Enon Chapel
Encyclopedia
Enon Chapel was located on Clement's Lane (today St. Clement's Lane) near the Strand
and was built around 1823. The upper part was dedicated to the worship
of God, the lower part to the burial
of the dead. The two parts were separated by a board floor. In 1839 the remains of thousands of bodies were found in a vault beneath Enon Chapel. They were the collection of a corrupt Baptist minister who had promised that, for a bargain fee of 15 shillings, he could provide burials.
To do this he crammed the bodies into a 12 ft by 59 ft pit. Apparently, worshippers bravely breathed in the noxious fumes of rotting flesh from the burial room below for 17 years before the hoard of bodies was discovered. People praying in the church regularly experienced fainting and sickness due to the stench from the decaying corpses a few inches below their feet.
This scandal contributed to burial reform in the Burial Act 1852, which closed cemeteries within metropolitan London
and allowed the establishment of large cemeteries in the surrounding (then) countryside in the mid-19th century.
According to George Sanger
's "Seventy Years a Showman" (1910), the building was licensed for burials in 1823, which continued till the minister died in early 1842, by which time 12,000 people had been buried there. After it was closed, new owners covered the existing wooden floor with a single brick floor, in turn covered in a new wooden floor, and opened the premesis as a "low dancing-saloon".
An old bill shows that dancing on the dead was one of the attractions of the place;
"Enon Chapel - Dancing on the Dead - Admission Threepence. No lady or gentleman admitted unless wearing shoes and stockings".
The scene was caricatured by Cruikshank.
In 1848, a Mr George Walker, a well known surgeon, bought the chapel and, at his own expense of £100 had the bodies removed to West Norwood Cemetery
where they reburied in a single grave twelve feet square and twenty feet deep. He then sold the chapel on and George Sanger, the Circus Impressario, briefly took the lease (December 1850) and fitted it out as a theatre for pantomime and circus. However, after being informed by the police that George Walker had not quite finished the job and that the remains of the minister, amongst others, were still there, Sanger rapidly moved out.
According to Sanger, The Law Courts now stand on part of the site.
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
and was built around 1823. The upper part was dedicated to the worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
of God, the lower part to the burial
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
of the dead. The two parts were separated by a board floor. In 1839 the remains of thousands of bodies were found in a vault beneath Enon Chapel. They were the collection of a corrupt Baptist minister who had promised that, for a bargain fee of 15 shillings, he could provide burials.
To do this he crammed the bodies into a 12 ft by 59 ft pit. Apparently, worshippers bravely breathed in the noxious fumes of rotting flesh from the burial room below for 17 years before the hoard of bodies was discovered. People praying in the church regularly experienced fainting and sickness due to the stench from the decaying corpses a few inches below their feet.
This scandal contributed to burial reform in the Burial Act 1852, which closed cemeteries within metropolitan London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and allowed the establishment of large cemeteries in the surrounding (then) countryside in the mid-19th century.
According to George Sanger
Lord George Sanger
"Lord" George Sanger was an English showman and circus proprietor. Born to a showman father, he grew up working in travelling peep shows. He successfully ran shows and circuses throughout much of the nineteenth century with his brother John...
's "Seventy Years a Showman" (1910), the building was licensed for burials in 1823, which continued till the minister died in early 1842, by which time 12,000 people had been buried there. After it was closed, new owners covered the existing wooden floor with a single brick floor, in turn covered in a new wooden floor, and opened the premesis as a "low dancing-saloon".
An old bill shows that dancing on the dead was one of the attractions of the place;
"Enon Chapel - Dancing on the Dead - Admission Threepence. No lady or gentleman admitted unless wearing shoes and stockings".
The scene was caricatured by Cruikshank.
In 1848, a Mr George Walker, a well known surgeon, bought the chapel and, at his own expense of £100 had the bodies removed to West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery
West Norwood Cemetery is a cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery.One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and...
where they reburied in a single grave twelve feet square and twenty feet deep. He then sold the chapel on and George Sanger, the Circus Impressario, briefly took the lease (December 1850) and fitted it out as a theatre for pantomime and circus. However, after being informed by the police that George Walker had not quite finished the job and that the remains of the minister, amongst others, were still there, Sanger rapidly moved out.
According to Sanger, The Law Courts now stand on part of the site.