The London Charterhouse
The London Charterhouse
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London’s population has been decimated by plagues on several occasions.
None was more devastating than the Black Death in 1348.
The disease wiped out 20% of the city’s population, within seven months.
It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history.
All of those bodies had to go somewhere, so they were piled up to five people deep, in communal pits dotted around the city of London.
In 1371, the London Charterhouse, a historic complex of buildings, was built over the plague pit.
Now visitors unknowingly walk over the dead in central London, every day.
During building work for the Crossrail in 2013, the plague pit was discovered at Charterhouse Square.
This dated back to the Black Death in 1348.
Historians believe that up to 50,000 medieval Londoners, might have been interred in the area.
This makes Charterhouse Square, one of the biggest of London’s plague pits!
DNA analysis revealed fascinating insights into the plague victims’ lives in medieval London – everything from their age and diet, to their geographical origins.
Decades after the Great Plague, The Charterhouse was established as a Carthusian monastery.
It was a place where this holy order of monks, spent their days in prayer and service to God.
For nearly two centuries, the order flourished until it was closed by Henry VIII‘s dissolution of the monasteries.
The Monks tried to put up a fight, but when the soldiers breached the monastery, Prior John Houghton was dragged out into the courtyard.
He was hung, drawn and quartered.
The remaining ten monks were rounded up, and sent to London’s Newgate Prison.
Nine starved to death while the tenth was eXecuted.
A horrific end to men of such great faith.
With the dissolution of the monasteries, the Charterhouse became a mansion for wealthy noblemen and a refuge for royalty.
Elizabeth I met the Privy Council here in the days before her coronation in 1558.
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, then took up residence at The Charterhouse.
It wasn’t long until Howard’s tenure in The Charterhouse, came to an end….
Apparently hatching a plan to marry, Mary Queen of Scots was enough to get him tossed in the dreaded Tower of London.
When Thomas Howard was released, he was placed on house arrest until he was arrested for his involvement in the plot to assassinate Elizabeth I.
This time his nobility didn’t save him.
Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, lost his head on the chopping block.
Since that time, The Charterhouse has been an almshouse, a hospital, and a well regarded boys school
Through it all, everyone who has ever lived or worked there, knows all too well that this timeless building is very much haunted.
Residents of The Charterhouse, have reported that if you silently stand still over the plague pit, you can hear the ghostly victims of the premature burials, crying out for mercy.
Sadly, that mercy never came, and those victims succumbed to death’s cold embrace.
It’s said that the spirits of 35,000 victims, wander the square at night!
When the sun sets and the Charterhouse is quiet, residents have reported witnessing a curious sight.
The shadowy form of a monk has been seen silently floating through the courtyard.
He appears to be praying as he makes his way to the building.
Through the half light of the Master’s Court at dusk, you might catch a glimpse of Elizabeth I, commanding one of her courtiers.
Residents have also claimed to see the apparition of Thomas Howard descending the staircase, cradling his bloody, lifeless head under his arm.
It would seem that after many centuries of death, the Duke of Norfolk returns to the place where he spent his final moments of freedom.
Today, the building is still an almshouse for elderly men, who call themselves brothers.
In partnership with the Museum of London, the building is open to the public for daily tours.
You can visit the free museum in the Charterhouse, to see one of the plague pit skeletons, on display.