Introduction

Abstract

In August 1665 in the village of Eyam in England’s Peak District, a tailor bought a bale of cloth from London to make clothes. What resulted was an unleashing of the bubonic plague in this small community. The disease allegedly killed 260 of Eyam’s residents before it abated over a year later. Although having little knowledge of the spread of infection, the villagers sealed off their community and this self-imposed quarantine prevented the disease from spreading into the surrounding district (www.eyammuseum.org.uk). Eyam is, Patrick Wallis argues, ‘the epicentre of Europe’s plague heritage’ (2005: 2). Almost forgotten in subsequent centuries, it was not until the late 18th century that the plague story of Eyam was recreated and largely reimagined through folklore and literature finding its ‘fullest expression’ in literature produced in the mid-19th century (Wallis, 2005: 2). By the time of its bicentenary in 1866, the Eyam plague was firmly embedded in cultural heritage and Eyam itself became, and remains to this day, a sombre tourist site.