#crossbones graveyard

In conversation with a woman at the magick conference, she mentioned a bone hill in Southwark that was mostly full of prostitutes which she thought I might like to visit, and from that vague description I went online and figured out she was talking about Crossbones.  A notorious graveyard, this was the dumping ground for thousands of the poorest of London’s poor, where the ground was really more a ‘human jam,’ and a complete disease vector for the entire surrounding community.  

In his 1598 Survey of London, the historian John Stow refers to a burial ground for 'single women' - a euphemism for the prostitutes who worked in Bankside's brothels or 'stews'.

Crossbones Graveyard, Borough, London

A burial ground for the cities prostitutes, paupers and other 'unwanted' people denied a proper funeral.

In his 1598 Survey of London, the historian John Stow refers to a burial ground for 'single women' - a euphemism for the prostitutes who worked in Bankside's brothels or 'stews'.  Stow writes:

'I have heard of ancient men, of good credit, report that these single women were forbidden the rites of the church, so long as they continued that sinful life, and were excluded from Christian burial, if they were not reconciled before their death. And therefore there was a plot of ground called the Single Woman's churchyard, appointed for them far from the parish church.'

From the 12th to the 17th century, the Bishop of Winchester was effectively the Lord of a semi-autonomous manor, the Liberty of the Clink, in Southwark. His London residence, Winchester Palace, stood between the church, now Southwark Cathedral, and the Clink Prison.

Many activities that were forbidden within the City walls were permitted and regulated within the Liberty. By Shakespeare's time, this stretch of the Bankside was firmly established as London's pleasure quarter, with theatres, bear-pits, taverns and brothels -  the 'stews', licensed by the Bishop under Ordinances dating from 1161 and signed by Thomas Becket. In life, such women enjoyed a measure of protection from the church; in death, if John Stow is to be believed, they were denied even a Christian burial.

Parish registers of the time do not identify specific burial grounds, but a long-established tradition links this 'Single Women's churchyard' with the Cross Bones site. Such 'beyond the pale' burials would have taken place back in the 16th century, before Cross Bones' recorded use as a parish graveyard. Back then it lay within the Bishop's park-lands, beyond the settlements to the north and east. The Bishop had extensive personal land-holdings in the area and leased properties or areas of park-land to tenants. The lease for the Cross Bones ground passed through many hands before being eventually assigned to the churchwardens of St Saviour's parish in 1665.  The date – the year of the Great Plague – lends some credence to another piece of Cross Bones lore: that it was once a plague pit. 

The stews had been closed by royal proclamation in 1546, although within fifty years they had returned to Shakespeare's Bankside. Such houses were finally closed in the late 1640s, along with the theatres and bear-pits, and Bankside's fortunes went into decline.

By the 19th century, the story of Cross Bones was deeply entrenched in local folk-lore. In 1833, the antiquarian William Taylor wrote: 

'There is an unconsecrated burial ground known as the Cross Bones at the corner of Redcross Street, formerly called the Single Woman's burial ground, which is said to have been used for this purpose…'

By then, Redcross Way was an overcrowded, cholera-infested slum. When Charles Booth was conducting his survey of London poverty, his researcher George Duckworth described it as:

… ...a set of courts and small streets which for number, viciousness, poverty and crowding, is unrivalled in anything I have hitherto seen in London.'

Duckworth walked around The Mint with a policeman who told him: 'Police don't go down here unless they have to, and never singly.' During this period, Cross Bones witnessed many a pauper's burial. It was also the haunt of body-snatchers, seeking specimens for the anatomy classes at nearby Guy's Hospital.

As early as 1831, concerns were being raised about the condition of the graveyard.  Following petitions from a Mrs Gwilt, reports by the Board of Health and, finally, an order from Lord Palmerston, Cross Bones was closed in 1853, on the grounds that it was 'completely overcharged with dead' and that 'further burials' would be 'inconsistent with a due regard for the public health and public decency'. In 1883, it was sold as a building site, prompting Lord Brabazon to write:

'… with a view to save this ground from such desecration, and to retain it as an open space for the use and enjoyment of the people.' (10th November 1883)

The following year the sale was declared null and void, under the Disused Burial Grounds Act (1884).  Subsequent attempts to develop the site were resisted by local people. The land was briefly used as a fair-ground: '… until an action was taken against the showmen for abatement of the nuisance caused by steam organs and noisy music'.

Aside from such minor intrusions, the graveyard was vacant land for the best part of a century. Then, in the 1990s, London Underground built an electricity sub-station for the Jubilee Line Extension. Prior to the work, Museum of London archaeologists conducted a partial excavation, removing some 148 skeletons. By their own estimate, these represented: 'less than 1% of the total number of burials that were made at this site.' 

Some were exhibited at the Museum's 1998 London Bodies exhibition, including:

'…a young woman's syphilitic skull with multiple erosive lesions, from Red Cross Way, Southwark, 18th century'

Subsequent forensic tests revealed that the woman was 4ft 7in tall, aged 16-19, and that the disease was already well advanced.  The 2010 BBC documentary 'Crossbones Girl' reconstructed the quest for the identity of this young woman, most likely a child prostitute. More than 60% of the skeletons found at Cross Bones were those of children.

Hidden in the hustle and bustle of Southwark, London, is a remarkable historic site which has attracted a large amount of attention throughout time.  

You are greeted by a set of large iron gates, covered from left to right, top to bottom in ribbons and trinkets. Many of the ribbons read names and burnt out candles were all around. Hidden in the centre of the gates was a plaque which read ‘Crossbones Graveyard’.

  This burial ground is made up of mainly prostitutes and more than 60% of the skeletons here are said to be those of children. Those that were denied a Christian burial would end up here and it is said to have become a pit for many of the deaths caused by the Great Plague.

Crossbones was well known by the 19th century and became a regular spot for body-snatchers who were seeking test subjects for anatomy classes in Guy’s Hospital. In 1853 the site was closed down due to being ‘overcharged with dead’ and in 1883 an attempted sale was made void under the Disused Burial Grounds Act. In the 90’s, roughly 148 skeletons were removed due to London Underground development, and this was said to be less than 1% of the bodies buried here.

When I arrived I was overwhelmed by the offerings and the tranquillity. Feelings of sadness hit me however, then realisation hit; hundreds, perhaps thousands of people from all over the world have visited and paid their respects to the dead, this restored my faith humanity. It proved that human beings in this materialistic world are still compassionate thankfully!

A beautiful sight in a world of chaos; Crossbones made me momentarily forget about the built up surroundings of London and see the real beauty within.

In the present day, the gates are locked; however there are ceremonies held at Crossbones 

Graveyard on Halloween and the 23rd of each month where people will leave offerings to pay their respects to the ‘Outcast Dead’. Friends of Crossbones are hoping that the site will be opened up to the general public as a community garden and progress has already been made when rubbish was cleared and wild garden seeds were sown on the 23rd of April 2007. It is said that the wild garden is tended to by an ‘invisible gardener’.

My first post is up on my blog, I would really appreciate if people would have a look and opinions/constructive criticism is welcomed.