Ruins and Romans, Fonts and Furrows. Anything Old in Lancashire

[Greensleeves]

I see there was an outbreak of plague in Bolton in 1623.

[Greensleeves]

There were also prolongued outbreaks of bubonic plague in Chester 1603-1605, the first phase resulting in the deathos of 933 people, and in the second 1041 died.  I know this is a fair distance from the focus area, but people did travel far more than we give them credit for, and if it was known that the pestillence was down south, it might have been that certain preventative measures were adopted.

There is an incidence in a small village in Suffolk where a 'stranger' arrived and was taken in by a family.  Within a few days the parish records record his burial as ' a stranger died of ye plague'.  Within about ten days, the family with whom he lodged were all dead too.  So you can imagine why small villages might want to be a bit cautious when dealing with strangers, particularly when rumours of plague abounded.

[Maggie.]

In Pendle the few inhabitants, copyhold tennants with an absentee landlord, lived in a scattering of disjointed hamlets that only changed slowly over the centuries.  In Lancashire in general the Sites & Monuments Record lists entries for 42 deserted or shrunken medieval villages.  Some villages did thrive under the watchful eye of their lord, some remained dormant and others were abandoned and we can only recognise them today in a few earth banks and ditches. 

The Forest of Bowland, of which Pendle Forest is part, was part of the Clitheroe estates and prior to that it was part of the lands of the deans of Whalley.  There is a 13th century  record showing villages within Pendle Forest listing some of which there is now no trace.  This is likely that these lost villages were abandoned following outbreaks of disease and famine whilst others were de-populated by the abbeys or following the later land enclosures.

Although an area of islolated villages and sparse population, ancient trading routes north-south and east-west pass through the Forest and as such there would be passing contact with the wider world, therefore plague would be an issue.  I would imagine that there would be few places that escaped its effects entirely.

[Wiggy]

Query from far away - what are 'Deans' - a type of vegetation or topography or . . . . .    

[BashLad]

Query from far away - what are 'Deans' - a type of vegetation or topography or . . . . .    

A church official. In this instance connected to Whalley Abbey.

[Wiggy]

  I know about Deans in the church!      

 I hadn't made the connection with a place:  thanks!   

[youngtug]

The plague brought about changes to the social and economic structure that had far reaching consequences  http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/effects/social.php

  http://www.wzaponline.com/BlackDeath.pdf

[youngtug]

There are 2 links in the previous post, if I go back and alter the set up I will lose them so it's easier to say so here

[Greensleeves]

A really interesting book which deals with all aspects of the Black Death in Europe in the 14th century is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Distant_Mirror

As you say YT, the Black Death had a major impact on society at all levels in the 14th century and if I remember correctly, I believe it wiped out about a third of the population of Europe - please feel free to correct me here anyone who knows better - and did lead to abandonment of large numbers of holdings.

The outbreaks of bubonic plague in the sixteenth century were also calamitous, but seem to have had a lesser impact on the global economy.  However, I do believe that bubonic plague and its variations were responsible for many of the deserted or shrunken villages which were abandoned at that time.