Burial site information

A: Merton Priory (1117-1390), Station Road, SW19

Merton Priory, established in 1117, was home to an Augustinian order.

Excavations in the 1970s and 1980s revealed over 700 burials covering the entire period in which the Priory was active. Evidence of both monastic and lay burials was uncovered, reflecting the Augustinian belief in integration with the local community.

B: Chelsea Old Church (1700-1850), 2-4 Old Church Street, Chelsea, SW3

Developments in 2000 resulted in the excavation of almost 300 18th- and 19th-century burials.

View the gallery to find out more about the site and one of its skeletons.

C: St Bride's Lower Cemetery (1770-1849), 75-82 Farringdon Street, EC4

This cemetery was founded due to overcrowding in the churchyard at nearby St Bride's Church, Fleet Street.

Social status was reflected by the proximity of an individual's burial to the church. The Lower Cemetery revealed a population from a low socioeconomic background, probably from nearby Bridewell workhouse and Fleet prison.

D: Roman West (1st-5th century CE), Atlantic House, 46-50 Holborn Viaduct, EC1

Part of this site was uncovered during a recent redevelopment of an office building on Holborn Viaduct.

View the gallery to find out more about the site and one of its skeletons.

E: St Benet Sherehog (1670-1853), No 1 Poultry, EC2

The church and graveyard of St Benet Sherehog was discovered following the demolition of a large Victorian building in 1994. Development of the site was delayed due to extensive excavations, during which several hundred skeletons were recovered.

The church is thought to date from the late 11th century, but the site also revealed Roman remains from as early as the first century CE.

F: Spitalfields (250-400) (1100-1539), Spital Square, 280 Bishopsgate, E1

Excavations for a new office building in the late 1990s led to the discovery of more than 10 000 medieval bones from the site of the old St Mary Spital, one of the largest hospitals in England, founded in 1197.

This site was to yield further discoveries - beneath the medieval burials lay a Roman site, situated on the main road north out of the city.

G: Roman East (1st-5th century), 49-55 Mansell Street, E1

The original Roman burial site could have contained as many as 100 000 dead - reflecting London's status as the most populous city in Roman Britain.

The earliest burial dates from the first century CE, and the cemetery may have remained in use until the fifth century.

Recent excavations of the site revealed 672 inhumations (corpse burials) and 134 cremations - the largest single sample of Roman burials to have been uncovered in London.

H: East Smithfield Black Death (1348-50)
St Mary Graces (1353-1540), Royal Mint, East Smithfield, E1

The site at East Smithfield was the first dedicated Black Death cemetery in London.

After the plague subsided the site was closed, and the Cistercian abbey of St Mary of Grace was built on the East Smithfield ground.

View the gallery to find out more about the site and one of its skeletons.

I: Cross Bones (1598-1853), Redcross Way, SE1

This burial ground served the poor of the parish of St Saviour's in Southwark. Originally established in the 17th century as a cemetery for 'single women' (a euphemism for prostitutes), by 1769 it had become a pauper's graveyard.

Skeletons exhumed from the site in 1992 revealed conditions associated with disadvantaged circumstances, such as rickets and syphilis.

J: Bermondsey Abbey (1066-1540), Abbey Street, Long Walk, Southwark SE1

The Abbey of St Saviour in Bermondsey was founded in 1082. A monastic priory, it was home to a community of Cluniac monks.

Despite the emphasis on fasting and abstinence within religious orders, conditions including arthritis and symptoms of obesity were discovered when skeletons were excavated from the burial ground in the 1980s.