The Great Plague which came around in 1665 and 1666 was the last major outbreak of the
disease that hit England. It’s remembered that London in particular saw high levels
of infection and death, however it did go around to many different cities, villages
and settlements. The Plague did not discriminate, and it killed rich, poor, man, woman, and
child. However in one small village in the Peak District they used remarkable methods
ahead of their time to prevent the spread of the disease.
Eyam became one of the most significant villages in the country, for the actions of those people
living there had incredibly profound and important effects on the way people treated the plague.
Today we look at one family in Eyam, who were destroyed and decimated by the Great Plague.
They were not the only ones, as many in the village lost a huge number of family members.
But the Hancocks who lived on Riley Hill were incredibly different, and what Elizabeth Hancock
did was remarkable. Remember to support, please make sure to subscribe.
The Plague did spread quickly around the country. Rural areas that usually may have been safe
from diseases were put at risk due to trade routes, and the village of Eyam today is a
remarkably beautiful and quiet settlement that is found near to Sheffield, Chesterfield
and Manchester. The plague arrived in the village in August 1665, and it came as a parcel
of cloth had been sent from London to the village tailor Alexanderr Hadfield. When his
assistant opened the cloth, it was infested with rat fleas and these carried the disease.
His assistant died a few days later, being the first plague victim, but then the plague
rampaged throughout the village.
Eyam as a village decided to act in a different way, and to act decisively in a way to prevent
the disease spreading to the major cities of Sheffield and Manchester. At the time the
Church was incredibly important, and the local vicars and priests were the most educated
but possibly the most important people in the village. The vicar of Eyam had been sacked
as he refused to use the Common book of prayer, and he was replaced by Reverend William Mompesson.
He was 28 and lived with his wife and small children, and he was highly educated. It was
the act of both priests, Thomas Stanley and Mompesson that helped the village to contain
the Plague, and prevent it spreading to Sheffield.
A plan was drawn up and agreed. The most important point was the need to set up a quarantine,
and a cordon sanitaire around the village. No-one was allowed to pass the boundary, and
signs were put up telling travellers to turn around and not enter.
There were no attempts to cross the line, and the village stayed strong. Eyam needed
supplies, and the local suppliers left supplies at different points around the village, in
particular a boundary stone to the south. This meant no one could come into contact,
and the villagers even left money in water troughs filled with vinegar that they believed
would kill the disease.
Another agreement was that the plague victims should be buried as quick as possible. However,
the church that sits in the centre of the village was deemed not the right plague to
bury the victims of the plague. It was decided that plague victims should be buried as quickly
as possibly near to the place they died, rather than being brought to the village cemetery,
and possibly cause contamination to more people. They believed this would prevent the risk
of the disease spreading from corpses that were waiting to be buried, and this was correct.
They also locked up the church, and moved church services to an open air venue.
The policy of interring the dead close to where they died means that around the village
there are several small cemetery’s and burials littered around with headstones depicting
who they are. However one set of graves that picturesquely overlooks the Derbyshire Dales
holds one of the darkest stories of the plague. The Riley Graves that are found up Riley Lane
on a steep hill on the edge of the village are a dark reminder of one woman’s great
loss during Eyam’s fight with the Plague.
These graves are sacred to the memory of the Hancock family who suffered greatly in August
1666. This month was in particularly deadly, and tragedy struck the family and in particular
Elizabeth Hancock, the mother of the family. The family lived in a farmhouse overlooking
the beautiful countryside, and presumably before they caught the deadly disease, they
had done rather well to avoid the outbreak. They lived a long way out of the main village
square, and it presumably must have been easier for them to isolate. However, within the space
of 8 days Elizabeth Hancock would lose all her family, her husband and children.
On the 3rd August 1666, Elizabeth’s son John Hancock passed away from the disease.
He was the first victim of the plague in the family. Because of the high risk of infecting
neighbours and other villagers, Elizabeth the grieving mother had to herself drag out
the body of her child onto her farmland and then dig a grave, and bury her husband inside
the grave. This must have been horrific for her to have done, but things got worse. On
the same day, she also had to bury her daughter Elizabeth who also died from the disease.
However things got a lot worse. Her husband John Hancock senior died and now the gireving
widow was forced to drag her own husbands body and corpse, riddled with the plague to
join the graves of her young children.
Next to die was Oner Hancock, who died on the same day as his father, and once again
in close proximity to the others Elizabeth had to take the corpse out onto the land and
dig another grave. In the space of 4 days she had lost her husband and 3 children. But
things didn’t stop there, on the 9th August, Alice Hancock another daughter died and was
interred in the grave nearby, and on the next day another daughter Anne was also buried
after passing away. On the 17th August, William Hancocke succumbed to the plague, and within
the space of 8 days the Great Plague had laid waste to the Hancock family, with Elizabeth
herself having to drag out the bodies of each of her children and her husband, dig a grave
for them, and then cover them up. John Hancock Senior’s body is interred under the tomb,
with the children graves being marked by the gravestones. In this small sheepfold once
stood the Hancock house, but today the graves only remain surrounded by a wall and the burial
site is a poignant reminder of the sacrifice people made during the Plague.
The story of Eyam and the Great Plague is one which can teach us a lot about the world
today. It helped to keep the disease isolated, and did prevent the spread of the pestilence
reaching Sheffield, a city which it would have caused devastation within. The ordeal
that Elizabeth Hancock had to deal with burying her family on her land ultimately saved more
lives. It’s a tragic story, but inside of the village of Eyam, many more families were
devastated by the disease, but there are few stories more harrowing and tragic than that
of the Hancock family.
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