Eyam...Village of the Damned.

18/02/2018.

A dark, grey, miserable day. But a walk around Eyam and the weather is soon forgotten as there is much to see here. Think of Eyam and what instantly springs to mind?, Obviously the Plague that swept through the village in 1665, around 260 of its residents died. During this time the Plague was kicking off big style in London where it is said to have claimed 60,000 lives. The folk of Eyam would have thought they were safe here, away from the Rat infested streets of the cities. And this was true until on 7th of September 1665 a local tailor bought a box of cloth from London. As he unpacked the cloth he unwittingly realeased some plague infected fleas...The Tailor was the first to die. Soon after other villagers fell victim. Something had to be done, led by the rector, William Mompesson, the village put itself into quarantine. No one was allowed in and no one left the village for a period of around 14 months.Without this action the terrible disease would have spread like wildfire around the country.

The walk today started with an amble around the streets of the village, admiring the many interesting buildings, Notably Eyam hall that was closed as we passed. This lovely old Jacobean manor house is looked after by The National trust and is worth a closer look. [but not today]

The Church and churchyard are also worth a look..Many interesting features here including an old Celtic cross that dates back to the 8th century, an old sundial that dates from 1775 and the Tomb of Catherine Mompesson, the wife of the vicar, William Mompesson.

We left the village via Lydgate where we saw the Lydgate graves in a small enclosure, these are the graves of George Darby and his daughter Mary..We set off across an extremely muddy field heading down to Stoney Middleton...On the boundary of the village of Eyam we came across another interesting feature of the Plague, The boundary stone, This was as far as the people of Eyam were allowed to venture, This stone has several holes drilled into it, into which the folk of the village would place coins soaked in vinegar, as it was believed to kill the infection. In exchange for the coins outsiders left food and Medical supplies.

We dropped down to Stoney Middleton, another interesting village steeped in history. It is said to have Roman connections. From Stoney middleton it was up and up on a steep path through trees to eventually come to yet another Plague site. In the middle of a field to the east of Eyam we came to the Riley graves. Here is the spot that Elizabeth Hancock buried her husband and 6 children. More victims...It is said that she dragged their bodies up to this lonely spot.

Back in Eyam now we fancied a cuppa in the tea room, it looked jam packed with cyclists so we pressed on up to Mompessons well...Named after William Mompesson, this is another spot where medicines and supplies were left for the people of the village. Mompesson also conducted services here throughout the ordeal. Services are still held here every August to commemorate the heroism and the self sacrifice of the entire community.

I enjoyed this fascinating walk.