XX1V REPORT. 
“On the moors above the village various barrows have been 
found from time to time, and urns containing ashes and bones and 
other ancient British relics have been discovered. There are also 
remains of what have been considered British huts or houses, 
composed of earth and stones in a circular form. Here also may 
still be seen the Druidical circle of stones on a part of the moor 
called Wet Withins; and on what is called Smith’s Piece, an 
enormous mass of gritstone, containing a rock-basin bearing 
evident marks of human agency. The lead mines here have been 
worked from a very early period, and traces of Roman occupation 
have frequently come to light. Besides the Saxon cross now in 
the churchyard, another once stood on Eyam Edge, and one at 
Cross-low, both of which have been destroyed. 
“‘ Apart from the local history of the place, Eyam is, however, of 
little importance ; but suffering has sanctified its claim to notice, 
and it is to the fearful visitation of the plague in 1666 that it owes 
its fame. 
‘ And many are the pilgrim feet which tread 
Its rocky steeps; which thither yearly go ; 
Yet, less by love of Nature’s wonders led, 
Than by the memory of a mighty woe, 
Which smote, like blasting thunder, long ago, 
The peopled hills.’ 
“ According to tradition, a box containing some cloth or clothes 
was sent from London in September, 1665, during the great plague 
there, to a tailor at Eyam. On opening the box, the clothes were 
found to be damp ; a servant was ordered to dry them at the fire, 
and in so doing was seized with the plague and died ; as did the 
rest of the household, excepting the wife. Hence the infection 
spread rapidly and with unprecedented violence, almost depopulat- 
ing the entire village. You will see the house where the tailor 
lived still standing close by the west end of the churchyard. 
“The desolation of Eyam is marked by peculiar circumstances 
—it was the last time the plague visited this country, and with a 
destructive effect never before recorded. A year previously, about 
one-sixth of the population of London fell victims to the pesti- 
lence ; but at Eyam nearly five-sixths were carried off in the 
