Charterhouse Cemetery, 14th Century
Item
Description
This drawing of Charterhouse Cemetery by Faith Vardy depicts the cemetery as it may have appeared in the 14th century during the Black Death plague that swept through London in 1348. In the background of the scene, the church of St. Bartholomew's Priory is visible, as is the spire of medieval St. Paul's. The graveyard was uncovered during digging for the City of London’s ambitious Crossrail railway project in 2013. Prior to this discovery, there was some speculation that an undiscovered plague burial site was located somewhere around Charterhouse. Eleven skeletons were recovered at the phase I site of the cemetery, including the bodies of nine adults, one adolescent, and one child. Each of the bodies were laid in rows with their heads facing south-west. Between each grave was enough room for a person to walk, indicating a level of care on the part of the gravediggers. The site is one of several cemeteries dating from the medieval period to the 1700s that were discovered during excavations for the Crossrail.
The Charterhouse itself was a Carthusian Monastery established outside the walls of the City of London in 1371. Some records indicate that the location of the monastery may have been chosen because of the proximity to the plague burial site. The accumulation of land for the monastery occurred piece by piece, over the course of several decades and the last buildings were only completed in 1450. At its founding, there was anxiety among the lay people regarding access to the cemetery that had been created during the plague in 1348. However, the monastery allowed the funerals of lay people to occur in the church and for the laity to visit the cemetery located on the grounds. Unusually, the Charterhouse monks each had their own living quarters; they also gained a reputation for their spiritual and intellectual activities, though like other monastic houses they were dissolved on the eve of the English Reformation in 1538.
The Charterhouse itself was a Carthusian Monastery established outside the walls of the City of London in 1371. Some records indicate that the location of the monastery may have been chosen because of the proximity to the plague burial site. The accumulation of land for the monastery occurred piece by piece, over the course of several decades and the last buildings were only completed in 1450. At its founding, there was anxiety among the lay people regarding access to the cemetery that had been created during the plague in 1348. However, the monastery allowed the funerals of lay people to occur in the church and for the laity to visit the cemetery located on the grounds. Unusually, the Charterhouse monks each had their own living quarters; they also gained a reputation for their spiritual and intellectual activities, though like other monastic houses they were dissolved on the eve of the English Reformation in 1538.
Title
Charterhouse Cemetery, 14th Century
Creator
Vardy, Faith
Date
c. 2016
Medium
Watercolor
Original Publication
Pfizenmaier, Sam. Charterhouse Square: Black Death cemetery and Carthusian monastery, meat market and suburb. London: MOLA, 2016.
Source
Lawson, Tom. "14th Century Cemetery- Phase 1." Archaeology. Crossrail. Crossrail Ltd. 2017.
Location
Charterhouse
West Smithfield
St Bartholomew's priory
Period
14th Century
Image Category
Archaeological Illustration
Image Publisher
Crossrail Ltd
Image Right Holder
MOLA
Subject
Friaries and monasteries
eng
People
eng
Church
Bibliographic Citation
Eleftheriou, Krista. “14th Century Burial Ground Discovered in Central London.” Crossrail. 2013.
O’ Brien, Joe. “Charterhouse.” Medieval London. 2016.
Thornbury, Walter. "The Charterhouse," in Old and New London: Volume 2, (London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878), 380-404. British History Online.
Cataloguer
Lewis, Clare
Type
Drawing
