Year of Wonders

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What could have been just another book about how witches lived in the 17th century turned out to be quite satisfying. The pretty village of Eyam nestles in the hills of the Derbyshire peak district. Once known for its farming and lead mining, modern Eyam is a commuter village, with many of its 900 residents making the daily journey to nearby Manchester and Sheffield. It’s not hard to understand why these city workers prefer to make their home in Eyam, for the village maintains a quintessential picture-postcard prettiness. Its quaint cottages, ancient church and seventeenth-century manor house are also a draw for the thousands of annual visitors to the Peak District. However, this is not the only thing that attracts visitors to Eyam. was the last major epidemic of the plague to occur in England. As was normal the plague concentrated in London. As the rich (Including King Charles II) fled the capital to their country estates, the authorities did little. Left to fend for themselves, the poor and uneducated of London faced a merciless and terrifying foe. When the House of Lords finally met to discuss the crisis the following year they decided, instead of relief measures and aid, that the policy of ‘shutting up’ of infected individuals with their household would not apply to persons of note and that plague hospitals would not be built near to the homes of the nobility. This selfish and callous attitude added to the feeling of abandonment for many of the poor left in London. Many thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review. About half a mile out of the main village is a curious feature: a wall made out of rough, flat stones, punctuated with unusual openings whose edges have worn smooth with time. The wall is unique for it is the relic of a tragedy and triumph – from Eyam’s past. For in 1666, the people of Eyam took the unprecedented step of isolating themselves and their village from the rest of Derbyshire when the village became infected by the last outbreak of bubonic plague in Britain. This brave action devastated the settlement, but at the same time earned Eyam the reputation as the village that stopped the plague. The Great Plague of London, 1665. Google Images. The Great Plague of 1665

She came down with the disease within days. William nursed her, despite the fact that she asked him to stay away for his own safety. She was the 200th villager to die – one of 78 to perish that terrible August of 1666. By November, when the plague had claimed no more lives for some weeks, it was believed the outbreak was over. Some 260 lives had been claimed, according to church records. In the weeks and months that followed, people watched so many of their neighbours die, often whole families, as plaques outside a row of the cottages beside the church show so movingly. Read More Related Articles Ok, so I’ll do a little overview of what happened and what makes Eyam such a special place to visit.

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Johan is Isabel's husband, and has to travel to London when his ward's missing mother has been discovered. He risks going to the capital, to support his close friend.

The village of Eyam," its historian begins his account, "has been long characterized throughout the Peak of Derbyshire, as the birthplace of genius – the seat of the Muses – the Athens of the Peak". During the 18th century the place was notable for having no fewer than four poets associated with it. Reverend Peter Cunningham, curate there between 1775 and 1790, published two sermons during that time as well as several poems of a political nature. In addition, William Wood's account speaks of "numberless stones in the burial place that contain the offerings of his muse". [33] The history of the plague in the village began in 1665 when a flea-infested bundle of cloth arrived from London Ring Around the Rosie by Anne Hanley; staged reading by Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre (Alaska), 2004. [72]This was another place where outlying villages used to deliver parcels to Eyam and money dipped in vinegar was exchanged. While I believe this book was marketed as “female friendship” to survive, I found this was much more of a lesser theme to this book. I found most of this was book was about Mae’s independence and actions, as well as her interactions/issues with her father. We All Fall Down", written by Leeds-based band iLiKETRAiNS and featured on their album Elegies to Lessons Learnt, 2007. [83] They would meet people from the ‘outside world’ to collect food and provisions at a boundary stone and Mompesson’s Well.

Villanova Digital Library – A Moral Ballad of the Plague of Eyam, 1666". digital.library.villanova.edu.A It had the symptoms of a very bad flu – headache, nausea, weakness, fever. It sometimes affected breathing. The main features were swellings, called buboes – some as big as an egg, Many people died of it. At that time, although many cures were tried, there was really no cure for the Plague. There were no vaccines, no NHS, no national advice through the media. The best people could do was to quarantine themselves to try to prevent the plague passing from one person to another. Nobody knew how it was spread. It was generally believed to be airborne. A Moral Ballad of the Plague of Eyam by Francis McNamara (1884–1946). This was published as an Irish broadside in 1910. [53] The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor; first performed 1970, broadcast on TV in 1973; [69] published by Heinemann, 1976. [70]

But rather than flee, the terrified locals united behind their rector, The Rev William Mompesson. He argued that they should quarantine themselves, allowing nobody to enter or leave the village – fully knowing that many would not survive. The Naming of William Rutherford by Linda Kempton, a fantasy novel for children, published by Heinemann, 1992. [60] In 1665 a flea-infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for the local tailor of Eyam. This bundle led to the spread of the bubonic plague throughout the village. Following subsequent deaths, therector Reverend William Mompesson advised the entire village to quarantine itself to prevent the spread of the disease to neighbouring villages (a rather apt story considering the recent pandemic). Ring of White Roses, a one-act light opera by Les Emmans, librettist Pat Mugridge, 1984; published Plays & Musicals, 2004. [76]As the village continues to change, and remains a vital and beautiful place, so too the Museum tells the changing story of Eyam and its people. In so doing it sets the scene for a visit to the village, where you can still see where it all started. The real history of Eyam’s plague is different from the heroic version reported in these news stories and retold in countless histories, novels and plays. Its lesson for fighting epidemics is not a simple one about the value of valiant leadership and the virtue of self-sacrifice. The true story of the plague village shows the problem of drawing on half-remembered histories for guidance on how to respond to extraordinary and rare events like the coronavirus outbreak we are now living through.