Nasty diseases and infections have periodically affected village residents for centuries, causing suffering and death.
The first recorded serious outbreak of plague occurred in 1348 when bubonic plague known as the ‘Black Death’ broke out and became a pandemic in which 20 million people in Europe died. Approximately 4 million people died in Britain but records of death rates in Upchurch do not appear to exist, so the extent of the plague and the numbers of deaths in the village cannot be given. At least Upchurch survived as a village while some other Kent villages such as Dode near Luddesdown and Midley and Eastbridge on Romney Marsh completely disappeared after the populations had been wiped out by the plague. Other villages were burnt to the ground to prevent the infections from spreading.
People, farm animals and chickens caught the plague, people infected were dead within ten days and suffered from headaches, weakness, swellings, cramp and sometimes gangrene. Treatments such as blood-letting or boil-lancing proved useless, so without adequate cures lots of people turned to religion. In Kent, they flocked to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury to pray for protection. People regarded the plague as God’s punishment for man’s sins.
The next serious plague occurred in 1665 with the outbreak of the Great Plague. Parish records show that 6 Upchurch residents died of plague in 1665 while 14 died in 1666. Some of these included Elizabeth Foreman, John Lille, Richard Barnett, Thomas and Richard Emerson.
The overseers of Upchurch would have followed the guidelines of the time. These included keeping domestic and farm animals off the streets, preventing gatherings of more than 38 people with the exception of prayer meetings, those infected were quarantined in their homes for 40 days and a red cross painted on the front door of infected houses to warn others.
People infected with the plague displayed visible symptoms such as armpit swellings, skin blotches and sneezing. People carried posies in their pocket to ward off the plague but little else was available to cure those infected. The dead were buried in a mass grave in a separate part of the churchyard and were covered in lime.
During the plague, Stangate Creek became a base for ships to moor while the crews quarantined. This was done because people believed that the plague had entered the country from abroad.
Outbreaks of plague broke out in other years that also proved fatal. In 1634 there were 24 deaths from plague recorded in Upchurch. In 1638 59 residents died and in 1688 27 died. The outbreak was described at the time as ‘a malignant fever that hit Kent and Essex.’
The most long term ailment to affect Upchurch was a form of marsh malaria known as ague, carried by mosquitoes that affected low lying areas of Southern England. Residents of Upchurch, Lower Halstow and Lower Rainham suffered.
Bouts of ague affected residents in Upchurch from the 16th to the 20th century and it thrived in marshy areas, particularly in shallow pools of stagnant water. People affected had symptoms such as fever, sweating and shivering.
Edward Hasted wrote about the effects of ague on victims in his 1789 ‘Topographical Survey of the County of Kent,’
The severe agues which the inhabitants are very rarely without, whose complexions become of a dingy yellow and if they survive, are generally afflicted with this till summer, and again for several years, so it is not unusual to see a poor man, his wife and whole family of five or six children hovering around a fire in their hovel, shaking with ague all at the same time.
A cure for ague did not appear until the late 19th century when quinine was used to cure the problem. Although medicines were already in use these were generally inadequate. Reverend John Woodruff provided medicine for ague and distributed it to residents affected. According to the 1856 Upchurch alms book, Reverend Woodruff distributed bottles of ague medicine to Sarah Boakes, Mr Seager, John Boakes and his family and to Mrs Smith’s children. He also gave 53 bottles of ague medicine to villagers in 1857.
Reverend John Woodruff, a section of an old map showing Stangate Creek and
Keycol Hill Hospital and Sanatorium Shelters.
Click image to enlage.
Six Upchurch children were admitted to Keycol Hospital with smallpox in 1893. An outbreak of diphtheria occurred at Ham Green in 1894 and during the same period, an outbreak of typhoid occurred because of infected drinking water in wells. The construction of a new waterworks at Yelsted virtually ended the problem of typhoid in Upchurch in 1898.
Holywell School had to close periodically and classrooms disinfected after pupils were sent home suffering from measles or scarlet fever. According to the Holywell daily record book the school had to close for about a week in January 1896 due to an outbreak of measles and the problem periodically reoccurred well into the 20th century.
Life threatening disease was less prevalent due to advances in medicine during the 20th century, so only outbreaks of flu, measles and scarlet fever were periodically recorded, usually amongst pupils at the Infant’s School or at Holywell. However, a few residents died of influenza during the national epidemic of 1918, but Upchurch escaped lightly compared to neighbouring villages such as Rainham where much higher death rates and infections were recorded.
A very serious epidemic known as Coronavirus broke out nationwide in 2020. This quickly affected the whole country and a national lockdown took place with hand washing, social distancing, shut downs and self isolation. After two lockdowns a vaccination programme was introduced and this reduced the death and infection rates. In Upchurch numerous residents caught Coronavirus and some died. The lockdown was eased in April 2021 with further easing in May mainly as a result of an efficient large scale vaccination programme.
Even with advances in medicine, the recent pandemic demonstrated that we are not immune from the effects of nasty ailments that periodically appear.
David Wood
About David
David Wood was born, raised and still lives in Upchurch today. He is able to write from personal experience about village life and the changes that have taken place over the years, making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable and detailed historical study of the village.
David's book is available from David at david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + postage and packing.
