<P> The history of the plague in the village began in 1665 when a flea - infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for the local tailor . Within a week his assistant George Vicars was dead and more began dying in the household soon after . As the disease spread , the villagers turned for leadership to their rector , the Reverend William Mompesson , and the Puritan Minister Thomas Stanley . These introduced a number of precautions to slow the spread of the illness from May 1666 . They included the arrangement that families were to bury their own dead and relocation of church services to the natural amphitheatre of Cucklett Delph , allowing villagers to separate themselves and so reducing the risk of infection . Perhaps the best - known decision was to quarantine the entire village to prevent further spread of the disease . </P>
<P> The history of the plague in the village began in 1665 when a flea - infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for the local tailor . Within a week his assistant George Vicars was dead and more began dying in the household soon after . As the disease spread , the villagers turned for leadership to their rector , the Reverend William Mompesson , and the Puritan Minister Thomas Stanley . These introduced a number of precautions to slow the spread of the illness from May 1666 . They included the arrangement that families were to bury their own dead and relocation of church services to the natural amphitheatre of Cucklett Delph , allowing villagers to separate themselves and so reducing the risk of infection . Perhaps the best - known decision was to quarantine the entire village to prevent further spread of the disease . </P>
how did the plague spread from london to eyam
how did the plague spread from london to eyam
a flea - infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for the local tailor
a flea - infested bundle of cloth arrived from London for the local tailor