October
21
/ 2024
A hidden medieval Jewish cemetery, once believed to be lost, has been rediscovered beneath the Barbican Estates in London, close to the remnants of an ancient wall within the Thomas More Garden. The Barbican cemetery and surrounding buildings had been destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, and when the Barbican residential complex was built starting in the 1960s it was constructed directly over where the cemetery had once stood. The burial ground has been dated back (1066-1157) to the early Norman period, making it the first Jewish cemetery in England. It remained in use until the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290, after which the site was desecrated and fell into neglect. The Jewish Square Mile Project
