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headstone as then standing, "half concealed in summer by a clump of
sunflowers. " The stone was subsequently removed to King's College
Hospital. The London Chronicle of July 12th, 1766, records that:—
"On Thursday, July 10th, were deposited in St. Clement's churchyard,
in the same grave with her husband, the remains of Mrs. Miller, age 83,
relict of the celebrated Joe Miller. "
Adjoining the burial ground was the Parish Workhouse. This was
pulled down, and its site is now occupied by King's College Hospital;
and about 1853 the burial ground was also acquired, and part of it
forms the forecourt of the hospital. Part of the ground had already
been built over, for so long ago as the year 1674 Bishop Henckman
gave permission for houses and shops to be built on the north
side (Allen's "History of London," quoted in Diprose's "History of
St. Clement Danes"); and probably no graves had been made in that
part of the ground. Hut later it appears as if encroachments had been
made upon the burial ground, and a large quantity of human remains,
mostly bones, had been removed and placed in two vaults, partly under
the western carriage drive up to the hospital, and partly beneath the
houses adjoining, which were on the site now being excavated.
During the progress of the work these vaults were found, and as
half of the vault had been removed, it was broken into, and the bones
discovered. A strip of ground a few feet in breadth, adjoining the
hospital property, had not previously been interfered with, and three
coffins protruded from this into the open site. Besides, the earth
contained many bones, and was in parts strongly polluted with the
results of decomposition.
Acting on the Home Secretary's order, I required the owners to
remove the three coffins which were partly exposed. In doing this two
of the cofiins collapsed, and they were found to contain only bones, but
in the third, which was broken, was the body of a man. This coffin
was about 15 feet from the surface, and evidently it had been filled
with lime. The remains were in an offensive condition, and, after
having them well covered with disinfectant powder and charcoal, the
coffin was placed in a separate shell, and removed to Woking with the
other remains from the vaults.
The owners of the site employed the London Necropolis Company to
remove the remains, and I laid down the following for their guidance,
in accordance with the Home Secretary's instructions:—
"18th July, 1902.
"All human remains proposed to be removed from the site of the new
offices of the Church Times to be placed in cases 6 ft. x 1 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft. 6 in.,
made of wood 1 inch thick, properly battened and pitched at the seams,
I