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Lost village

Eyam

Peak District, Derbyshire

The plague village that shut itself away to save its neighbours.

In 1665 plague arrived in Eyam, said to have come in a bundle of cloth from London. Led by their rector, William Mompesson, the villagers agreed to seal themselves off so it would not spread.

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When
1665–1666
Where
53.2840, -1.6720
Group
Lost & drowned villages

Visiting

Eyam Museum, the plague cottages and the boundary stones can all be visited.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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