Plague, Flood and Gewgaws: Wisbech and the Fens in Tudor and Stuart Times

It must truly have been a night to remember, when the ancient tower of St Peter''s came crashing down.

But that was just the beginning of all that would befall the people of Wisbech and the Fens in the Tudor and Stuart eras. They were about to enter a time of such upheaval that the way they behaved, prayed, even the way in which they were expected to think, would be turned upside down.

''Plague, Flood and Gewgaws'' follows the progress of Wisbech and the Fens through two hundred turbulent years, witnessing the perils of religious Reform, flood, plague, fire and civil war.

And it is the ordinary people who take centre stage here. Not the kings, bishops or burgesses, but the folk who laboured, fought and rebelled; the cottagers, ploughmen, dykers ... and the Fen Tigers themselves.