Local legend has it that Dead Lane was named after the burial plot that was situated in that area for the victims of the 16th Century plagues. As suggested earlier, the name Le Dede Lane has, in fact, been traced to the reign of Edward II. Perhaps it refers to a burial spot for victims of the 12th Century Black Death? Notwithstanding, there are one or two clues as to why contemporary opinion has dated it much later. First, when the foundations of the Shakespeare Street school were being dug in the early 19th Century, old skeletons were discovered. However, records indicate that on, or near this site, was the 14th Century burial site for the nearby hospital of St John. ³¹ Second, 16th Century law required that the corpses of the victims of the plague be carried to their burial place, by a route other than a busy thoroughfare. To get to the Churchyard, or other Northern burial spot, the eponymously named 'Dead Lane' was ideally situated.

I concur with Slack's conclusion, that the Plague, in the years covered, had became a reminder of the transience of all aspects of life. It destroyed life, wealth and many towns throughout England, and in common with other disasters, like famine or war it undermined any assurance we might normally find in family, friends, business and property, or even in government and nation. At the heart of the conflict between disease and society lay the sufferings and struggles of ordinary men, women and children. The student of history may trace and analyse the available data, evidence and statistics, but can only guess at the unrecorded private feelings of the inarticulate victims.

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