Passengers from a plague-ridden ship being brought ashore to a Quarantine Station, St Helen's, Isles of Scilly
Reconstruction drawing showing passengers from a plague-ridden ship being brought ashore near the 'Pest House', as it may have looked in the late-eighteenth century. The 'Pest House' was built as a Quarantine Station in 1764. Any plague-ridden ship to the north of Cape Finisterre and heading for England was required to anchor there. It played a national role in safeguarding the country from ship-borne infectious diseases arriving via the Western Approaches. St Helen’s was chosen as it was uninhabited. The facility remained open in 1850, but was officially closed under the Public Health Act, 1896.
