Excavations at the Priory and Hospital of St Mary Spital, London

Book excerpt: St Mary Spital, Bishopgate was founded in 1197, and grew to become one of the biggest institutions for the care of the sick in medieval London. This report details all the discoveries made during extensive excavations, from all aspects of the building materials to ceramic, pottery, glass and leather finds through to human and animal bones, and botanical and other remains. However this is an archaeological report with a difference. The editors wanted to make it as reader-friendly as possible, and the result is that all the different strands of evidence have been combined to provide a single chronological account of the priory and hospital, with current research debates covered in thematic sections. These cover topics such as as the hospital buildings, the lives of the inhabitants, and the role of St Mary's within the city of London, as well as the environmental evidence, 126 excavated human skeletons and the reuse of the site after the Dissolution of 1536. An interesting medieval site, examined in an accessible way.