Eyam 318014 220107223 2008-06-18T09:09:10Z Jeremy Bolwell 3483939 /* Eyam's role in genetic research */ {{infobox UK place| |official_name = Eyam |os_grid_reference = SK220764 |population = 926 (2001<ref>{{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]] }}</ref>) |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 (UK Parliament constituency)|Derbyshire Dales]] |post_town = HOPE VALLEY |postcode_district = S32 |postcode_area = S |dial_code = 01433 }} <!--[[Image:Eyamhall.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Eyam Hall.]]--> '''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 (disease)|plague]] was found in the village in August [[1665]], rather than see the infection travel further north. The village was founded and named by [[Anglo-saxons]], and was mined for lead by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]<ref>{{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]] }}</ref> ==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 [[London]]<ref name="pbs">{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/index.html |title=Mystery of the Black Death |accessdate=2007-04-12 |work=[[Secrets of the Dead]] |publisher=[[PBS]] }}</ref>. [[image:Eyamplague.JPG|thumb|left|250px|A 'plague' cottage with plaque commemorating some of the deaths]] Within a week he was dead. After the initial deaths, the townspeople turned to their rector, the [[Reverend William Mompesson]] and the [[Puritan]] Minister Thomas Stanley. They introduced a number of precautions to slow the spread of the illness from May 1665. These included the arrangement that families were to bury their own dead and the relocation of church services from the [[parish church]] of [[St. Laurence]] to Cucklett Delph to allow villagers to separate themselves, reducing the risk of infection. Perhaps, the best known decision was to [[quarantine]] 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).<ref name="pbs" /> 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'. ==Eyam's role in genetic research== Some research indicates that the villagers of Eyam may have had some genetic protection from the [[bubonic plague]].<ref name="pbs" /> A [[CCR5]] [[gene]] [[mutation]] designated as [[CCR5-D32#CCR5-.CE.9432|"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<ref>[http://www.derbyshireuk.net/eyam.html Eyam at derbyshireuk.net] Accessed [[5 February]] 2008.</ref> 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. <ref>{{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]] }}</ref> ==Saxon cross== [[Image:Eyam Celtic Cross.jpg|thumb|150px|right|7th century Anglo-Saxon Cross.]] Eyam churchyard contains a [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] cross dated to the [[7th century|7th]] or [[8th century|8th centuries]]. Initially, it was located at the side of a cart track near to Eyam. After the plague it was moved to its present location.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} It is [[listed building|Grade I listed]] and a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]]<ref>{{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]] }}</ref> ==Notable residents== *[[Anna Seward]], acclaimed poet (1747 &mdash; 1809)<ref>[http://www.faculty.umb.edu/elizabeth_fay/seward.html "Eyam" a poem by Anna Seward] accessed June 2007</ref> *[[Richard Furness]], the Poet of Eyam (1791 &mdash; 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 * A song about the plague epidemic of 1665 was written by [[Leeds]] based rock group [[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== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{commons}} * [http://www.derbyshireuk.net/eyam.html Eyam at derbyshireuk.net] * [http://www.survivors-mad-dog.org.uk/MDEyam01.html Eyam at Survivors: Mad Dog] [[Category:Villages in Derbyshire]] [[Category:History of Derbyshire]] [[Category:Towns and villages of the Peak District]] [[es:Eyam]] [[fr:Eyam]] [[nl:Eyam]] [[no:Eyam]] [[sv:Eyam]]