Holy Trinity Churchyard (East Smithfield)
A component of London’s pestilential past, Holy Trinity
Churchyard in East Smithfield was a
graveyard for victims of London’s first great plague. The
churchyard was east of Little Tower Hill, south of
Hog Lane (East Smithfield) and north of St. Katherine’s Hospital. As the number of plague
victims increased, these graveyards ran out of space and Holy Trinity Priory was used to ensure that the dead were buried in
holy ground.
Stow writes that, in 1348, John Corey procured from Holy
Trinity Priory
one Toft of ground neare vnto Eastsmithfield [later enclosed by a stone wall], for the burial of them that died, with condition that it might be called the Church yard of the holy Trinitie(Stow). A year later, the Abbey of St. Mary Graces was founded and built at the site of the graveyard (Harben).
The Churchyard of
Holy Trinity might be one of the enclosed spaces south of the label
Hogge la.on the Agas map.
References
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Citation
Harben, Henry. A Dictionary of London. London: Henry Jenkins, 1918. British History Online. Reprint. Open.This item is cited in the following documents:
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Citation
Stow, John. A Survey of London. Reprinted from the Text of 1603. Ed. Charles Lethbridge Kingsford. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1908. Reprint. British History Online. Subscription. [Kingsford edition, courtesy of The Centre for Metropolitan History. Articles written 2011 or later cite from this searchable transcription. In the in-text parenthetical reference (Stow; BHO), click on BHO to go directly to the page containing the quotation or source.]This item is cited in the following documents:
