Some addresses in London, it turns out, have more than a few skeletons in their closets.
A new interactive map shows the precise locations of the capital’s plague pits, where victims of the epidemic that killed around 100,000 people in the 17th century were buried en masse.
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city in places such as Shadwell’s St Paul’s Church, Westminster’s Christchurch Gardens and Sainsbury’s supermarket in Whitechapel.
Do you have a plague pit under your street? Map shows where thousands of London's dead were buried during the 1665 Great Plague
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city
Map shows effects of 1665 Great Plague epidemic which killed around 100,000 people in London - around 15 per cent of its population
By Ted Thornhill for MailOnline
3 November 2015
Daily Mail
Some addresses in London, it turns out, have more than a few skeletons in their closets.
A new interactive map shows the precise locations of the capital’s plague pits, where victims of the epidemic that killed around 100,000 people in the 17th century were buried en masse.
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city in places such as Shadwell’s St Paul’s Church, Westminster’s Christchurch Gardens and Sainsbury’s supermarket in Whitechapel.
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city in places such as Shadwell’s St Paul’s Church, Westminster’s Christchurch Gardens and Sainsbury’s Whitechapel
Other pit locations on the map are a bit further out and include All Saints Churchyards in Isleworth, Gypsy Hill and Blackheath.
Historic UK admitted that solid evidence for the existence of plague pits is sometimes hard to find. It used a variety of sources to produce the map, such as Peter Ackroyd’s London: The Biography and Daniel Defoe’s A Journal Of The Plague Year.
The organisation is inviting readers to help improve the map.
It said: 'Over 15 per cent of London's population was wiped out between 1665 and 1666 alone, a total of around 100,000 people in the space of two years. But where did all these bodies go?
'The answer: in tens, if not hundreds of plague pits scattered across the city and the surrounding countryside. The majority of these sites were originally in the grounds of churches, but as the body count grew and the graveyards became overcharged with dead, then dedicated pits were hastily constructed around the fields surrounding London.'
In August a pit of bodies was found beneath London's Liverpool Street station. It’s thought to be the final resting place of at least 30 victims of the Great Plague.
Archaeologists made the gruesome find during the excavation of the Bedlam burial ground at the Crossrail site in the east of the city.
Some of the plague pits are clustered around this Sainsbury's supermarket in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The Great Plague epidemic killed around 100,000 people in London - around 15 per cent of its population. This drawing shows a cart carrying off victims, while another is discovered lying dead
The mass burial is strikingly different to other individual graves at the cemetery and could shed light on the catastrophic epidemic which wiped out a fifth of London’s population.
The 1665 Great Plague is thought to have been caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is typically transmitted though the bite of an infected rat flea.
Some of the victims are thought to be buried in Bedlam cemetery, which is also known as Bethlehem and New Churchyard, because it was opened when others started to overflow.
It’s situated near what was Bethlem Royal Hospital - the first dedicated psychiatric institution in Europe - and was used to bury London’s poor and religious non-conformists as well as inmates from the asylum.
In August a pit of bodies was found beneath London's Liverpool Street station. It’s thought to be the final resting place of at least 30 victims of the Great Plague. Here, archaeologists work on the site
The cemetery is being excavated to allow for the construction of the new Liverpool Street station that will serve the new cross-London rail network, the project’s blog explained.
Jay Carver, Crossrail Lead Archaeologist, said at the time: 'The construction of Crossrail gives us a rare opportunity to study previously inaccessible areas of London and learn about the lives and deaths of 16th and 17th Century Londoners.
'This mass burial, so different to the other individual burials found in the Bedlam cemetery, is very likely a reaction to a catastrophic event.
‘Only closer analysis will tell if this is a plague pit from The Great Plague in 1665 but we hope this gruesome but exciting find will tell us more about one of London's most notorious killers.'
THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON OF 1665
The Great Plague was the last major plague in England.
It began in February 1665 and by July the same year 100,000 people - 15% of London's population - were dead.
In a bid to quarantine germs, victims were shut inside and their houses marked with a red cross, while going to public events such as theatres or football was banned, according to The Museum of London.
An eyewitness wrote in a journal that London was so quiet that grass grew in the streets.
Lots of people were forced to beg or steal food because businesses suffered so much.
There were also reports of people throwing out servants or refusing to let sick family members into their homes, with famous diarist Samuel Pepys writing: 'the plague [is] making us cruel as dogs to one another'.
The Great Fire of London in 1666 is credited with clearing away many of the insanitary houses which harboured the plague and ensuring no mass outbreaks returned - though some historians disagree.
The last reported plague case was in 1679.
