St Pancras Burial Ground

This population has been reburied and was excavated before the development of the Osteological Database. No digital data is available.

Archaeological investigations by Gifford & Partners Ltd took place at St Pancras burial ground in the London Borough of Camden in 2002–2003. This was during the construction of St Pancras International station.

St Pancras Old Church is documented from the late 12th century onwards, and successive extensions were made to the original churchyard. In 1792, the ‘New Burying Ground’ was established to the east. The 2002–2003 exhumation of burials and subsequent analysis was principally concerned with the study of the ‘Third Ground’, which lay at the southern end of the ‘New Burying Ground’ and was used from 1793 until its closure in 1854.

No in-situ burials dating to 1792 or earlier were recovered. Though, reused memorial stones and monuments – largely from other cemetery areas – were found. The earliest inscription dated back to 1708.

Over a thousand burials were recorded three-dimensionally. Of these, nearly 700 were recovered for osteological analysis and the remaining were removed by the exhumation contractor. The survival of legible inscribed coffin plates allowed many of the burials to be linked with documented biographical detail. The cemetery included many people from outside the metropolis and immigrants, particularly refugees who had fled the French Revolution.

Study of the cemetery management was enabled by comparing the excavated findings with documentary research. Key to this was the decoding of the alphanumeric grave plot system for the ‘Third Ground’ employed in the parish registers from 1793 to 1804. Over 100 recorded burials were identified by coffin plate inscriptions and many of these matched with register entries that include a plot reference, a system in use for the 'Third Ground’ from 1793 to 1804.

A total of 715 were recorded to ‘analysis phase’ (ie, Historic England 2018) in 2002–2003 using paper forms.

Individuals were selected for analysis according to observable characteristics of the coffin and associated human remains. Individuals came from both ornamented coffins and a corresponding sample of plain coffins. A significant sample of subadults was prioritised for study, as were skeletal remains with pathologies.

The individual skeletons were examined by five osteologists from Museum of London Specialist Services (now Museum of London Archaeology) and Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA), during and shortly after the exhumation work. The human remains were reburied after recording.

The recording of the population from St Pancras pre-dated the Osteology Database, and no digital data were deposited with the Archaeological Archive. We are only able to provide a copy of archived post-assessment report (2004) online.

Researchers wishing to access the recording forms (hard copies only) and images of pathology (not digitised) should contact the Archaeological Archive. A site monograph was also published in 2011 and includes the human bone report, from which the data and information below was taken (Emery and Woolridge 2011).

The majority of the sample were well-preserved, and the remainder were predominantly moderately well-preserved.

A total of 8.7% of the sample had died at or around the time of birth; 76.5% of the sub-adults died under the age of five years and 19.6% of the population died between birth and the age of 12 years, a pattern considered to be typical of an urban site. Two female burials were found with foetal remains associated and they may represent just a fraction of those who would have died during or shortly after childbirth. There were 231 adult males and 219 females.

Female stature ranged between 143 cm and 177 cm (average: 158 cm). The range of stature for men was 150–188 cm (average 168 cm).

A wide range of pathological conditions were documented in the 2011 site report referenced below.

A total of 111 (15.5%) individuals had evidence of infectious diseases, including periosteal new bone formation (n=70), osteitis (n=6) and osteomyelitis (n=1). Where post-mortem breakage of the facial bones exposed the maxillary sinuses, sinusitis was also observed. One older adult female [5170] had septic arthropathy to their left sacroiliac joint.

Four adult individuals (2 males, 2 females) had evidence for tuberculosis to their vertebrae. One female [7076] had Pott’s disease, which also produced secondary biomechanical changes to their scapulae and ribs.

Treponematosis was identified in four adult individuals [5133, 5165, 5185, 7096], and eight adult individuals were classed as ‘possible’ cases. The majority were male and aged between 26 and 45 years old.

Cribra orbitalia was reported in 14 subadult and 28 adult individuals.

Osteoporosis was observed in three older adult females [5226, 5301, 5081], who had compression fractures to their thoracic and/or lumbar vertebrae. Individual 5226 also had a rib fracture and the multiple vertebral fractures in 5301 had caused kyphosis of their lower thoracic vertebrae. ‘Light’ bones (ie, demineralised) were also reported in a further three older adult females.

Paget’s disease was observed in the cranial bones of four individuals – 1 male, 2 females and 1 unsexed adult.

Sixteen adults had skeletal changes caused by rickets – 5 males, 10 females and 1 indeterminate adult. Cranial and long bone changes were also reported in subadults.

Many adults had degenerative osteoarthritic changes to their skeleton, with changes observed to the joints of the arms, shoulders, spine, hip and legs, as well as the temporomandibular joint.

