Coming soon... A Village Turned Upside Down: Piety and Protest in Eyam before the Plague

Coming soon (Summer 2026): a new virtual exhibition about a petition signed by 69 Eyam villagers in 1660.

On this page you will find some short films about items from the collection that were displayed in 2023-25 for the first time. The exhibition was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

There are more than 5,000 objects in the Eyam Museum collection, but only a small number have ever been on display.

Here we showcase some of our unseen treasures, each one relating to a different part of the history of Eyam.

Some of these items have received special conservation treatment to enable them to be included in the exhibition.

Film 1: About the Carol Book

Film 2: From the carol book 'A Virgin Unspotted The Prophets Foretold'

Film 3: The Mompesson Letter

Bonus material: Nurses, cleansers and buriers: 'key workers' of the Plague

In this film, not part of the special exhibition, but dating from a series of online talks hosted during the pandemic, we talked to Rachel Clamp from the University of Durham about her research into the ‘key workers’ of the plague; who they were, what they did, what they wore and how wider society felt about them. During the pandemic, there was much discussion of ‘key workers’ – those services and industries depended upon by society, especially in times of crisis, but frequently poorly paid and undervalued. In times of plague, there were similar roles which were also not always well-rewarded, and have often been overlooked by historians.

For recordings of our other online talks, go to our Events page.