"Bring out your dead"
A new interactive map shows the precise locations of the capital’s plague pits, where victims of the epidemic that killed around 100,000 people in the 17th century were buried en masse.
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city in places such as Shadwell’s St Paul’s Church, Westminster’s Christchurch Gardens and Sainsbury’s supermarket in Whitechapel.
Do you have a plague pit under your street? Map shows where thousands of London's dead were buried during the 1665 Great Plague
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city
Map shows effects of 1665 Great Plague epidemic which killed around 100,000 people in London - around 15 per cent of its population
By Ted Thornhill for MailOnline
3 November 2015
Daily Mail
Some addresses in London, it turns out, have more than a few skeletons in their closets.
A new interactive map shows the precise locations of the capital’s plague pits, where victims of the epidemic that killed around 100,000 people in the 17th century were buried en masse.
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city in places such as Shadwell’s St Paul’s Church, Westminster’s Christchurch Gardens and Sainsbury’s supermarket in Whitechapel.
The map, compiled by Historic UK, shows how most of the pits are clustered around the centre of the city in places such as Shadwell’s St Paul’s Church, Westminster’s Christchurch Gardens and Sainsbury’s Whitechapel
Other pit locations on the map are a bit further out and include All Saints Churchyards in Isleworth, Gypsy Hill and Blackheath.
Historic UK admitted that solid evidence for the existence of plague pits is sometimes hard to find. It used a variety of sources to produce the map, such as Peter Ackroyd’s London: The Biography and Daniel Defoe’s A Journal Of The Plague Year.
The organisation is inviting readers to help improve the map.
It said: 'Over 15 per cent of London's population was wiped out between 1665 and 1666 alone, a total of around 100,000 people in the space of two years. But where did all these bodies go?
'The answer: in tens, if not hundreds of plague pits scattered across the city and the surrounding countryside. The majority of these sites were originally in the grounds of churches, but as the body count grew and the graveyards became overcharged with dead, then dedicated pits were hastily constructed around the fields surrounding London.'
In August a pit of bodies was found beneath London's Liverpool Street station. It’s thought to be the final resting place of at least 30 victims of the Great Plague.
Archaeologists made the gruesome find during the excavation of the Bedlam burial ground at the Crossrail site in the east of the city.
Some of the plague pits are clustered around this Sainsbury's supermarket in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The Great Plague epidemic killed around 100,000 people in London - around 15 per cent of its population. This drawing shows a cart carrying off victims, while another is discovered lying dead
The mass burial is strikingly different to other individual graves at the cemetery and could shed light on the catastrophic epidemic which wiped out a fifth of London’s population.
The 1665 Great Plague is thought to have been caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is typically transmitted though the bite of an infected rat flea.
Some of the victims are thought to be buried in Bedlam cemetery, which is also known as Bethlehem and New Churchyard, because it was opened when others started to overflow.
It’s situated near what was Bethlem Royal Hospital - the first dedicated psychiatric institution in Europe - and was used to bury London’s poor and religious non-conformists as well as inmates from the asylum.
In August a pit of bodies was found beneath London's Liverpool Street station. It’s thought to be the final resting place of at least 30 victims of the Great Plague. Here, archaeologists work on the site
The cemetery is being excavated to allow for the construction of the new Liverpool Street station that will serve the new cross-London rail network, the project’s blog explained.
Jay Carver, Crossrail Lead Archaeologist, said at the time: 'The construction of Crossrail gives us a rare opportunity to study previously inaccessible areas of London and learn about the lives and deaths of 16th and 17th Century Londoners.
'This mass burial, so different to the other individual burials found in the Bedlam cemetery, is very likely a reaction to a catastrophic event.
‘Only closer analysis will tell if this is a plague pit from The Great Plague in 1665 but we hope this gruesome but exciting find will tell us more about one of London's most notorious killers.'
THE GREAT PLAGUE OF LONDON OF 1665
The Great Plague was the last major plague in England.
It began in February 1665 and by July the same year 100,000 people - 15% of London's population - were dead.
In a bid to quarantine germs, victims were shut inside and their houses marked with a red cross, while going to public events such as theatres or football was banned, according to The Museum of London.
An eyewitness wrote in a journal that London was so quiet that grass grew in the streets.
Lots of people were forced to beg or steal food because businesses suffered so much.
There were also reports of people throwing out servants or refusing to let sick family members into their homes, with famous diarist Samuel Pepys writing: 'the plague [is] making us cruel as dogs to one another'.
The Great Fire of London in 1666 is credited with clearing away many of the insanitary houses which harboured the plague and ensuring no mass outbreaks returned - though some historians disagree.
The last reported plague case was in 1679.
"Bring out your dead"
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