Black Death

Page 2 of 10

• 1. The Plague
• 2. The Arrival
• 3. The plague spreads
• 4. Plague reaches London
• 5. London death toll
• 6. Spread of the Plague: Durham and Scotland
• 7. The Plague spreads: Wales
• 8. The spread of the Plague: Ireland
• 9. Plague recurrences
• 10. How the plague spread around the British Isles
• Print entire article

The Arrival

'In this year, 1348, in Melcombe in the county of Dorset, a little before the feast of St John the Baptist, two ships, one of them from Bristol, came alongside. One of the sailors had brought with him from Gascony the seeds of the terrible pestilence, and through him the men of that town of Melcombe were the first in England to be infected.' - Grey Friar's Chronicle, Lynn

'Then the dreadful pestilence made its way along the coast by Southampton and reached Bristol, where almost the whole strength of the town perished, as it was surprised by sudden death; for few kept their beds more than two or three days, or even half a day.' - Henry Knighton, Chronicon

The Black Death entered south-western England in Summer 1348 and by all accounts struck Bristol with shocking force. Rumours of a terrible plague sweeping like wildfire across Europe had been rumbling for some time, and it is not surprising that the vibrant trading port of Bristol was the first major town in Britain to be affected, for it had close connections with the continent. Bristol was the second largest city in Britain and was the principal port of entry for the West Country. Within it lived upwards of 10,000 souls, tightly packed together in conditions that were not altogether sanitary.

'Filth running in open ditches in the streets, fly-blown meat and stinking fish, contaminated and adulterated ale, polluted well water, unspeakable privies, epidemic disease, - were experienced indiscriminately by all social classes.' (Holt and Rosser, The English Medieval Town, (1990))

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Published: 2001-01-01