Crossrail developers unearth plague pit full of skeletons

Recent development on London's Crossrail project at Charterhouse Square has unexpectedly unearthed bodies from the Black Death that date back to the Middle Ages.

While a significant plague burial ground was previously known to be somewhere outside the City of London its exact location remained unknown until now. So far thirteen bodies have been found in the 5.5m-wide shaft.

Crossrail Charterhouse development Black Death burial find (Image: Crossrail)

"We've found archaeology from pretty much all periods - from the very ancient prehistoric right up to a 20th-Century industrial site, but this site is probably the most important medieval site we've got," said Jay Carver, project archaeologist for Crossrail.

Archaeologists working for Crossrail and the Museum of London are continuing the excavation to unearth yet more remains on the site. This discovery adds to an already impressive range of remains found during the Crossrail development. These include:

• skeletons near Liverpool Street
• a Bronze-Age transport route
• the largest piece of amber ever found in the UK

FIND works in partnership with Crossrail's archaeology and heritage consultant Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) to produce HeritageRisk reports for vital early heritage site assessment. These  provide site assessment of likely built heritage and archaeological issues for development sites. They are suitable for development feasibility studies, negotiations, due diligence, budget forecasts, acquisition decisions and project planning.

Find out more : HeritageRisk.co.uk
View the Crossrail Charterhouse site on sketchmap.co.uk