In 1665 the bubonic plague devastated England. But the remote Derbyshire village of Eyam seemed safe from infection - until a tailor bought a roll of cloth from London. This British history podcast tells the harrowing story.
In 1665 Eyam in Derbyshire was a remote rural outpost. Its seven hundred villagers
living far away from the outbreak of plague ravaging London.
But when local tailor Hadfield ordered a roll linen from the capital, he brought the pestilence to Eyam
The infection killed most of the Hadfield family, and spread from cottage to cottage on its deadly progress.
There were no doctors in Eyam, so local Vicar Monpesson gathered the people together and made an extraordinary announcement.
The village was going into lockdown – nobody would leave, nobody would enter until the pestilence passed.
Our British history podcast tells the extraordinary story of the plague village.
Hear how one woman buried her entire family, how one villager tried to escape, about the legend of curative pig fat, and how the self appointed grave digger buried dozens of bodies - but survived the outbreak.
Listen to our lastest British History podcast here: