As long as the wintry weather isn’t too inclement, anyone looking for outdoor activities in Derbyshire might find taking a trip to Eyam of particular interest.
The tale of this little village in the heart of the stunning Derbyshire countryside is an especially sad one, but a compelling one nonetheless…
Back in 1665, a tailor from the village ordered a box of materials from London to turn into clothes for the villagers. This tiny act led to 260 villagers dying from bubonic plague, more than double the mortality rate of Londoners during the Great Plague!
It’s a tale of extraordinary courage, however, because the villagers – led by the rector – took the brave decision to quarantine themselves and seal off the village from the surrounding areas to help prevent the spread of the disease.
Start your trip to Eyam by visiting the local museum, although you won’t be able to do so now until next year as it shut up shop for 2018 on November 11th.
If you visit in August, you can attend the Plague Memorial Service (taking place on the last Sunday of the month), when a procession led by the rector goes from the church to Cucklet Delf, where religious services were held during the plague.
Other places of interest worth seeing in Eyam include the Boundary Stone, St Lawrence’s Church and the Riley Graves. The latter is where the Hancock family lived and died, with the only surviving member being Mrs Hancock who was forced to bury her husband and six children.
