Tag: plague burials

The lost burying-ground of London’s Quakers
17th Century · 18th Century · 20th Century · Islington

The lost burying-ground of London’s Quakers

Caroline15 Comments

Bunhill Fields, just to the north of the City of London, is one of the capital’s most famous burial grounds and particularly noted as the final resting place of many of London’s nonconformist Christians.  Close to Bunhill Fields is another green space, its history as a burial ground much less conspicuous than that of its famous neighbour.  But like Bunhill Fields, Quaker Gardens has a long history of burial and religious dissent.  I visited Quaker Gardens on a sunny winter afternoon in early 2020 to see what remained of this historic site.

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A plague pit by the Thames: All Saints, Isleworth
17th Century · Isleworth

A plague pit by the Thames: All Saints, Isleworth

Caroline19 Comments

London’s many plague pits have a certain dark allure – they’re mysterious because so many of them lie unmarked, hidden and forgotten under the city’s streets, buildings and parks.  We’ve seen pictures of archaeologists excavating long-lost mass graves uncovered on building sites, with huge jumbles of bones emerging from the soil and centuries-old eye sockets peering out at us.  We’ve heard dark tales of homes built over old plague pits, haunted by restless spirits.  But upstream of the old city, in a quiet suburb by the Thames, a plague pit lies in plain sight – marked by a yew tree and a little memorial.  This is the plague pit at All Saints church, Isleworth, where local plague victims were laid to rest in a mass grave in 1665.

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Behind the high walls of London’s Charterhouse
16th Century · 20th Century · Clerkenwell

Behind the high walls of London’s Charterhouse

Caroline19 Comments

Hidden behind high walls, the Charterhouse in Clerkenwell exudes an air of mystery – at least to those who, like me, spend their lunchbreaks wandering around the interesting old places close to their place of work.  The Charterhouse is only open to the public for pre-booked guided tours, but a few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Charterhouse to attend a wonderful lecture about the history of the site by the Charterhouse’s head archivist, Dr Stephen Porter.

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The view from Charterhouse Square

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