Despite the terror that must have been swimming within the walls of Eylam, it seems that virtually no one broke the quarantine. Despite the rising death count, people stayed true to the promise they had made to God and remained in the village. One woman is said to have broken the boundary and visited the town of Tideswell on market day, but once the people of Tideswell recognised her she had to run home under a hail of missiles.

The village suffered in the grip of the plague for 14 months with it finally abating in autumn 1666. Numbers vary, but conservative estimates say that only 83 people were left from a population of 343. Bleak doesn’t even scratch the surface. Those who did survive must have been left in a right state, and probably pretty confused as to why God had spared them. The gravedigger Marshall Home survived against all odds, and Elizabeth Hancock who buried all six of her kids and her husband managed to come through it all unscathed.

The reason the plague eventually simmered down is probably that the infected rat population died out due to lack of food. Today the village is, of course, back to normal but it’s plague past has not been deleted. Visitors today can still see the Coolstone and the graves of Elizabeth Hancock’s family. The population of Eyam is around 1,000 now, some of which can trace their descendants right back to the plague of 1665. The inhabitants are rightfully proud of their ancestors, their bravery probably saved the north of England from many thousands upon thousands of deaths.

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