My friend Marystephanie and I were enjoying our hikes to country houses in Derbyshire, England, much more when the heat broke after two days of 90+ degrees.  Our next day’s journey took us to the historic plague village of Eyam.

To the modern visitor Eyam (pronounced eem), looks like a typical English village, complete with a town square, cafes and pubs, and stone cottages along cobblestone lanes.

But in 1665, bubonic plague swept England, concentrated primarily in London.  Unfortunately, a package of cloth from London was sent to a tailor in Eyam. Unbeknownst to them, the cloth contained fleas that had been infected with the plague and within a few days the tailor’s assistant had died.

The people turned to their rector for guidance, and he advised them to quarantine in their homes and bury their own dead. Further, he suggested that the entire town quarantine itself and no one would come in or out.  Supplies were left by a wall around the village, and the villagers would pay by leaving coins in crevices of the wall filled with vinegar to disinfect them. The plague took many victims over 14 months, spreading rapidly through the town, with a final count of 300+ deaths in a population of 800.

As you wander through the town, there are several cottages with signs outside telling the fate of the inhabitants in 1665-66.  At the Bagshaw House, home of the Siddall family, 9 family members died of the plague, leaving only three-year-old Joseph. At Rose Cottage, all 9 members of the Thorpe family perished.

Eyam has an impressive museum which features the story of the plague and the spread of the disease through the town.  There are copies of documents from that time, listing all the villagers who succumbed to bubonic plague and their selfless decision to stay in their village so as not to spread infection. There is also a list of “cures” recommended at the time, such as eating new-baked bread, having birds fly through the house, and drinking wine.

My favorite exhibit in the museum was a life-sized model of a doctor’s “uniform” during the epidemic.  With its leather cone-shaped mask, he looks like a character out of Mad Magazine’s Spy Vs Spy. Quite the contraption.

Modern scientists may debate the wisdom of the choices of the people of Eyam back in 1665, but at the time they felt they were protecting the folks in neighboring towns by remaining quarantined, a motive most admirable.