Plague pits...

[markfromnz]

Hi, I'm doing a report for my professional developement course at university, and I'm just wondering if anyone can give me any information about the plague pits and how they were found/avoided while building the london underground. Any links to other websites on this topic would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mark

[jennymac]

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/plague/experts.html

 

You could try the London Transport Museum - they may have more information. Their email is:


[email protected]

[admarlow]

i read a book about it called underground london, I bought it at books etc...

[luckystrike]

Check out this website for the history of the London Underground.

Hope it helps!

[carolegif]

The most famous plague pit is Bunhill Fields EC1 (Bonehill originally) which is between City Road and Bunhill Row.  This place was originally outside of the City walls and considered a safe distance to bury plague victims.

CDG

[Octavius]

Historians and archaeologists used to do good business verifying the presence of pits whenever new building developments took place. So it would now be possible to map with some accuracy the location of most of the larger burial pits. The pits can be traced in the parish churchwarden's accounts, where payment for digging was recorded. It's then a question of consulting the various 17th-century maps and identifying the location. Some books on London burial sites were published in the late 19th-century.  With this information the lines were sometimes diverted or simply went straight through the pits.

If a pit was found to be filled with victims of the bubonic plague the bacteria would have died hundreds of years ago anyway.

[admarlow]

in the book i read it said the bacteria doesnt die so they need to be careful when digging , have health checks from the home office and wear protective clothing

[Octavius]

According to English Heritage, when excavating or working with any ancient human remains (older than 100 years) normal hygiene should be observed (e.g. washing hands etc).  If the area is dusty the then it is sensible to wear a filter mask, where soft tissue is preserved, gloves should be worn.

In English conditions, preserved pathogens are extremely unlikely to survive in viable form for as long as a century.  There are minor concerns about anthrax and smallpox; but the risk has almost certainly been over-estimated.  Whilst the spores could possibly survive, they have low infectivity, risks associated with excavation generally are similar to those we would expect when gardening - from the soil itself - such as tetanus or leptospirosis, and maybe fungal spores.     

[jno]

plague pits weren't very deep - that was the whole point, they had to be dug in a huge hurry as people died faster than diggers could prepare individual graves. Most underground lines run well below them - only the Circle and District lines are close to the surface. I'd be surprised if they had any problems with pits, though I can't say for certain.