Aden Webb (Member no: 16)

Eyam

The villagers carved holes in the top of a boulder on top of a nearby hill that designated the edge of the isolation zone

I'm staying in the village of Eyam at the moment, in the peak District and I went to visit a relatively famous stone that's here! During the bubonic plague, Eyam was hit incredibly hard. The story goes that a taylor had bought some cloth from London, on which the plague fleas had hidden. The cloth arrived damp, so he hung it up in front of the fire - this woke up the fleas which subsequently infected him and the rest of the town very quickly, killing whole families very quickly.

In order to protect the surrounding villages, Eyam imposed a self inflicted isolation (which worked!) so the plague would not spread outside the bounds of the village. In order to purchase goods and food, the villagers carved holes in the top of a boulder on top of a nearby hill that designated the edge of the isolation zone. The villagers put coins in these slots and covered them with vinegar to disinfect them so that the neighboring people could collect their payment.