Eyam in isolation
As a retired virologist and a science writer, perhaps I should write a column about the current coronavirus pandemic. But in my opinion there is quite enough in the press already, with media hype causing panic buying and flouting of governmentimposed precautions designed to prevent virus spread.
Many of us are currently self-isolating in our own homes, either to prevent catching COVID-19 or, as case contacts, to prevent spreading the virus to others. The concept of individuals, towns, cities and even whole states being under lockdown sounds positively medieval and was probably unthinkable to most of us just a few months ago.
In fact, quarantine (from the Italian quaranta giorni meaning 40 days) was first introduced during the Black
Death in the 14th century. And here is an interesting example of self-imposed quarantine that took place in the village of Eyam (pronounced Eem), Derbyshire, which was struck by the plague in September 1665.
The plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and spread by rat fleas, is thought to have arrived in Eyam in a box of cloth carried by an itinerant tailor from London where the disease was raging.
The tailor was the first victim of an epidemic that spread throughout the village. And although it virtually disappeared in the winter it reappeared with greater ferocity in spring 1666 and raged on until December.
In May 1666, the village rector, William Mompesson, persuaded his parishioners to isolate the village from the outside world. By allowing no-one to enter or leave he hoped to contain the plague, so preventing its spread to surrounding villages. So while grateful neighbours left food and medical supplies at boundary stones positioned around Eyam, the altruistic villagers watched and waited, helpless as the ghastly disease decimated their community. And although the strategy was apparently successful in protecting surrounding villages, the eventual death toll in Eyam was 259, including the rector’s wife, out of the 350 villagers. The rector kept meticulous notes of events so that the whole sad episode could be reconstructed in today’s fascinating History Trail through the village.