The London Burial Grounds: Notes on Their History from the Earliest Times to the Present DayHolmes, Isabella M.
History
The London Burial Grounds: Notes on Their History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day
Holmes, Isabella M.
Cemeteries -- England -- London -- History
I have given a list of the principal convents and priories outside the
city. The site of St. Katharine’s is buried in the Dock, and that of St.
John the Baptist’s, Holywell (by Curtain Road, Shoreditch), has also
gone. The churchyards of St. Mary, Bromley, and St. Saviour, Southwark,
are the survivals of the conventual burying-places; the cemetery of the
nuns at Bromley was on the south side of the church, and upon its site
Sir John Jacob built the Manor House, the bones being put under the
house. But about two hundred years later (1813) the greater part of this
site was again added to the churchyard, and re-consecrated. The
burial-ground of Westminster Convent, with the Abbot’s garden, have
given place to the district and market of Covent Garden. The houses in
White Lion Street and Spital Square are on the site of the cemetery or
garth of St. Mary Spital. Here, after it ceased to be used for
interments and before it was built upon, Spital Square was an open plot
of ground with a pulpit in it and a house for the accommodation of the
Lord Mayor and Corporation when they came on their annual visit to hear
the “Spital Sermon.” Of the priory church of the Knights Hospitallers of
St. John of Jerusalem, in Clerkenwell, very few traces remain. The
beautiful old crypt, lately cleared of coffins and restored, is older
than the priory church (which was built over it), and dates from 1080 or
1090. The truly magnificent church was consecrated in 1185, the present
structure occupying merely the site of the choir, the nave having
probably extended the length of St. John’s Square, and, together with
the other buildings of the priory, it was pulled down at the
Dissolution. The exact site of the cloisters and burial-ground is
unknown. The present churchyard of St. John’s is a small, narrow one at
the eastern end, from which steps lead down into the ancient crypt.
Here, between the years 1738 and 1853, about 325 bodies were buried, or
rather the coffins were stacked, for they were above the floor. In 1893
a faculty was procured for their removal, and all the remains were
reverently conveyed to Woking, a vellum document recording the fact
being placed in the vestry of the church. The crypt is open to the
public on the first Saturday in each month. Its complete restoration is
still in hand. I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. H. W. Fincham for
the picture of St. John’s Crypt, and also for that of the garden in
Benjamin Street, E.C.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account