60. Additional ground for St. John’s, Clerkenwell, in Benjamin Street.—This land, which is nearly ¼ acre in extent, was consecrated in 1775. It was laid out as a public garden ten years ago, and is maintained by trustees with help from the Holborn District Board of Works and the Clerkenwell Vestry. Very well kept.
61. Charterhouse Square.—This garden is a part of the site of a burial-ground dating back to 1349, when Sir Walter de Manny purchased from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital 13 acres of land, known as the Spittle Croft, for the burial of those who died in the plague of that time. In 20 years 50,000 bodies were interred there. In 1371 the Carthusian Monastery was built upon it. This Pardon Churchyard was a space of three acres acquired a year earlier, to which the plague-ground was added. This Pardon Churchyard survived longer, being used for suicides and executed people. Charterhouse Square is 1¼ acres.
62. The old Charterhouse Graveyard.—In 1828 to 1830, when the present Pensioners’ Court and other buildings were erected, part of this ground was built upon; but part exists in the courtyard on each side of the Pensioners’ Courts, being about ⅓ acre in extent. All the open land has been used at one time or another for burials.
63. The new Charterhouse Burial-ground.—When the above ground was done away with, a smaller piece to the north was set aside for the interment of the pensioners. This remains still, and is very neatly kept. There are a few gravestones on the wall and splendid fruit trees. It is about ¼ acre in extent.
CLERKENWELL.
64. St. James’s Churchyard.—¾ acre. This ground was purchased in 1673, enlarged in 1677, and is now laid out as a public garden and maintained by the vestry.
65. Additional ground, Bowling Green Lane (called St. James’s middle ground).—This was leased by the parish, with the adjoining “Cherry Tree” public-house, in 1775 for 99 years. It is ¼ acre in size, situated at the corner of Rosoman Street and Bowling Green Lane. The London School Board secured it when the lease ran out, and it is now the playground of the Bowling Green Lane School.
66. The Burial-ground of St. James’s, Pentonville Road.––This was formed as an additional ground for the parish of St. James, Clerkenwell. It is nearly an acre in extent, full of tombstones and very untidy, but the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association has undertaken to convert it into a public garden.
67. St. John’s Churchyard.—What exists of this is between the church and St. John Street, a narrow strip, about 320 square yards in extent, closed and paved with tiles and tombstones. Its laying out by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association is in hand.
68. Spa Fields Burial-ground, Exmouth Street.—Originally a tea-garden, afterwards a burial-ground, managed by a private individual. It is the property of the Marquis of Northampton, is about 1¾ acres in extent, and in the evenings is occasionally used as a volunteer drill-ground. In 1885 the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association laid it out as a playground, and the London County Council maintains it.