It’s hard to believe that this beautiful, tranquil village with its lovely Jacobean hall is known as the ‘plague village’. It was here in 1665 that a local tailor received some clothes from London unaware that they contained spores of the bubonic plague. Instead of fleeing, local people were persuaded by the local rector to remain in case they infected others. But the following summer the plague returned with a vengeance, killing 257 villagers including the wife of the courageous rector. Her grave is in the local churchyard. The full story of this remarkable moment in history is told in a local museum. Cottages inhabited by some of the plague victims survive on the outskirts of the village which also has the original stocks and a 9^th century cross.

Eyam Church - Photo: Alan Fleming CCL