Willen People

Population Records
The graph shows how the number of people living in Willen has varied since around 1400 AD. There are many gaps in the record, but it seems that Willen has always had a population size below 100. There was a big drop in numbers during the medieval/ tudor period. We don't know the reason for this, it might have been linked to the Black Death in 1348, although there is a story that Willen escaped this epidemic. However, there were plenty of other epidemics that could cause a rapid drop in numbers: cholera, typhoid, smallpox for example.
The population remained roughly stable throughout the Busby years, but declined after World War II, mainly because few new people moved in, so the villagers eventually got old and died. In the last 20 years there has been a big increase in the population because new people have moved in and many children have been born. Eleven have been born in the last 11 years.