Parishioner and pauper burials from St James Westminster (1695–1790), Excavations at Marshall Street, London W1, 2008–9

2022

In the 17th to 18th century the expansion of the population of  the parish of St James Westminster led to the development of two new burial grounds (1695–1733 and 1733–90), along with the new workhouse complex (1725–1913) and the workhouse burial ground (1733–93). From the three burial areas archaeologists recorded 2553 burials. Full osteological analysis of 1786 skeletons revealed the wide range of conditions afflicting the buried population. In the later 19th to 20th century public baths were constructed over part of the site. Together with historical and archaeological evidence, these results and those from comparative contemporary sites help place the lives of the urban poor and destitute within the wider context of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Data Tables 1-16 and full osteology data is available online via the MOLA digital repository at https://doi.org/10.48583/50j1-tq22

MOLA Archaeology Monograph Series 74