The London Burial Grounds / Notes on Their History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

by Isabella M. Holmes

95. Holywell Mount Burial-ground.—Behind St. James’s Church, Curtain Road, which occupies the site of a theatre of Shakespeare’s time. The ground is very old, and was much used at the time of plagues, and many actors are buried there. There is only about ⅓ acre left, the greater part having been used as the site for a parish room, and this is a timber-yard approached from Holywell Row.

96. St. Mary’s Churchyard, Haggerston.—1⅓ acre. This is maintained by the Shoreditch Burial Board as a public garden, open during the summer. It was laid out by the Earl and Countess of Meath in 1882.

97. St. John’s Churchyard, Hoxton.—1¼ acres. Also maintained by the Shoreditch Burial Board, and laid out by the Earl and Countess of Meath.

98. Jewish Burial-ground, Hoxton Street.—¼ acre. This belongs to the United Synagogue, and was used from 1700 till 1795. There is no grass, but many tombstones, and some one is sent four times a year to clear away the weeds, &c. It is not a tidy ground.

HACKNEY.

99. St. John at Hackney Churchyard.—6 acres. This includes an older ground, attached to the original church of St. Augustine, of which the tower still remains. Part of the churchyard is laid out as a public garden, and is neatly kept by the Hackney District Board of Works, but the newer part to the south of the church is still full of tombstones and rather untidy grass. The newest part of all, “the poor ground,” which is at the extreme southern end, is laid out for the use of children.

100. West Hackney Churchyard, Stoke Newington Road.—Nearly 1½ acres. This was consecrated in 1824, and laid out as a public garden in 1885. It is maintained by the Hackney District Board of Works.

101. St. Barnabas’s Churchyard, Homerton.—¾ acre. This ground is not open, but a good deal of care is shown in its management. In 1884 the Easter offerings were devoted to its improvement, and many tombstones were then laid flat.

102. St. John of Jerusalem Churchyard, South Hackney.—About ¾ acre. This was consecrated in 1831. It is full of tombstones, and the grass is not well kept, but it is usually open for people to pass through. It was closed for burials in 1868.

103. Wells Street Burial-ground.—This contains the site of the original South Hackney Church. It was laid out as a public garden in 1885, and is very neatly kept by the Hackney District Board of Works. Nearly ¾ acre.