The Saddest Cemetery in the World
Cross Bones Graveyard in south London became known as the “single-woman’s” cemetery because of the high concentration of prostitutes, dubbed “single-women” or “Winchester Geese.” Since these women of ill-repute could not be given a Christian burial, Cross Bones became an unofficial dumping ground for them and other poor people living in squalor outside of London.
Closed in 1853, it was estimated that 15,000 people were buried in the cemetery, the majority prostitutes. A modern excavation done in the 1990s revealed that the area was heaped with bodies, some basically piled in mass graves. Even more grisly, the excavation led to the discovery that more than 40% of the graves were fetuses, or babies under the age of 1. Researchers also discovered that bodies in the cemetery had come into contact with a number of diseases including smallpox, tuberculosis and Paget’s disease. VIA ATLAS OBSURA
The graveyard was vacant land for the best part of a century. Then, in the 1990s, London Underground built an electricity sub-station for the Jubilee Line Extension. Prior to the work, Museum of London archaeologists conducted a partial excavation, removing some 148 skeletons. By their own estimate, these represented: ‘less than 1% of the total number of burials that were made at this site.’ One specific skull was found that was diseased with syphilis. Subsequent forensic tests revealed that the woman was 4ft 7in tall, aged 16-19, and that the disease was already well advanced. The 2010 BBC documentary ‘Crossbones Girl’ reconstructed the quest for the identity of this young woman, most likely a child prostitute. More than 60% of the skeletons found at Cross Bones were those of children.
Over the past decade, the iron gates in Redcross Way have been transformed into a people’s shrine, a living communal art-work. People of all faiths and none have left messages and mementoes, testifying to its power as a truly inclusive sacred place, dedicated to a vision of a shared humanity. Since 2004, an informal Friends of Cross Bones group has held a 7pm vigil at the gates in Redcross Way on the 23rd day of each month. People come from all walks of life to ‘remember the outcast’ and to replenish the spontaneous shrine with fresh flowers and other tokens. The Cross Bones shrine is especially relevant to ‘outsiders’, though it speaks to a much wider group of supporters. People of all faiths and none, local residents and international visitors regularly gather for the monthly vigils to participate in a truly inclusive act of respect and remembrance.
The shrine at the gates already attracts over 50,000 visitors a year; it features in many guidebooks, on guided tours and in television coverage of the vigils held by local people.
