The Great Plague
Hepworth was unfortunately affected by the Great Plague in 1665, believed to have reached here from London in a parcel of clothing sent to a farmstead known as “Middle Foster”. It is said that a servant girl at the farm couldn’t resist opening the package and trying on one of the dresses intended for her mistress, in so doing releasing infected fleas from the parcel. She became the first plague victim, but 12 others also died.
In an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease, a barricade was erected at Barrack’s Fold, which still exists today, to cut off the infected part of the village, and it is believed that an ‘isolation hospital’ of sorts was set up near Far Field Head. The barrier meant, however, that the dead could not be buried in the churchyard, which was outside the infected zone, and so they were buried instead in ground near Far Lane, the site today of Hepworth United Sports Club’s playing fields.
The burial ground was improved by the provision of walling and seating in 2004. Thirteen trees were planted nearby, long ago, in remembrance of the victims and still stand today, although two had to be replaced in 2004. Hepworth is believed to be the most northerly village reached by the Great Plaque, and the village’s recovery from the disease is commemorated on the last Monday in June each year with the Hepworth Feast.