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Eyam in
Derbyshire
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An attractive isolated village posed on a hillside, Eyam is located seven miles north of Bakewell. With a grim past, this lead-mining town is known as “The Plague Village” due to the bubonic plague that had killed half of the town’s population in 1665. It has been said that a few infected fleas from imported cloth brought in by George Viccars, a town tailor and the first plague victim, was the cause of the outbreak. The villagers soon followed a self-imposed quarantine led by the rector William Mompesson in order to prevent the spread of the plague to other villagers. On the boundary of Eyam, Mompesson’s Well can still be seen. These stone pools were filled with vinegar in order to disinfect the coins left as payment to those who had brought food for the villagers of Eyam. Since 1906, the town has held an annual remembrance service for the rector on the last Sunday of August.
Built six years after the epidemic had ended, Eyam Hall hosts hour long tours throughout the day where visitors can see its exquisite furniture, portraits, Jacobean staircase, and tapestries. Meals and snacks are served in the stables where a craft center is also located.
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