Loading Events

« All Events

Talk: Plague Houses and Pandemics

March 6 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

£10.00
Plague House

£10 per person including glass of wine or soft drink

We’re delighted to welcome Alison Wall to give an illustrated talk about the history of the plague, the Pest Houses and the evolution of medicine to the present day, based on her recent book Plague Houses and Pandemics.”  Alison’s extensive research included material in the collection at Amersham Museum.

AlisonAlison’s talk explores the little-known history of the pest house, including local examples in Amersham, Chalfont St’ Giles, Great Missenden, Croxley, Watford and Chipperfield. Although mention is made of pest houses in historical sources, it is often in an incidental fashion, for example Samuel Pepys states “a mayde ran away and was taken back to the pest house by the pest coach.”(diary entry 1665) but he provides no detail of what the Pest House was like and who was accommodated there.

Alison will discuss the history and beliefs of disease, starting with Aristotle and Galen, including the Great Plague of 1665, alongside smallpox and other infections. The evolution from Pest Houses to isolation hospitals will be investigated, as well as fever nurses, specifically trained to deal with infections like diphtheria. Alison will also share where demolished and still standing pest houses are located.

Alison will reflect on the similarities and differences between the Great Plague in 1665 and the Covid epidemic of 2020. She suggests

“A key difference, was the fact that in 1665 they knew not to house those infectious with the plague in the hospitals. They understood the risks of spread and recognised the importance of health protection.”

Alison is a retired nurse, midwife and Health Visitor. She retired in 2015 after working in Camden and Islington as a Public Health Strategist.

 

The talk will be in the Museum’s Woodcock Room which on the first floor, accessed by a platform lift. There is more information about accessibility here: Access Statement – Amersham Museum  Please get in touch with any queries about accessibility, or any requirements that we might need to know about to make your visit as straightforward as possible.

Tickets

The numbers below include tickets for this event already in your cart. Clicking "Get Tickets" will allow you to edit any existing attendee information as well as change ticket quantities.
Plague Houses and Pandemics
£ 10.00

Details

Date:
March 6
Time:
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Cost:
£10.00
Event Categories:
,

Organiser

Amersham Museum

Venue

Amersham Museum
49, High Street
Old Amersham, HP7 0DP
+ Google Map

Plan Your Visit

Opening hours:

The Museum is now closed, we will re-open on Saturday 1 March 2025

49 High Street
Old Amersham
Buckinghamshire
HP7 0DP

01494 723700
[email protected]

 

“Enjoyed our visit to this wonderful interactive museum where you are positively encouraged to touch things!”

“Visited Amersham museum yesterday – lovely place, provides many details on the history of the place. Plenty of cute cafes, pubs and shops around also… not difficult to find free parking nearby. ”

“A well-run, informative and interesting small museum on the main street. It’s mostly volunteer-run and they do a great job in keeping it and making you feel welcome…Check out the herb garden too.”

“Enjoyable film and television location guided walk around Amersham hosted by Amersham Museum – here are the Sun Houses on Highover Park and further up the hill is High & Over.”

Staying In Touch

Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest news & events