The Plague Village of Eyam

     A Parcel of Patterns
          A retelling of the the story of Eyam
     by Jill Paton Walsh

It is said that plague came to Eyam village in a parcel of cloth from London. The cloth had been ordered by the village tailor, George Viccars, and it arrived at his house in Eyam one day in late August 1665. Unknown to the tailor, the cloth was full of fleas infected with the plague. The cloth was damp and had to be hung out to dry in front of the tailor's fire inside his house; this allowed the fleas to escape from the cloth and the tailor soon became the first victim of the plague in Eyam.

At first the plague spread slowly; six people died in the three weeks following the tailor's death but then there were no more deaths from plague right through the winter and early spring. For a few months the villagers were hopeful that the plague would not take hold in their village, but the following May two more villagers died of plague and then in June there were more deaths.

The plague which reached Eyam in 1665 has been identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector. The disease progressed quickly through several stages, usually ending in death. The symptoms included:
headache, high fever with extreme pains in the limbs, nausea and vomiting, exhaustion, hard and painful swellings in the lymph nodes. These swellings were called 'buboes' and gave the plague its name. Buboes could be the size of eggs and they eventually burst.

Eyam Plague Cottages,
Derbyshire, England by photochrom

Once it was clear that the plague was spreading, the villagers took the courageous decision to quarantine the village. This was a very brave decision as it was in many cases a choice between life and death. To leave the village brought a chance of escaping the source of infection; to stay increased villagers' chances of catching the plague themselves. Yet they chose to stay so that the plague could not spread to other settlements including Sheffield, a large industrial town. The villager's self-sacrifice probably saved the lives of thousands of people.

The decision to quarantine Eyam is credited to William Mompesson the rector of the village's Anglican church and Thomas Stanley, a Puritan preacher who lived in the village. Although they had differences of opinion when it came to religion, the two men were united in their efforts to contain the plague. Eyam's villagers committed themselves in the name of God not to break the quarantine.

No-one was allowed in or out of the village, so villagers could no longer visit the nearby towns of Fulwood or Bakewell to buy food and other supplies. Instead, they left money in exchange for goods at places like the Boundary Stones which were outside the village. The money was often soaked in vinegar as it was believed that this stopped infection spreading. Food, medicine and other supplies were also given by the Earl of Devonshire who lived in Chatsworth House, near to the village.

Two young sweethearts, Emmott Sydall from Eyam and Rowland Torre from a nearby village, were separated by the quarantine. Unable to meet close up they would call to each other across the rocks at Cucklett Delf until Emmott Sydall herself died of the plague.

Even within the village, the residents took action to keep away from other people as much as they could. Church services were held in the open air to help stop the spread of infection and villagers had to bury their own dead.

Eyam Church, Derbyshire,
England classic Photochro
by photochrom
View more Eyam Postcards

For about 14 months the plague held Eyam in its grip and there was much suffering and death. By the time the last plague victim had died only about a quarter of the villagers were still alive. Mompesson's wife Catherine stayed in Eyam to help nurse the sick and herself died of the plague at the age of 28. Some families were almost wiped out by the disease. One resident, Elizabeth Hancock, lost her husband and six children to the plague in just eight days. To stop infection spreading there were no funerals and families usually buried their own dead. Elizabeth Hancock had to bury her husband and her children herself and their graves at Riley near Eyam can still be seen.

August 1666 was a particularly terrible month for Eyam. Seventy-seven people died that month out of a population that had been less than 200 at the beginning of the month (although later research now claims the population was 700 individuals). There was a list of the people who died in eyam from the plague compiled later by a churchman, Fred Stumfield.

The historian William Wood wrote:

"Thus, like leaves in Autumn, fell the villagers of Eyam, in that terrible and fatal month, August 1666".
The History and Antiquities of Eyam By William Wood (1842, 1845 & 1860)

At last, in late 1666, Mompesson recorded:

"Now, blessed be God, all our fears are over for none have died of the plague since the eleventh of October and the pest-houses have long been empty".

Eyam Museum tells the history of this terrible time.

Eyam is rich in reminders of the time of the Great Plague. Many of the village 'plague cottages' are still standing after hundreds of years and they bear commemorative plaques which list the names of the people who died in them from plague. It is also possible to see the 'Coolstone', a stone where villagers left money in exchange for food and medicine.

The church has a memorial window and a book of remembrance on display. The churchyard contains the graves of some of the plague victims and monuments to Thomas Stanley and Catherine Mompesson, William's wife. Other plague victims were buried elsewhere in fields or gardens and often in mass graves as so many people died. Many of these mass graves can still be seen, although they are often no more than a patch of grass.

A remembrance service is still held every year for those who died of the plague. The service is held on Plague Sunday which is the last Sunday in August and it takes place at Cucklett Delf. As part of the commemorations, Catherine Mompesson's tombstone is decorated with a wreath entwined with roses.

The village museum gives a vivid account of the great plague in Eyam.

The Roses of Eyam (Heinemann Plays for 14-16+)

The Roses of Eyam - Wikipedia

The desolation of Eyam:
the emigrant, a tale of the American woods:
and other poems

Red and White Rose
by Flynn_the_Cat
Browse other Roses on Zazzle

Ring a-ring o' roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.
We all fall down.

A well known children's rhyme, with several variants, this was believed to be about the plague (sneezing and falling down dead). But if that were the case, it should have changed a lot more over the years. There are also no early appearances of it in any of the years after the plague,

See Snopes and Wikipedia for more information