The highest rates were observed to the shoulder, spine and hand. In the vertebrae, the thoracic were the most affected. Schmorl’s nodes were also observed, with most observed in the thoracic vertebrae.

Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) was also observed in 5 adult males and 1 indeterminate sex individual. Two had extra-spinal changes observed. Four other individuals had ‘candle wax’ osteophytes to the right side of the thoracic vertebrae, but no fusion was present.

One case of rheumatoid arthritis was also reported [7007].

A wide range of congenital and developmental conditions were observed in the population, including Klippel-Feil syndrome, symphalangalism [5147], kyphoscoliosis [5383, 5438], scoliosis [5074, 5332, 5338], tarsal coalition [5192, 5307, 5328], scaphocephaly [5307], and 1 adult male [6270] had Sprengel’s deformity of their scapulae.

A case of Perthes’ disease was observed in 1 adult male [5331], and 2 individuals had evidence for Osgood Schlatter’s disease [5337, 6270]. Five adult males, 4 adult females and 3 subadults had osteochondritis dissecans to a range of bones, including the ulnae, tali and femur.

Many individuals had benign neoplasms (ie, button osteomas), and 1 older adult male [5037] had a lesion on their cranium and scapula, suggestive of metastatic carcinoma. A 26–45-year-old male [5304] had an osseous growth in their left orbit, suggested to be a neurofibroma, which most probably caused visual impairment.

Three adult females [5302, 5357, 7072] had rib changes suggestive of corset-wear deformation, and a hydatid cyst [5112] and a kidney/bladder stone were found in 2 adult females [7076, 5109].

Eighty-one adults and 3 subadult individuals had ante-mortem trauma. A total of 59% were male and 31% were female, and 7 individuals had fractures at three sites. All of the fractures were produced by blunt-force mechanisms. All areas of the skeleton were affected, with fractures corresponding to patterns often seen in interpersonal violence (eg, nasal and zygomatic bones).

Two subadults had multiple rib bone fractures only to their left side, and 1 subadult [5335] had a deviation of the sternal fragments.

The left first metacarpal had the highest prevalence rate, followed by the right clavicle and right first metacarpal bones. However, despite the rib bones having a lower prevalence rate, many of these bones had multiple fractures present.

Three adults [5097, 4220, 5148] had evidence for surgical amputation, and 1 female [7061] is likely to have had a trepanation to her frontal bone.

Two adults had subluxations present – female [5114] aged >45 years old had subluxation of an acromioclavicular joint, and an adult male [5088] had changes to one glenohumeral joint.

One adult male [5088] and a 13–16-year-old subadult [5120] had evidence of slipped proximal femoral epiphyses.

Twenty-three adults, the majority of whom were male (n=19), had evidence for soft-tissue trauma, which includes the presence of enthesophytes at muscle attachment sites. The tibia was the most affected bone.

Subadults and adults had evidence for a range of dental conditions. The majority of the population (80.3%) had ante-mortem tooth loss, and 59.6% had dental caries, with the molar teeth being the most affected.

One subadult and 86.7% of adults had evidence for calculus, with more female teeth being affected compared to male teeth. The majority of calculus was observed to the lingual aspect of the anterior teeth and buccal aspect of the molar teeth.

A total of 20.7% of subadults and 38.8% of adults had periodontal disease present, the majority of which was observed in older adults. Periapical abscesses were observed in 10.3% of subadults and 8.3% of adults, the majority of which appear to have been related to a carious lesion.

Enamel hypoplastic defects were observed in 83.6% of adults (no subadult data provided), with the anterior dentition, particularly the canine being most affected.

Two adults [7024, 5154] had evidence of fillings – gold and a grey metal to their molar teeth. Two dental prostheses were also found – one was a porcelain bridge [5299] and the other was a very expensive porcelain set of dentures [5131] which were held together by a gold spring. Both examples show evidence for wear-use.

The population studied in 2002–2003 represent only a small number of the people interred between 1689 and 1854. The majority of those recorded died during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and reveal the complexities and challenges of living during a time of huge population increase, rise in the numbers of the urban-poor, mobility and industrialisation.

Emery, PA and Woolridge, K (eds). 2011. St Pancras Burial Ground: Excavations for St Pancras International, the London Terminus of High Speed 1, 2002–2003. Gifford Monographs. London: Museum of London Archaeology.

Historic England. 2018. The Role of the Human Osteologist in an Archaeological Fieldwork Project. Swindon. Historic England.

Channel Tunnel Rail link, St Pancras Terminus, King’s Cross Lands (including St Pancras Old Church), York Way, off Caledonian Road, N1, Islington

Site code: YKW01

Recorded by: Gifford & Partners Ltd, MoLA and Pre-Construct Archaeology

Last updated: 2025