Fields of hay dry stone walls and a sign post saying Byway Open To All Traffic with the plague village of Eyam in the background

---

In 1665 plague hit England, and a consignment of cloth from London bound for Eyam, Derbyshire brought with it the infectious fleas which spread the disease. After an initial flurry of deaths in the autumn of that year it died down during the winter only to come back even more virulently in the spring of 1666. William Mompesson, the parish vicar, in conjunction with another clergyman, the out-of-favour Puritan, Thomas Stanley, took the courageous decision to isolate the village. In all, 260 of the village's inhabitants, including his wife Catherine, died before the plague claimed its last victim in December 1666.

---

Size: 4016px × 2677px
Location: Eyam, Derbyshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © John Keates / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: background, byway, derbyshire, district, dry, england, eyam, fields, hay, landscape, national, open, outdoors, park, peak, plague, post, sign, stone, traffic, uk, village, walls