Work begins to excavate 45,000 skeletons from HS2 site at London Euston

Skeletons uncovered at St James's burial ground in London are recorded ahead of the construction of HS2. Archaeologists are investigating 10,000 years of British history along the line of the new High Speed rail route in what they say is Europe's largest dig.
PA/HS2
Nick Charity26 October 2018

Work is underway to excavate 45,000 skeletons from a burial site near to one of London's busiest train stations to make way for HS2 construction.

Some 61,000 people were buried at St James's Gardens between 1788 and 1853, near to London Euston station.

Protests and a memorial service were held before the site was closed as part of the high-speed rail project.

It comes as part of what HS2 has called branded Britain's largest archaeological exploration as more than a thousand archaeologists are set to explore dozens of sites along the 150 mile rail route.

An archaeologist examining a coffin plate at St James's burial ground in London.
PA

The dig in Camden will "add to our understanding of how this city transformed", HS2 officials said.

Archaeologists are investigating 10,000 years of history on the rail line from London to the West Midlands, the company said.

Neolithic tools, medieval pottery and Victorian time capsules have already been discovered.

In total, more than a thousand archaeologists are set to explore more than 60 separate sites, from prehistoric and Roman settlements to those from the Industrial Revolution and the Second World War.

And among the remains will be Captain Matthew Flinders - the explorer who is said to have named Australia, and is commemorated by a statue in Euston Square.

Mark Thurston, HS2 chief executive, said: "Before we bore the tunnels, lay the tracks and build the stations, an unprecedented amount of archaeological research is now taking place between London and Birmingham.

"This is the largest archaeological exploration ever in Britain, employing a record number of skilled archaeologists and heritage specialists from across the UK and beyond."

In addition to Euston, the sites being investigated include a prehistoric hunter-gatherer site on the outskirts of London, a Roman British town in Fleet Marston, Aylesbury, a 1,000-year-old demolished medieval church and burial ground in Buckinghamshire and a WW2 bombing decoy in Lichfield.

Tens of thousands of skeletons will be removed from a burial ground at St James' Gardens next to London Euston station.

In recent months, protests and a memorial service have been held at the site where 60,000 people were buried from 1790 to 1853.

Dozens of trees were earmarked to be removed from the area to make space for a construction base, leading Anne Stevens, the vicar of neighbouring St Pancras church, to chain herself to the trunk of one of the doomed trees in January.

Several notable people were buried at St James' Gardens, including: Lord George Gordon, a political and religious activist who instigated the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in 1780, Captain Matthew Flinders who was the first to circumnavigate Australia, and Bill Richmond, the first black boxer to reach international recognition.

A time capsule dated 24 April 1884 was unearthed behind the foundation stone at the site of the north wing of the National Temperance Hospital in London.
PA

HS2 said all artefacts and human remains would be treated with dignity, care and respect.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of government heritage body Historic England said: "With the building of HS2 comes a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve our understanding of how people have shaped England's landscapes over thousands of years, from the first prehistoric farmers through Roman and Saxon and Viking incomers to the more recent past."

As the projects commence, the BBC is set to film much of the action for a new documentary, set to year in 2018-19.

An archaeologist excavating a human skeleton in Birmingham ahead of the construction of HS2.
PA/HS2

Patrick Holland, BBC Two controller, said: "This is a major series following this unprecedented archaeological project.

"The HS2 digs promise to reveal secrets throughout a vast timeline of British history and I am delighted that BBC Two will be following the journey."

Tom McDonald, head of commissioning at the BBC's Natural History and Specialist Factual unit, added: "It's thrilling to be there from the very start of what is unquestionably one of the most significant archaeological endeavours in British history.

"It promises to make us re-interrogate what we think we know about British history and give us an extraordinary and privileged insight into the past."

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