Murder at Mary Ward: THE BLACK DEATH AND THE BODYSNATCHERS: from St Paul’s Cathedral to Charterhouse Priory (Historical WALK)

We will start in the graveyard of St Paul’s Cathedral, considering the arrival of the first bubonic plague epidemic in London in the 1340s, and as the walk continues, we will note its further outbreaks, most notably, its final but catastrophic visitation in 1665. We will end our walk standing on top of the plague pit that was dug for thousands of Londoners in that year.

We will also visit a number of locations which, between the 1780s and the 1830s were linked to the bodysnatching, or grave robbing, trade. Surgeons needed bodies to practise techniques and to teach medical students, but very few were legally available: enter the bodysnatchers, who pillaged graves to give the surgeons what they wanted – for a high price. We will hear the story, and visit the spots, where one gang brought the whole trade to an end – when they turned to murder.