Houghton on the Hill

A lost village, that was mentioned in the Domesday Book, but largely decimated by the Black Death in 1348/9. In 1603 it had 15 residents, grew to 41 by 1845 and dwindled later. The last wedding was in 1925 and the church of St Mary the Virgin fell in to ruin and the hands of Satanists in the 1990s. Local folk ejected them and one Bob Davey set about restoring the church and uncovered ancient murals.

And some folklore - the Black Death caused rash (the ring of roses), enlarged lymph nodes - groin area (a pocket full of posies), pneumonia (a-tishoo a-tishoo) culminating in death (we all fall down). But controversy surrounds this interpretation of the nursery rhyme. . . .