The Peak District village of Eyam in Derbyshire has become a dark tourism hotspot after 260 of the village’s 350 residents died in just 14 months.
A quaint English village has become a hotspot for dark tourism, thanks to its tragic history dating back to the Black Death in the 1660s. The Peak District town of village of Eyam in Derbyshire earned the moniker ‘plague village’ after a staggering 260 villagers perished within a 14-month period.
The bubonic plague, which first wreaked havoc worldwide in the 1300s, had a particularly devastating outbreak in England during the 1660s, claiming over 68,000 lives in London alone. This lethal disease eventually found its way north, reaching Eyam in the summer of 1665.
In a bid to shield neighbouring villages, Eyam’s inhabitants chose to isolate themselves.
A boundary stone, still visible today, was erected between plague-ridden Eyam and the nearby unaffected town of Stoney Middleton. Here, Eyam’s residents would deposit vinegar-soaked money in exchange for food and medical supplies, left at the stone by Stoney Middleton’s inhabitants.
Modern-day visitors to Eyam can witness the lasting impact of this plague outbreak, with numerous graves scattered throughout the village and surrounding fields. Families were urged to bury their deceased loved ones near their homes instead of in the church graveyard, reports the Express.
Reverend William Mompesson and Puritan minister Thomas Stanley were the ones who established these stringent rules, including moving all church services outdoors and ensuring no one could enter or leave the village.
Jackie Todd, a recent visitor to Eyam, took to Instagram to share a heartbreaking love story that has become part of the folklore surrounding the plague-stricken village of Eyam.
In a video recounting her visit, Jackie wrote: “In 1665, the plague hit Eyam and they locked down the village, separating Emmott Sydall from her fiancé Rowland Torre.A post shared by Jackie Todd (@jackietodd_)”Emmott and Rowland would meet at the village boundary once a week, keeping their distance so he wouldn’t contract the disease. One day, Emmott didn’t show up.
“When the lockdown was lifted, Rowland was among the first to enter the village in search of Emmott.”
She then displayed a plaque indicating that Emmott was tragically one of the victims of the black death.
The two lovers and their rendezvous at the village boundary have been immortalised in a stained glass image visible in Eyam’s St Lawrence’s Church.