" I wonder if villagers who perished during those dark times were buried nearby...? "
I think probably they were buried close by, OAT. I read a really interesting summary on the Black Death times by a local Historian in the Museum in my local town. It seems that in rural areas it only needed a few villagers to die before a general abandonment of the village took place. Burials were local and quick and then everybody moved out. In comparison, very recently during excavations for a new Underground (Subway) rail line in London large 'Plague pits' have been found. Medieval Londoners had nowhere to escape to and the tens of thousands that died were simply tipped in and buried on the spot. I'm not aware of any really rural Plague pits being discovered.
I was meaning to ask you and other folk of the Forum from across Atlantic, do the local infants still sing the old Plague Nursery Rhyme Ring o' Roses? The essay by the Historian explained the Plague symptoms, a bright red circular flower like skin rash, 'flu like symptoms, lots of sneezing etc: then collapse and death.
People carried magic charms to protect themselves, dried herbs and flowers in small bags or 'Posies' in their pockets to ward off the illness.
Ring o' ring o' Roses,
A pocket full of Posies,
Attishoo, attishoo,
We all fall down....
The British nippers still sing it.. I couldn't help thinking of it when I wandered through those old ruins of the village the other day..