Excavations at the Quaker Burial Ground, Kingston-upon-Thames, London

Abstract

Excavations in a Quaker burial ground at Kingston-upon-Thames uncovered the remains of 360 individuals buried between 1664 and 1814. Historical records combined with the evidence from the excavations have provided an insight into burial rites and undertaking practices of an early Nonconformist community. The archaeological evidence suggests that the simplicity and plainness of Quaker lifestyle were to a large extent reflected in burial. A detailed osteological analysis indicated a healthy, thriving community.importance was recognized at the outset by English Heritage's Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service (GLAAS), who monitored the progress of the excavation.The relatively unknown practices of early Nonconformist communities, as well as the sensitive nature of post-medieval cemeteries, required that this excavation should have a focus. The lessons learned at the excavations of contemporary vaults at, for example, Spitalfields, London, 3 at Bathford, Bath, in north-east Somerset, 4 and at St Augustine the Less, Bristol, 5 enabled the research aims of the project to be defined from the outset, 6 which were to gain an understanding of $ the demographic structure of the cemetery population $ its skeletal pathology $ the burial rite and undertaking practices $ the topographic structure and development of the cemetery $ the nature of the pre-cemetery activity on the site.The achievement of these aims also required detailed historical and osteological research to

The archaeology of post-medieval death and burial

“…9 Another key milestone was reached with the excavations at Kingston upon Thames, which provided the first opportunity to investigate a substantial area within a non-conformist (Quaker) burial ground. 10 Since then, there has been an increase in multidisciplinary studies, but there is still a need for a widespread, holistic approach, and a disconnect remains between genealogical and archaeological studies.…”

“…24 Breastplates and biographical information marked out in iron studs were seen at Kingston upon Thames, together with upholstered and lead coffins, though most burials were anonymous. 25 Whilst our views were once coloured by the general austerity of the medieval grave, we now appreciate that the post-medieval dead were buried with a huge variety of grave goods and floral tributes -the result of formalized tropes of mourning or individual expressions of loss: laurel and ash leaves from a wreath were found at St Paul's, Sheffield.…”

“…32 There is also an increasing number of formal burials found Chapel, buttons, evidence for underwear, and a belt fitting were found. 30 We now understand much better the enormous variability of non-conformist burial practices' …”

“…19 Nor can we assume that burial was a static process: grave stacks do not always conform to a strict chronological pattern, 20 whilst John Barnard was moved to a vault at Kingston upon Thames some 32 years after his death. 21 The incomplete gravestone inscription might result from just such an occasion -a burial planned in one location taking place elsewhere.…”

“…At Kingston upon Thames, express instructions were given that new graves were not to disturb old ones without permission, but the reality was a high degree of intercutting. 35 An empty grave, backfilled with rubble, found in the earliest phases at Littlemore Baptist Chapel suggests that exhumation took place during the cemetery's lifetime, 36 and 28 empty graves at Kingston upon Thames indicate either that it was relatively commonplace or that the 'resurrection men' had been at work. 37 A mortsafe discovered in Sandwell, West Bromwich, was wrapped around the coffin of a young woman who had been suffering from a metastatic cancer, and it was proposed to have contributed to the desire to ensure that she was kept safe from disturbance by interested anatomists.…”