Riley Graves, Riley Lane, Eyam, Derbyshire

These six gravestones and tomb, enclosed by a stone wall, are actually the graves of the whole Hancock family. They all died of plague in Eyam and were buried here in Riley's Field. The inscriptions read;'ALICE HANCOCKE BUR AUG 9th 1666', 'ANN HANCOCKE, BUR AUG 10th 1666', 'WILLIAM HANCOCKE BUR AUG 17th 1666', 'JOHN HANCOCKE JUN BUR AUG 3rd 1666', 'ELIZABETH HANCOCKE BUR AUG 3rd 1666' and 'ONER HANCOCKE BUR AUG 7th 1666. The plague came into Eyam in a parcel of material which contained fleas that were carrying the disease. The villagers decided to cut themselves off from the rest of the country so they would not spread the disease further.

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