St Benet Sherehog cemetery

Excavations at St Benet Sherehog Church uncovered 274 burials from an 11th-century site destroyed in London's Great Fire, offering insights into London's medieval urban population.

The St Benet Sherehog Church and graveyard, otherwise known as ‘No.1 Poultry’, was excavated by Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS) between 1994 and 1996. The church was originally constructed in the 11th century, as a simple, single-celled structure.

It remained in use until its destruction during the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Of the 274 burials excavated from the site, 270 were retained for analysis. Of those, only 39 were dated to the medieval period. The burials were aligned roughly east-west with the heads towards the west end of the graves.

The post-medieval burials have been analysed separately. Please refer to the Post-medieval St-Benet Sherehog site summary for more information.

Methods

Non-metrics and dental measurements were not recorded for subadults on this site.

Preservation

Although the overall bone quality was good, the skeletal completeness was generally poor. The majority of the skeletons were less than 25% intact.

Table 1: Skeletal preservation
Preservation N= %

Good

34

87.2

Medium

5

12.8

Poor

0

0

Figure 1: Skeletal completeness (N=41)

  • Bar graph showing frequency distribution of four categories (female, male, subadults, unsexed adult) across age ranges, with higher counts in younger age groups.

Demography

Of the 39 individuals recovered, there were 24 adults (eight males and four females) and 15 subadults. The 35–46 years demographic was the single largest adult group represented, and it had the highest male to female ratio, with 2.5 males to each female. One-third of all subadults could not be aged due to poor preservation. However, there were three perinatal deaths and four children aged 6–11.

Figure 2: Age distribution (N=39)

  • Bar chart showing frequency across age groups; highest value in "Adult," followed by "36-45 yrs" and ">46 yrs," with lower values in other age categories.
Table: 2 Age distribution (N=39)
Age N= %

Perinatal

3

7.7

1–6 months

0

0.0

7–11 months

0

0.0

1–5 years

2

5.1

6–11 years

4

10.3

12–17 years

1

2.6

18–25 years

1

2.6

26–35 years

2

5.1

36–45 years

7

17.9

>46 years

2

5.1

Adult

12

30.8

Subadult

5

12.8

Figure 3: Adult male and female distribution (N=24)

  • Bar chart showing the number of adults by age group and gender, with the highest count in "Unassigned Adults" across all genders.
Table 3: Male and female distribution by age in the adult population
All adults % Male % Female %

18–25 years

1

4.2

0

0.0

1

25.0

26–35 years

2

8.3

2

25.0

0

0.0

36–45 years

7

29.2

5

62.5

2

50.0

>46 years

2

8.3

1

12.5

1

25.0

Unsexed adults

12

50.0

0

0.0

0

0.0

Total

24

8

4

Stature

Table 4: Stature estimation from femoral length
Sex Avg_stat SD VAR MIN MAX N

Female

161.8

0

0

161.8

161.8

1

Male

171.5

5.2

27.2

167.8

175.2

2

Unsexed

172.1

3.7

13.7

169.5

174.7

2

Pathology

Non-specific infections and trauma are two of the most prevalent pathologies represented in medieval populations. In the case of St Benet Sherehog, 13% of the recovered individuals exhibited signs of non-specific infections and 8% had some form of accidental trauma. Other diseases are perhaps under-represented, most likely because of the small sample size.

Download the Medieval St Benet Sherehog pathology table

DOC: 63.0 KB

Vertebral pathology

Table 5 provides a crude distribution of adult vertebral pathology. However, the sample size is statistically insignificant.

Table 5: Distribution of vertebral pathology by sex in adults with one or more vertebrae present

Dental Pathology

Table 6 provides a crude distribution for dental pathology. However, the sample size is statistically insignificant.

Table 6: Distribution of dental pathology by sex in adults with one or more vertebrae present

Discussion

The St Benet Sherehog site represents a late medieval population within the City of London. Due to the small sample size, research potential is limited. However, it has limited potential for comparison with other medieval sites or could be used in conjunction with the Post-medieval St Benet Sherehog site to study the development of one parish over two distinct areas.

Site reference

Miles, A, White, W, and Tankard, D (eds). 2008. Burial at the Site of the Parish Church of St Benet Sherehog Before and After the Great Fire: Excavations at 1 Poultry, City of London. London: MoLAS Monograph 39.

Site location

1 Poultry, 1–19 Poultry, 2–38 Queen Victoria Street, 3–9, 35–40 Bucklersbury, Pancras Lane, Sise Lane, EC2, EC4

Site code: ONE94


Last updated: 2025

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