Nearly 30 ‘forgotten’ plague pits are hidden under London – here’s where to find them

Between 1665 and 1666 more than 15% of the city’s population was completely wiped out by the disease

Londoners are walking over mass graves every day, and they probably don’t even know about it.

Between 1665 and 1666 more than 15% of the city’s population was completely wiped out by the disease which left victims with swollen boils, gangrene and bleeding from the mouth .

Living conditions were unsanitary at best, meaning the disease spread like wildfire across the capital, claiming the lives of more then 100,000 people.

So where to put the mounting stack of bodies? All in the same hole of course, and most of these have remained untouched ever since.

Most sites were originally in church graveyards, but mourners were soon running out of places to bury the deceased.

Pits were hastily constructed across London, and many are being unearthed today.

One is though to lie beneath the playing fields of Westminster School, while another is buried beneath a Soho leisure centre, HistoricUK found.

One was even discovered as the Elizabeth Line was installed in 2022, with excavationists finding 40 skeletons beneath Liverpool Street Station as the new tunnels were dug.

There is also a rumour the Piccadilly line swerves round one of these mass graves as engineers feared disturbing the resting place of the victims.

There are at least 29 plague pits buried in the city, with many more ‘unconfirmed’ ones also reported (Picture: Metro Graphics)

A close-up view of a burial trench from the excavation of the Black Death cemetery, East Smithfield, London (Picture: MOLA/Getty Images)

In 2013, a plague pit thought to be the biggest ever discovered was found in Charterhouse Square, Farringdon.

In the 1860s, workers constructing Aldgate Station came across a mass grave 40 ft in length, with 1,000 bodies inside.

There are at least 29 plague pits buried in the city, with many more ‘unconfirmed’ ones also reported.

Historians are now on a mission to plot all the points of the burial sites, which are scattered across London is seemingly random places.

Deborah Johnson, who is working on the project, told Huffington Post UK: ‘We have had lots of interaction from people regarding other possible plague pit sites in London, allowing us to update our information accordingly.

‘We aim to produce the most accurate and comprehensive map of London’s plague pits!’

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