arms on Water Lane, just off the Square at the east end of the village, is the epitome of the country village pub and Eyam's only remaining hostelry - four others having closed and converted to private dwellings in recent years.
Modern Eyam is well equipped for residents and visitors alike with a large car park opposite the museum, complete with toilet and washroom facilities, and a variety of retail establishments including a post office, antique and curio shops, gift shops, cafes and local art and craft galleries.
