Eyam

infobox UK place
official_name = Eyam
os_grid_reference = SK220764
population = 926 (2001 [cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=793301&c=eyam&d=16&e=15&g=434246&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 |title=Parish Headcounts: Eyam CP |accessdate=2007-04-12 |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |publisher=Office for National Statistics ] )
shire_district = Derbyshire Dales
shire_county = Derbyshire
region = East Midlands
country = England
latitude = 53.284
longitude = -1.671
map_type =
scale = 20000
constituency_westminster = Derbyshire Dales
post_town = HOPE VALLEY
postcode_district = S32
postcode_area = S
dial_code = 01433 Eyam (IPAEng|iːm) is a small village in Derbyshire, England. The village is best known for being the "plague village" that chose to isolate itself when the plague was found in the village in August 1665, rather than let the infection spread. The village was founded and named by Anglo-saxons, and was mined for lead by the Romans [cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/derby/ |title=Living with the plague |accessdate=2007-04-12 |work=Local Legends |publisher=BBC ]

Plague history

The plague had been brought to the village in a flea-infested bundle of cloth that was delivered to tailor George Viccars from the entire village to prevent further spread of the disease. The plague raged in the village for 16 months and killed at least 260 villagers: only 83 villagers survived out of a population of 350.

When the first outsiders visited Eyam a year later, they found that fewer than a quarter of the village had survived the plague. Survival appeared random, as many plague survivors had close contact with the bacterium, but never caught the disease. For example, Elizabeth Hancock never became ill, despite burying six children and her husband in eight days (the graves are known as the Riley graves). The unofficial village grave digger also survived, despite handling many infected bodies.

Places of interest

Eyam can boast various plague related places of interest such as the 'boundary stone', a stone in which money was placed in exchange for food and medicine, and the Riley graves as mentioned above. The only pub to be found in the village is 'The Miners Arms'. Opposite the church is the rather grand looking 'Mechanics Institute' that is used as a village hall meeting rooms. The Mechanics' Institute was established in Eyam 1824 according to "White's History, Gazetteer & Directory of the County of Derby, for 1857", with a Library paid for by subscription, which then contained 766 volumes. There were 30 members recorded in 1857, paying the equivalent of 1 p per week. [http://www.wishful-thinking.org.uk/genuki/DBY/Eyam/MechanicsInstitute.html] Up the main street is the Jacobian house Eyam Hall built just after the plague. The green opposite has an ancient set of village stocks reputedly used to punish the local for minor crimes.

Eyam's role in genetic research

Some research indicates that the villagers of Eyam may have had some genetic protection from the bubonic plague. A CCR5 gene mutation designated as "delta 32" was found in a statistically significant number, 14%, of direct descendants of the plague survivors. The Delta 32 mutation appears to be very rare. In fact, the levels of Delta 32 found in Eyam were only matched in regions of Europe that had been affected by the plague and in Americans of European origin. It has also been suggested [ [http://www.derbyshireuk.net/eyam.html Eyam at derbyshireuk.net] Accessed 5 February 2008.] that the Delta 32 mutation, if inherited from both parents, may provide immunity to HIV/AIDS.

More recent research at Scripps Research Institute disputes the hypothesis that the Delta 32 mutation provided protection against the plague, suggesting instead that it is more likely to have arisen as protection against some other disease common at the time, such as smallpox. This new hypothesis is still being tested. [cite web |url=http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/021104b.html |title=Genetic Mutation Protects Against both HIV and Plague? Not So, Say Scientists at Scripps Research |accessdate=2007-04-12 |publisher=The Scripps Research Institute ]

axon cross

Eyam churchyard contains a Saxon cross dated to the 7th or 8th centuries. Initially, it was located at the side of a cart track near to Eyam. It is Grade I listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument [cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=80635 |title=Eyam Saxon cross |accessdate=2006-04-17 |work=Images of England |publisher=English Heritage ] It is believed that the cross originally lay on a moor outside the village and was later moved to the churchyard. It is covered in complex carvings and is almost complete, but is missing a section of the shaft. [Neville T. Sharpe, "Crosses of the Peak District" (Landmark Collectors Library, 2002)]

Notable residents

*Anna Seward, acclaimed poet (1747 — 1809) [ [http://www.faculty.umb.edu/elizabeth_fay/seward.html "Eyam" a poem by Anna Seward] accessed June 2007]
*Richard Furness, the Poet of Eyam (1791 — 1857)

Treatments in the media

* "Year of Wonders" (Novel, 2001) by Geraldine Brooks.
* "A parcel of patterns" (Novel, 1983) by Jill Paton Walsh.
* "The Roses of Eyam" (Play, first performed 1970, published 1976) by Don Taylor.
* The Judas Strain (Novel, 2007) by James Rollins
* The song 'We All Fall Down' was written about the 1665 plague epidemic in Eyam by Leeds-based band iLiKETRAiNS, and is featured on their 2007 album Elegies to Lessons Learnt.
* "Children of Winter" (Novel, 1985) by Berlie Doherty.
* "Kiss of Death" (Novel, 2006) by Malcolm Rose Published by Usborne Publishing.

See also

*Derby plague of 1665, Great Plague of London (also in 1665)
*Beau, writer of the song "The Roses Of Eyam"

References

External links

* [http://www.derbyshireuk.net/eyam.html Eyam at derbyshireuk.net]
* [http://www.survivors-mad-dog.org.uk/MDEyam01.html Eyam at Survivors: Mad Dog]