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Living with the plague |
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Mompesson in the limelight
William Mompesson
© Eyam Parochial Church Council |
Once it was established that the illness claiming the lives of Eyam’s villagers was the plague, the villagers made a remarkable decision; they decided to quarantine the village. On making this decision, the villagers were effectively choosing death instead of life, in order to prevent the disease spreading to the nearby industrial centre of Sheffield. If you were to read any account of the ‘plague village’ and it is the Eyam clergyman Mompesson who is credited with this remarkable self sacrifice. As the village rector, Mompesson was the obvious candidate to lead the villagers, who would look to him as the figurehead of the village. However, was his role exaggerated at the expense of another religious figure in the village?
Thomas Stanley, rector of Eyam (1664 to 1660), had fallen victim to church politics which were affecting all of England, his Puritan beliefs meant he had been replaced as Eyam’s clergyman by the traditionalist, Shoreland Adams. Following Adams’ death in 1664, Stanley made his home in the village where he proved to be a popular preacher. Stanley’s Puritan beliefs contrasted strongly with Mompesson’s faith in the unified Anglican Church. However, as the number of plague victims grew, the two men put aside their differences, uniting to put their plan of isolation into action.
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