Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

Here's a tale for times like these, when the world's going to hell, leadership is scant, and hard decisions need to be made. It's also a tale of people ditching their pride and putting aside their differences to ensure a better future - or a future at all... /1

Plague has ravaged England a number of times, most spectacularly in 1349. However, the plague of 1665 was also a serious blight, killing multitudes of Londoners in the most painful way. /2

As one of the major hubs of trade, goods travelled across the country from London - especially cloth. It was cloth from London that arrived in the village of Ryan, Derby in late August 1665 that was to bring such devastation to the village of Eyam, Derbyshire. /3

Unwrapping the cloth, it is clear that George Viccars, the assistant to the village tailor, released fleas hiding in the folds. These fleas most like carried the Yersinia Pestis bacteria.

George would be the first to die. /4

Within the space of weeks, over twenty were dead, and more sickening. Panic crept through the village like a cat, swirling & seething. Combined with reports from London, it was clear a plague was loose. Some fled, making for nearby towns. Fortunately, it seems, none were Ill. /5

Terrified, the remaining villagers - around 350 odd - came together to decide what to do. This is when the rector, a relatively recent arrival by the name of William Mompesson, suggested something that, at the time, was extraordinary - a voluntary quarantine of the village. /6

This, not to put too fine a point on it, took a gigantic set of balls. Mompesson had been brought in to replace the old rector, Thomas Stanley, who had refused to accept new reforms - he was a dyed-in-the-wool puritan. Stanley was loved, Mompesson was not. /7

The response was cold, until Stanley stepped in. He supported Mompesson, and reiterated that a quarantine was the only way to stop the infection from spreading to larger towns such as nearby Sheffield. The decision was made - Eyam would cut itself off from the world. /8

A series of stones were erected around the town, past which none could come or go. A stone, called the 'Boundary Stone’ was where money was left for clothes and goods - the coins soaking in vinegar, that even then was believed to stop the spread of disease. /9

Inside Eyam, the plague raged. As the months passed, more and more were buried, haphazardly, as it was agreed families should bury their own dead. Without maintenance and with the loss of several vital tradesmen, the village began to fall apart. /10

The plague wiped out entire families. One woman, Elizabeth Hancock, it is recorded, buried her husband and children in little over the space of a week. Deaths continued almost all the way through 1666, carrying off both young and old. /11

All the way through, Mompesson continued preaching, taking services outside to lesson the chance of the disease spreading. Somehow, despite human nature, he managed to hold people's faith the way through - there was no exodus. /12

By the time the plague abated, over 250 of Eyam's population were dead - somewhere around half the pre-plague population, given the varying estimates. The plague did not spread in any serious way to Sheffield and beyond. Thousands of lives, potentially, were saved. /13

Mompesson survived the plague, as did Stanley. Mompesson, however, was to lose his wife, Catherine, who died in the last days of the plague. She's buried in the village churchyard. /14

Today, truth be told, Eyam can be a bit of a tourist trap - they trade very heavily on the story of the quarantine. However, the sacrifice of the 17th century villagers does still echo down the ages and reminds us of a few things… /15

First, life is not fair. Often, the things we have to deal with are so large, so enormous, so catastrophic that we can't possibly hope to fix them alone. All we can do is ride it out, try to come through things intact. /16

Second, we often have to make choices - sometimes terrible ones. Sometimes there is no 'win-win’ situation, only suffering less by degrees. Still, decisions have to be made, and sometimes we all need to take on the burden of deciding. /17

Finally, in the end, all we really have in this world when it counts, are those around us. Sometimes it's a blessing, sometimes it's a curse, but it is an essential truth. We're all we've got. /18

If you would like to know more about the story of Eyam, this is a great resource. Thanks for reading, and look out for one another. /FIN bbc.com/travel/story/2…